Still getting caught up with posts to the site, this is the last one to get me caught up.
Halloween has come and gone and was a big success here at the Wynn household. We held our second annual Halloween party which I would say was an excellent success. However, Sarah and I were so busy that we didn't stop to take any photos, so nothing much to share unfortunately.
For Halloween, the kids really put a lot of effort into their costumes. They spend hours pouring over the catalogs full of costumes and usually agonize over the final decision. This year, Ella decided to be a Police Officer, while Max was Zorro.
Their costumes were really nice, luckily they get a lot of use out of them, playing dress-up is one of their favorite activities.
New Tattoo for Chris
You may have heard by now that I got a new tattoo this last September. I have been wanting to do something for the kids for quite a while now, but wasn't sure what. I traveled to Austin, Texas for a special event to promote Gears of War during the Austin City Limits Music Festival. XBox had setup a special VIP area for the various musicians and other people deemed important. I was there to show the game just before it was about to launch (in fact I went from Austin straight to New York to officially launch the game at midnight on September 19th). There was also a bunch of booze (brought some home because there was so much), a lady who brought some really good cupcakes, and a tattoo artist to tattoo the musicians.
Soccer Season Summary
Another fall is through, and another soccer season is in the books. Max got his first outdoor season behind him with a more casual city league. Good to get him out in the grass and running around though.
As Ella gets older, the competitive spirit in her and the league picks up intensity. The still do not keep official score at this age (which is total crap), but don't tell the girls that because every single one of them keeps score. Ella got really aggressive this year, really getting physical and using her body (well, mostly her elbows) to get the other girls off the ball. She also makes some runs towards the net when she gets the ball which she was always hesitant to do. Working with her to keep the hustle up and not give up on plays and to get her shots off quicker.
Back to School
Another exciting school year begins here in Seattle. For Max, it is his first official year starting Kindergarten while Ella began 2nd grade. Both of them are attending Alcott Elementary and get to ride the bus together and everything. Max only has school for half a day so he comes home earlier than Ella.
Highlights so far seem to be the extra curricular activities like art and running club along with library. At least they look a little happier than last year's first day of school photos.
Road Trip!
Ever since we got the new car, the kids have been asking to go on a road trip. We think this is just because they wanted to watch movies in the car and hook up the Xbox in the car to play while in the car. Nevertheless, we decided to go for it.
Our original plan was to head down to Lake Tahoe and stay there for the weekend, but my crazy travel schedule through August and September made things a little difficult. Labor Day weekend was the only time available to go and all of the resorts in Tahoe were booked solid so we needed a new plan. We had also planned on stopping in Sacramento to see our good friends, the Schwaznicks, who had just moved there from up here. So instead of going to Tahoe, we just drove down to Sacramento to stay with them over the Labor Day weekend before getting back to Seattle so that the kids could start school.
The map makes this look like a pretty simple drive, pretty much a straight shot, about 750 miles one way. We figured about 12 hours of driving. Our lack of road trip knowledge hurt us on this one. We hit all kinds of holiday weekend traffic, especially in Portland leaving Seattle at about 1pm. At 1am, we were still about 2 hours away and just had to stop in Reading, CA for a quick sleep. A nice night at the Holiday Inn and we were back on the road with a nice easy drive the rest of the way.
Our original plan was to head down to Lake Tahoe and stay there for the weekend, but my crazy travel schedule through August and September made things a little difficult. Labor Day weekend was the only time available to go and all of the resorts in Tahoe were booked solid so we needed a new plan. We had also planned on stopping in Sacramento to see our good friends, the Schwaznicks, who had just moved there from up here. So instead of going to Tahoe, we just drove down to Sacramento to stay with them over the Labor Day weekend before getting back to Seattle so that the kids could start school.
The map makes this look like a pretty simple drive, pretty much a straight shot, about 750 miles one way. We figured about 12 hours of driving. Our lack of road trip knowledge hurt us on this one. We hit all kinds of holiday weekend traffic, especially in Portland leaving Seattle at about 1pm. At 1am, we were still about 2 hours away and just had to stop in Reading, CA for a quick sleep. A nice night at the Holiday Inn and we were back on the road with a nice easy drive the rest of the way.
No updates
Sorry for the lack of updates here. We have a technical issue and I do not currently have admin access to our own website. Google has been seemingly unhelpful thus far. I may be able to post now, but I have no way to edit things for now.