Trick or Treating

Sunday night it was FINALLY time to trick-or-treat...since we got our costumes so early this year, the kids have been anticipating trick-or-treating for weeks. Right after dinner they couldn't wait to get dressed, which took awhile because we had to bundle them up in tights and long johns under their costumes (it was about 35 degrees out and windy).

First we had to show off our costumes to the cows (who seemed mildly interested).......then we headed straight over to Luke and Alison's neighborhood. Since we live out in farm country, going into town to trick-or-treat is much safer and more efficient for us. We can actually walk along the road without fear of getting run over, and there are lots of houses in a small area, which is more fun for young kids.

We parked at Luke and Alison's house, and tried out our trick-or-treating skills on their dad Henning first. He gave our costumes a thumbs-up!Then it was time to get serious--as you can see from the photo below, this is the perfect neighborhood to trick-or-treat in. Lots of the houses even had scary decorations, which was pretty fun for us.Kate got really excited about getting candy (predictably). Her little legs were pumping as she sprinted from house to house. Emily was excited too, but not quite as enthusiastic as Kate, since her sweet tooth isn't as strong.

We ran into Luke (a knight) and Alison (a rock star) about half-way through--their costumes were great!

After about ten houses, Emily started getting really chilled from the cold night air (it had actually snowed in the morning, although it was all melted by evening). Her Supergirl costume left her shoulders and neck pretty bare, and she was ready for the trick-or-treating to be over, so we jumped in the car and headed for home.

Of course the girls spread out all their goodies on the floor to do an inventory--Mom and Mama can remember doing this when they were little too.The big haul included about 12 pieces each, which the girls exclaimed was "a lot of candy!". It's kinda funny what they think is a lot....We have rationed the candy out to two pieces a day until it's gone, which the girls seem content with. We have to say that this Halloween was the most fun we have had so far, since both kids were really into it. Even though the holiday seems to be mostly all about sugar, it was still a lot of fun this year.

Lili Turns Eleven

Today was a big day for us--of course it was Halloween(!), but it was also cousin Lili's birthday party. In the morning the girls were pretty excited to make Lili special birthday cards.

When we got to the party they couldn't wait to give the birthday girl a big hug. She's eleven years old now!We also got to see Julie and Dave again, and their son Gabriel and their new baby....

...her name is Nola and she is two months old!

Of course Nana was there....

...and of course Grandpa N. and Uncle Seth...

...and cousins Sebastian (the werewolf)...

...and Alana, who the girls particularly love to hang on.

Kate also especially enjoyed the hors d'oevres (of course).With all the kids there, it was a pretty high-energy party.Lili had a big stack of presents to open, and she very nicely thanked everyone for their gifts.Doesn't she look all grown up here?Our kids made themselves comfortable, as usual.It's always nice to be around the cousins, because they are willing to play with Emily and Kate and keep them entertained.

After presents it was time for the cake--it was red velvet and (of course) made with love by Nana.

Lili had to fight off Kate for the privilege of blowing out her own birthday candles (luckily Lili is a little sister too so she's pretty good at that!).

Then it was time to dig in, and the kids got busy.......not to mention the grownups!

Happy birthday to Lili--we hope you had a great day!

Doing her Makeup?

Bathtime.

Me: "Kate, time to turn off the water."

Kate: "But mom, I need to do my makeup."

Me: "Huh? Show me."

Kate: "I do it like this."Kate is the island of girlyness in our house of tomboys.

Home Made Root Beer

Since we have all the equipment to "brew" hard apple cider, but we haven't been drinking as much lately, Mama has started experimenting with other ways to use the gear. One idea she came up with is to make root beer.

Last night was our first opportunity to try out a batch (after the kids went to bed, of course, because we didn't want to poison them if it turned out to be nasty).

The verdict....it needs a little bit more time to ferment, but it's pretty good (and not poison)!

Flyin' in Style

Brenda was informed on Wednesday that she would be joining the estimating team on a trip the next day to look at a railroad bridge in West Virginia. Weary of traveling, she almost asked out of it, but then found out that they would be taking the company plane--sweet!

And here it is, leaving Portland at 6:15 a.m. Thursday morning (and no, it's not a jet, it's a turbo prop).

Brenda found the company plane to be pleasant, but a little cramped. Her fellow travelers included five estimators and two pilots, and every seat was taken.

The advantage of flying "executive style" is no waiting at airports, no security lines, no ticketing, no changing flights, etc....but the disadvantage is that on a small plane a strong headwind can make a big difference. The flight down was supposed to take about 2.5 hours, but it actually took almost five hours to get there.

Here's how it looked about half-way there:

The plane finally arrived in Charleston, which is the capital of West Virginia. Since we were so late, there was no time for sight-seeing--we just jumped in our rental van and headed straight for the bridge (no time for lunch either!). In the photo below you can see the state capital dome peeking through the buildings.

The bridge is a single-track CSX (freight) rail bridge over the New River, located on the outskirts of a little town named "Gauley Bridge".

It must be said at this point that Brenda had never been to West Virginia before, and the scenery was very, very pretty. Fall is the perfect time to come here.

Here is the view from up on the bridge.We had to climb all over it to get measurements (see Brenda below), and you might notice that there was no handrail on one side. Luckily, there is an OSHA exemption in the fall protection laws for "engineering inspection". As long as you are inspecting the work before or after the actual construction, you don't have to be protected from fall hazards. This meant that we weren't in violation of federal law, which was a relief.

Here's a view of the bridge from below. One of the pins in the truss on the left had recently become corroded beyond repair, and luckily it was noticed before the bridge collapsed. CSX decided that instead of just fixing the pin, it would be wise to go ahead and replace the entire bridge (it was built in 1892), so this track is closed to train traffic until the entire bridge can be replaced.

Access for cranes and equipment will be very difficult on this job, so there was a lot of scheming.......and a lot of dreaming.After a few hours at the bridge site, we all decided we had seen enough and it was time to get some lunch and head back to the airport.

First, though, our leader wanted to show us all a very special structure: the New River Gorge Bridge. It was about 1/2 hour from our site, so we drove over there to check it out.

It was worth it! This bridge is spectacular--its single span covers over 3000 feet, and its deck is over 800 feet above the river below. At the time it was built (1977), it was the tallest steel arch bridge in the world, and the second tallest bridge of any type in the United States. Pretty cool!

On the way home it was party time, with everyone in a good mood. There was beer and cribbage, and the headwind turned into a tailwind, which made our flight less than two hours long.

Brenda even earned the ire of one of the estimators (on the right) by beating him at cribbage, even though she was a rookie--sweet!Taking a trip on the company plane was fun, but it was sad to have to miss yet another bedtime routine with the kids. Brenda is hoping to cut back on the business traveling for awhile.

A Year Ago

It's always fun to stop and take a look back sometimes, just to see how much the kids have grown.

Here are a few photos from last fall, when our little almost-four-year-old and two-and-a-half-year-old were just starting to enjoy playing together....

...still learning what they could do physically.......gaining confidence every day.......struggling to master new skills.......and generally just having a good time with each other.It's hard to believe, since we see them every day, but they are actually growing up, little by little.