Melissa, Andy and the kids' Blog

11/1 November began like so many other months... with games.  Lily and Finn actually played through a whole game of Monopoly Deal.  It was 7:30 at this point on a Friday night, probably the easiest way to stay up late is get me playing games.  11/5 Tuesday, Election Day.  Who will be our next President?  Nobody cares!  Look at this cool junk pile "robot" on the dirt hill.  11/11 Years ago I backed the creation of a game on Kickstarter (Exploding Kittens) and it turned out to be a great decision.  That game was fun, and it opened the doors to becoming a play tester for the company. Every few months we end up with preproduction games to play.  We usually record the play through a couple of times and give feedback.  The kids love when these new random games show up to play with for a few days. It is 7:30 again... staying up late to play games.  11/12 Melissa met her friend, and the kids ballet teacher, Cassidy for a hike along the San ...

10/18 Before Grandma and Grandpa Aurich left town and we ended our vacation we decided to go bowling together. They twins actually threw a couple of balls themselves without the ramp and Lilian couldn't do that so she tried pushing, kicking and rolling on the ramp.  Since the bowling alley is also an A&W everybody got some ice cream. The kids had been worried before our trip that Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't be there when we got home, so it was nice to have a couple extra days with them.  10/19 After saying goodbye to grandparents this Saturday morning, we went to Walter C Lyman Park.  Melissa wants to figure out if there is anyway to build a fairy garden in this park.  This was a scouting mission to check the trees for suitable features.  10/21 Monday evening the twins had a Halloween Recital at church with Haven's piano group.  Finn found a wonderful use for his angler fish costume head.  Snack plate holder.  10/22 Melissa and the kids love ...

10/9 We landed in London Luton and drove to Sarah's.  I've become comfortable with most European driving at this point... but in the rain after dark, still nerve wracking.  10/10 This is the kids' idea of a European vacation.  They are so comfortable at Sarah's and can spend hours at a time in her daughter Robyn's childhood play room. Sarah and Iain put on Robyn's wedding at their home this summer. In a very selfish wish, I'm sure my kids hope Robyn chooses to wait a while before having kids of her own.   Barley and Bruin enjoyed plenty of snuggles and child attacks during our visit.  After a very slow morning at Sarah's we headed to a local garden center for shopping and play at an indoor jungle gym.  We had a nice lunch and ended the afternoon with a selection of cakes.  We went out with Sarah to do her chores.  The weather was turning cold so the kids got to help put blankets on the horses and donkeys.  Melissa loves spending time in ...