Odawara Castle

We've seen many of Japanese temples and Castles, but we hadn't been to Odawara Castle yet and decided to give it a try.

 It was beautiful outside and the leaves are just starting to change color for fall. 

 The first thing we did there was to train as Ninjas. 

It was pretty cool.  First we watched a movie about how we need to protect the castle.  Then we went through the training course.  Calista was thoroughly scared from the movie and barely let Bob put her down the whole time we were in there.  Everyone else loved it.

 After being fully trained in the art of Ninjutsu we headed over to protect the castle.

 We climbed up a million stairs to see out of the top floor.  It did have a nice view.

Overall, the drive was long (over 2 hours) but we had fun.  It was ok to go and check out one time, but we will probably not return.

More Halloween Fun

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I think what I love about it the most is dressing up and decorating... the candy is pretty great also.  This year I went to a which hat party with a friend.  Lots of the girls made their own hats.  My friend even made a really cool sea which hat; she won a prize for the most creative hat.  I thought about making my own, I even went to the dollar store to buy supplies, but when I got there they had a cute hat that was very similar to the one I was going to make.  So I just bought mine, but I like it anyway.

We spent some time before Halloween trying on costumes and Bob even put together a dinosaur cage for Calista and Beatrix.

7/11 had some Halloween food out.  These sandwiches were whip cream and a chocolate spread.  Pretty good, but absolutely no nutritional value.  I walked to the convenience store and bought them for the kids for dinner because bob was working and I was tired.  The kids loved it.

I didn't get enough pictures of us carving pumpkins this year.  My piano teacher mentioned that she had never done it before so I invited her over.  She was really funny and talked about how it is harder than playing the piano.  She made a ghost that turned out cute, although the lid to her pumpkin fell  straight down, inside her pumpkin.  I tried to explain before she cut the lid how to angle the knife but there is a slight language barrier and I guess she didn't understand.

The older four kids all did their own with little help.  It was so much more enjoyable that way.  Tucker's pumpkin was eating another pumpkin, Scarlett wanted circles on hers, Penelope made Tinkerbell, Leon a bat, and Calista "carved" a cat.

Beatrix's first food was a candy bar.  We still haven't given her any solid food but I found her under Calista's seat sucking on a Hershey's bar.  Calista opens her candy takes a bite, throws it down, and goes for another piece.  After trick-or-treating we had a huge mess of candy and wrappers for a few days.  It was a mess because Beatrix now crawls around and I don't want her getting either of those things.  I guess when you are the sixth baby, your first food is whatever you find dropped on the floor from the other children. 

Trick-or-Treat

Dressing up for Halloween was a blast this year!  We were the characters from Jurassic World.

I usually try to make costumes or find really cheap ones.  But not this year, I really just wanted to buy costumes for all the kids and not care about spending a ridiculous amount of money for one day and that is exactly what I did.  It was awesome!

We first went to our ward trunk-or-treat activity and it was fun.  We ended up doing it inside the gym, so I guess no trunks were even involved, and it was hot.  The kids kept wanting to take their costumes off but I made them wear them so there was a bit of contention there.

Bob and I were Own and Claire from the movie.

The next night we went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.  The weather was perfect.  It was great.  The type of night Halloween dreams are made of.  

Great costumes, tons of candy, and a lot of fun.  Whomever wants to participates puts up signs and someone even makes a map.  So we don't waste any time going to houses and waiting for no one to answer the doorbell.

 We got an early start because last year we had an issue wearing all black in the dark.

I thought it was particularly hilarious watching the dinosaurs gather round a candy bowl like they were feasting on prey.

It was so fun watching the kids waddle around.

As we were walking around the kids got a lot of attention and we kept having to stop to pose for strangers pictures.  They did not like that.  I don't think anyone in the neighborhood realized I was dressed up also.

We came home to a very crowded house.  Bob stayed home with Beatrix to pass out candy and it was crowded!  I think a lot of people come to our neighborhood to participate in the Halloween fun.  We had some great music and decorations.  Bob and Tucker even rigged up a big spider to a remote control car that they would drive around and scare people.

Happy Halloween!

Enoshima Aquarium

We had some rainy weather so we spent the day at Enoshima Aquarium.  

 The kids loved it!

Calista was blatantly ignoring the rules and way ahead of the line.  We couldn't actually understand what was said but I'm pretty sure the kids were told to be behind the line because all at once they scooted back and stayed still.  Meanwhile Calista ignored them and sat herself right in front.  She got up and ran around a few times before sitting back down right in front of everyone.  I tried to get her back but that was really hard because I couldn't really get to her.

 The dolphin/whale show was the kids favorite part.  We got a close up look before it started.

 I know a lot of families get yearly passes, but for us it just isn't worth it.  It is expensive for so many people and as long as we go two times or less a year it is better not to get the pass. 

   

Penelope's 10

This girl is ten!  

Penelope is such a thoughtful child she is a joy to have in our family.

She is so honest it is really remarkable.  I told the kids they should read the scriptures every morning and she has been keeping it up for over a year now.   I think the other kids only lasted about a week.  She is so good at doing what I ask even when she doesn't want to that she asked me if she could stop reading them because no one else does.  We had a talk about how she is going to get more blessings for doing what she is supposed to and I think she should keep going.  She also helps me to read everyday.  I don't feel right skipping my reading while knowing that she is reading because I asked her to.

Penelope is crafty.  She likes drawing and making things with beads.  Out of all the kids she has given me the most cards or other little things she has made.  It is very sweet.

Penelope gets up very early every morning.  I think around six.  I asked the kids not to come out of their rooms before seven so she just hangs out in there, reads, and cleans.  She doesn't love the cleaning, but she needs to have her room clean before breakfast and she knows that Scarlett isn't going to do it.

She is very brave.  There are a lot of things that she is scared to do but has to anyway.  Mainly things that involve talking to other people.  Quite often I am making her get out of her comfort zone and talk to people.  I'm not sure why it is hard for her and easy for others.  But she does get really scared about it and we are working through it. 

 Now that Penelope is ten she got her military ID.  It is kind of a big deal around here.  Basically she can now get on and off base by herself and according to base rules she is allowed to stay home alone and go shopping or pretty much anywhere without an adult.

Her birthday was actually in September but it has taken us a few weeks to get out and get these pictures done.

Happy Birthday Penelope!