Turkey, Contemporary Art, and Cake Mountains

Here's our November.

We felt blessed to have lots of family time, starting out with a visit from Anthony's brother, Nate. 

Here we are at the Motown Museum.  I highly suggest a visit to anyone who loves music or loves tour guides that brake out into song and dance at random moments. 

We then had a double lunch in order to compare Coney Dogs at two restaurants started by rivaled brothers.  They're pretty much the same hot dog smothered in onions, mustard, and chili, but the consensus was that Lafayette was slightly better. 

 Here we are at Belle Isle.

Here's the Heildelberg Project which consists of outdoor installation art covering at least one city block.  Actually some of it isn't "installed" sense it's made of buildings that already existed. It's pretty awesome.  We were invited to write our names on the "guest book," which was really the first house on the block covered in people's names. 

The Gift Shop

The Artist: Tyree Guyton

This is the House of Soul...

which was burnt down 4 days after we took this picture.  So sad.

Anthony and Nathan's birthdays are less than a week apart, so I made them a Canyoneering Cake.

Eliot was also excited to partake.

James helped us put up Christmas lights for our first time! I love Christmas.

Eliot finding his way to some cinnamon rolls.  That kid knows how to take initiative to get what he wants. 

Then we had the opportunity to drive to upstate New York for Thanksgiving.  Two of my siblings live in the same state, which is almost unheard of, so we thought we'd take advantage of the togetherness.  We had a blast.

It was fun to see the boys get reacquainted with cousins, and with

 snow!

I love my sisters.

Dad reenacting his Mother's great storytelling skills that she'd display during Thanksgiving dinner.

The food was amazing.  Mmmm....if only there were more leftovers. 

The parents.  I hope to be as great as them someday.  

What can I say?  Family is the best!

Besides the fun visits, we are doing well!  Anthony and I started teaching Birth Classes at the beginning of the month and we're LOVING it.  

Ira is going through...what shall I call it?  A faze that includes moments of defiance and rudeness.  sigh...  But most of the time, he's pretty great.  He's still loving preschool, and last week he went to the allergist, and to my surprise, was completely cooperative!  Yay!!!  

Eliot, is as cute as ever, especially when he's happy.  And as I said before, he takes initiative to get what he wants.  This only drives me crazy some of the time since he really loves shoe laces, electronics, and outlets... and sticking things in his ears.  Parenthood rocks.  Alright, peace out everyone!

Autumn Entrance and Halloween Honeys

This past month has been yet another whirlwind.

Our last camping trip of the season was a little spontaneous, and last minute, but it was worth it when we got to our site and the boys ran around in circles squealing with joy for about 30 minutes straight.  Eliot, however, is not a pro at camp-sleeping yet, and Anthony was super sweet and took the boys out for a sunrise walk while I caught up on sleep.

Here they are at the dock. 

We were also thrilled to have a visit from some long distance friends.  One of my best friends in high school was a German exchange student, named Jana.  She made her way out to the states to visit some German friends in NYC and was able to coordinate it with a trip to see us!   Our good friend Gabe, was also able to take off work and make his way out here from Pittsburgh.  It was a really amazing 3 days.  13 years is too long to go without seeing such cool people. 

I know, it's like I have a carousel shot for each blog entry, but this one is special!...even if my kids are totally ignoring me. :)

At Zingerman's Roadhouse.  YUM!

Gabe was here for his birthday, so we collaborated to create a sweet-tooth cake.  And since he just graduated from dental school, he insisted on painting the roots yellow as to make it anatomically correct. 

This is Jana translating a German Dragon cartoon for Ira. I promise, he was enjoying it. 

My cousin James was visiting too since he had an interview in Ann Arbor.  It's not like he had to go to it though since while here, he got offered the job he really wanted.  Woohoo!

It feels like it's been unseasonably party season.  We've had lots of baby showers, birthday parties, Halloween parties, a Masquerade I organized for Ira's preschool, and a cookie block party at our place to get to know our neighbors better.  We've been booked.  I told Anthony that for his birthday we should make some rules that we must wear pajamas all day, not leave the house, and watch at least two movies.  He's pretty excited for it.  

Here's our Pumpkin Carving party. 

Alright, here's a closer look at what each Quinn has been up to.

Anthony

He finished fixing up the kitchen floor, which involved a lot of tile cutting and grouting.  He's awesome.  He's been busy with work and scouts, and generally being awesome about all the crazy activities I schedule us for.  He took these autumn beauts below while doing family portraits for some friends.

Sharon

 This month I was able to complete my academic requirements to become a Bradley Instructor, got approved, finished my website, and had 5 couples sign up!  We will be teaching our first class a week from today!   Here's my website if you want to check it out. http://www.bradleybirth.com/sharonquinn 

Ira

He's loving preschool.  This is him at a school field trip. Ira picked them off the tree...

and Eliot picked them off the ground. 

This is Ira and his best-friend being dragons.  

I think they look like they're on a preschooler's perfume commercial... 

 until they roar. 

Ira's also been into drawing and painting lately.  It's really fun to see him become intentional about what he's drawing.  His volcanoes really look like volcanoes, and his dragons really look like dragons, once he tells you what it is. 

Eliot

Lately he's been a bit like a destructive tornado, trapped in a very cute body with a very sweet smile.  He is reaching into more drawers, opening more lids, and spreading more junk faster than ever before.

  I seriously question my intelligence after each shopping trip with him.  "Why do I keep doing this?"  For some reason Joann's had about a million ladders out and available yesterday.  And in the time that it takes me to compare the price of two types of yarn, Eliot can make it up about 3 of them. But his kisses and cuddles make it all worth it.  His big news is that he has started nursery at church (with slight reluctance) and has been introduced to the potty.  This week he used it successfully 5 times!

He's also enjoying playing with boxes more than ever.

And of course, Trick or Treating tonight was a blast.

This is Ira's dinosaur costume from last year, that we upgraded and morphed into a dragon for this year.  It's convenient that his obsession has only changed slightly.

Eliot was ice-cream.  This is the 3rd time we've used this costume, just one of the few benefits of moving every 2-6 months.  But now that we're sticking around in Michigan, I guess I'll have to get creative for next year. 

Happy Halloween Everyone!  

Time for me to eat an unnoticeable amount of my children's candy and veg with Anthony.