Chocolate!

It has been a little more than nine years.  I know this because we brought Hayden home from the hospital before we were done the last time.  Done doing what, you ask?  Done remodeling the bathroom the first time, that's what!  Last time we gutted it.  New studs, new floors, new fixtures, everything.  This time, it was just the surface stuff: paint, shower curtain, window covering, rugs.  But, boy, it sure does look different!  Check out the slideshow, then I'll tell you about the title . . .



Now that you've seen all the "pretty," I'll tell you why it's called "Chocolate." We bought the shower curtain first. After doing so, we had to go paint shopping. You know how it is, you pick up swatches, try to match them, take them home to check them in the proper light. Eventually you buy paint. When we got started, the beige color wasn't all that exciting. I kept hoping that I would like it when we were done, but I was having my doubts. And so was Brett. Especially after we cracked open the second gallon of paint. He was completely convinced it was going to be too dark. Then Mallory saw the paint. The first words out of her mouth were, "It looks like melted chocolate!"

So, now, whenever she's in the bathroom, she says, "Mmmmmm, Chocolate!"

Asaro Thanksgiving Holiday

Every Thanksgiving, the Kincaid family is one of the many hundreds of thousands of families that hits the road to be with family. This year was no different (except that we left earlier in the day, making our trip much quicker!)

As part of our Thanksgiving celebration, we go shopping on Black Friday, then celebrate Christmas the next day. We started it several years ago when we were having trouble coordinating our schedules for the holiday, and it has been a tradition ever since.

The kids enjoy spending the day together, and the ladies enjoy shopping all day long. Alayna got some Legos (girly ones) and a chef's hat and apron for playing make believe. Mallory and Chloe both got Bendaroos! Mallory also got a Connect 4 x 4 game. Chloe got a new sweater. Hayden got and new hoodie and some books from his favorite series, Warriors. The kids also got to go shopping with Gramma and Grampa Asaro. Hayden had a little trouble deciding, but eventually settled on the new Super Mario Brothers game. He couldn't wait to get home and play it. The Waffle was happy to oblige. Mallory bought some crafty things, including Pixos, and also a butterfly necklace. She put the rest of her money in her shopping jar!

All in all, it was a good trip. Enjoy the slideshow!

Fall Baseball = Totally Awesome!

In an earlier post, I wrote about Hayden's fall baseball team, the Mets (who, by the way, are partially responsible for my gross negligence in keeping up the blog lately). Well, needless to say, we had SO MUCH FUN playing baseball in the fall. The league was much smaller than this summer - only five teams in all. The boys were much more evenly spread, as far as talent and skill goes. And Hayden's team actually won some of their games - for him this is a first in two years! They ended up with a 6 - 4 record for the season and placed 3rd in the end of season tournament. They had so many close games, which I found to be quite an effective stress reliever. There's nothing quite like cheering and screaming your head off for an hour and a half to clear your mind! Here are some fun photos from the season - I especially like the night pictures, even though they aren't close-ups.

Turkey in July? Yes - Turkey Run, that is!

I’ve heard people say that camping is either/or. You either love it or you hate it. Well, the Kincaids definitely love it. We try to go every summer. In years past, we have been camping at Brown County, Indiana Beach, and Lake Rudolph to name a few. This year we decided to camp at Turkey Run. I am usually the planner of the vacation agenda, and I was all prepared this year, too. We could go hiking, swimming, horseback riding and canoeing. A total outdoor adventure! When we arrived, we weren’t totally crazy about our campsite, so we checked to see if we could switch – and we did. It worked out well. We ended up with a bigger campsite with more shade and a boy on the campsite right behind us. For those of you that don’t camp, one of the best things about camping is that the kids make new friends. Everyone’s out playing, riding their bikes, making s’mores and stuff, and it’s just a real friendly, fun atmosphere. We went hiking and swimming the first day and canoeing the second, then hiking again the third day. We also visited the nature center and went to a show in the planetarium.





The kids absolutely LOVED Turkey Run. The hiking was awesome – the sights and sounds of the beauty around us just had a way of ‘connecting’ you to the world around you. Hayden wanted to go on the longest, most strenuous trail, so, we did. Everyone loved it, but we sure did sleep well that night! And the day we went canoeing was certainly an adventure. We took 2 canoes, Hayden and mom in one and Mallory and the Waffle in the other. We packed a picnic lunch, and off we went on our nautical adventure. It was a good day, mostly. Except for the part where I freaked out because our canoe was turned backwards, moving toward rapid waters and a fallen tree in the middle of Sugar Creek! After I was done speaking louder than I should (read “screaming”) and we got our canoe turned back around facing the correct way, I was calm again. I don’t think Hayden appreciated getting smacked in the face with tree branches very much, though. Sorry, ‘bout that, bud!

Our last night, there were storms predicted to move through the area. Having camped in the rain before, we prepared ourselves. We took some of our stuff down and put all of our stuff under tarps. It never did rain through the night, but the next morning, it started about 5 am. And rained for 2 – 3 hours. Because we’d prepared ourselves, we just lay in the tent and listened to the rain, drifting in and out of sleep. It was wonderful. Yes, I said wonderful. After the rain stopped, we emerged from our cover, had breakfast, and packed up. We were hot, dirty, and exhausted, but there’s just something about cooking over a campfire and sleeping outside that relaxes us.

Scouts Visit the Ropkey Armory Museum

Pack 3310 held their July Pack meeting at the Ropkey Armory Museum just outside of Crawfordsville, IN. This place was packed full of tanks, jeeps, motorcycle, boats, helicopters, a bi-plane, a large variety of firearms and other weapons. It was total guy-heaven, ‘cuz you know, guys like to blow things up. Here's a slideshow of photos from the day.

Checkmate!

Today we went on a road trip.  Destination?  Terre Haute, IN, for the Indiana State Chess Finals.  Hayden plays on Edgelea's chess team and about a month ago his team went to the Regionals in Indianapolis and there they qualified for the State Finals.  Today was a little hard on the team. The competition draws the best players in the entire state.  Because all of the team members are 5th graders except Hayden, the Edgelea team plays in the 6th grade & under division.  So today he (an 8 year old 2nd grader) was playing against kids who were in 4th, 5th and 6th graders!  He played 3 of the 5 rounds, but lost all his games today.  His ego took a little beating, but he recovered quickly. He's looking forward to playing our next door neighbor (and beating him!)

Here's a slideshow of today's events.  

Museum photos slideshow - Enjoy!

I'm so impressed with my new technological abilities. Give a girl a laptop and she gets obsessed! Below is the slide show of the museum photos. I'd still like to take pictures of all the pennies we smashed and upload those, too. Maybe another day. This will do for now.