Lost teeth, bowling, and drawing (4 of 4)

Perhaps inspired by her newfound cooking-and-yardwork prowess, Madeline promptly went and lost her first tooth!

She wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy: "LOVE TOOTH FAIRY THIS IS VERY EXCITING"

"DEAR TOOTH FAIRY MY TOOTH IS IN THE TOOTH BOX DEAR TOOTH FAIRY THIS IS MY FIRST TOOTH FROM MADDIE"

The Tooth Fairy did indeed visit Madeline that night.

That weekend, we went duckpin bowling with Karen and Benji.  Chaos ensued.

The next day, we met up with Nathan, Brenna, and cousin Victor at Amherst College's Beneski Museum of Natural History.  There was a Triceratops skull ...

... and lots of other good stuff.

When the kiddos had too much energy to be contained in the museum, we ran around and played on campus ...

... and then around town, on either side of lunch.

Shortly thereafter, Madeline lost her second tooth!

And, after the kiddos helped Summer make Christmas cookies, ...

... Madeline penned another note to the Tooth Fairy: "DEAR TOOTH FAIRY I THINK THAT I MIGHT OF SWALLOWED MY TOOTH"

Meanwhile, Oliver worked on drawing his first recognizable person, ...

... complete with a head, body, arms and legs.

He seemed pleased with his work.

And Madeline joined the drawing party by making a library, which she showed off along with her tooth gap!

December! (3 of 4)

In December, it was finally time to take care of the leaves in our yard.  The kiddos helped.

We also met up with Karen and Benji once again at the Slater Park Winter Wonderland.  The kiddos were excited to see one another ...

... and to check out all the neat decorations.

That weekend, Madeline made French toast, the first time she'd taken responsibility for every step of a dish.  She cracked the eggs and did everything else required to make the batter.

She fired up the stove, dipped the bread in the batter, transferred it, and flipped when appropriate.

She put the finished pieces in the oven to stay warm.

And she enjoyed the fruits of her labor!

After breakfast, we went Christmas tree hunting.

The kiddos were very excited to ride the gator with their tree ...

... and to warm by the fire while the gentleman tied the tree to our car.

That afternoon while Oliver napped, Madeline and I finished bagging the leaves.  She was very proud of her productive day.

And that night, we trimmed the tree.

Delaware & Thanksgiving (with a side of Maryland) (2 of 4)

The week of Thanksgiving, we headed down to Delaware.

The kiddos were excited to see their Delaware family!  Madeline worked on hand turkeys with everyone.

On Thanksgiving, Grandma Susy helped Madeline to get all fancified.

Then she expanded her hand-turkey repertoire to include Nanny, Pop Pop, and still more family members.

She rarely was seen without a marker in her hand.

Oliver was more focused on eating delicious pie ...

... and playing with Legos.

The day after Thanksgiving, we took a side trip to Maryland's Tuckahoe State Park ...

... where we met up with Anna, Neal, and Mira!  We played with a parachute ...

... and took a hike in the woods, where we saw this car hull.

The kiddos led the way.

(Except when Mira and Oliver stopped to make some music.)

Then, after a picnic lunch, we played until it was time to leave.

(These last two photos are courtesy of Neal.)

That evening, the kiddos were very excited to be reunited with their cousin Hailey.

And later that night Grandma Susy read them their bedtime books.

The following day was a memorial lunch for Great Grandpa Royce.  Heather and Alda were kind enough to keep the kiddos entertained.

And afterward the cousins had one last opportunity to pose together.

The next day, we hit the road and headed home to Rhode Island.