Post Road English Garden - Year 7

Since Jax was along for the ride, we decided to introduce him to a longstanding Vandygriff holiday tradition - Post Road English Garden.

You know how it works. 6 little sheds decked out to the max in different holidays themes. We did the scavenger hunt, posed for pictures and picked up our treats.

Then we made something strange called a "swag." There was no way we wanted anything to do with them. We took full advantage of the opportunity to earn Mom points.

Hot chocolate with the big guy.

I mean...  Swag.

More enthusiasm for the swag.

MUCH more enthusiasm for fire and S'mores

We two BFFs would be happy doing pretty much anything together. Even making swags...

Then we sat with the same Santa I've seen every year since I was 3. The guy never ages! This year he brought along the Missus.

The highlight of the visit was when he thought B asked him for a Fake ID. He whipped his head up and asked Mom "Did he say a Fake ID?!" That was equal parts hilarious and disastrous because even once we sorted out that he actually asked for "Virtual Reality" the seed had been planted in my little bro's head.

"Hey! What's a Fake ID?!"

Thanks for making a fun day even better bud!

Jax

So Jax's parents went out of town and we got to keep him! For 2 nights and one of them was a SCHOOL night!

It's like Christmas came early!

He didn't want to go to wrestling practice, so B entertained him.

It's nearly impossible not to get along with Jax.

Thanks for stepping in bro. and Thanks for the awesome surprise Mama Hinkle and Mama Vandy!

Field Trip!

Today was Field Trip Day. We got to go to The Children's Museum!

Mrs. Custis tried to put Keeton in my group, but I said "Oh no... my mom would NOT like that!" So he got moved to Emmit's group. That left just me in my group with Mom and Tania both as chaperones :)

They took pity on Emmit's poor Dad. Emmit and I spent our time exploring like we were supposed to, so one adult stayed with us. The other two spent the ENTIRE DAY just trying not to lose Keeton.

The circus exhibit was my fave.

Look! A rare Keeton sighting!

I would make a great clown if I liked people and wasn't always grumpy.

I had NO idea how most things worked.

But when you're the lucky kid with two chaperones to himself, you get the full museum experience.

Some kids think museums are low impact, low fun activities. Not me!

Not Papa Abernathy either! He dug right in!

Who are these yahoos and where are my responsible chaperones?!

After much smack talk, one of the highlights of the trip was our EPIC snowball fight. The grownups swear they won, but we feel that claim is unsubstantiated.

There is nothing better than a day away from classes with my best buddies.

Thanks Mom and TL! What a fun day!

B Finds His Passion

B has long wanted to become a farmer. B has a one track mind. So, Mom decided to humor him by taking him to the 4H open house at the fairgrounds today. She was pretty sure he'd see how lame it all was and decide to ditch out.

Emmit met us there and together they visited booths on cows, rabbits, sewing, canning, planting, building, sheep, horses and goats. Here they are with a little chicken.

and the pony

Unfortunately, you can see by the smile on his face, that Mom's plan was a huge failure. So, they trudged on over to the sign up table where a lil old farm lady asked B "So... you're interested in signing up for 4H sweetheart?"

In typical B fashion, he avoided eye contact and gave an ever so slight nod.

Not to be deterred, the sweet little old lady asked: "What are you interested in darling?"

B: "Goats."

Sweet Little Innocent Lady: "Oh! Goats are neat! What would you like to learn about them?"

B: "Fighting. I wanna do Goat Fighting."

If we could capture the look on that sweet little old farm lady's horrified face, I don't know that we could put it here as this is a family blog. Let's just say she was shocked!

But who are we to deny the kid his passion? Mom soon found a clever t-shirt and we are all anxiously awaiting the debut of Goat Fighting at the Indiana State Fair this summer :)

Twisted

3/4 of us headed across the street to the second home in our Parkview Drive complex for Mama Siler's bday tonight.

There were party people, party foods and we brought along a party game!

Who knew Mrs. Vance was so flexible!?

Anyone who knows my little brother, knows this is NOT the best place to be.

Luckily, wrestling has been forcing my body into extremely uncomfortable positions. I am now a Twister Champ!

Perks of Life in The Ridge

Lots of neighborhoods have unique selling features. Here in the Ridge, we have decided to offer "Free Pumpkin Disposal" to all of our residents. We went door to door with our wheelbarrow and gathered up the old pumpkins.

Then we disposed of them responsibly. As only children aged 7-12 can do.

The weapons of destruction varied as greatly as the shapes, sizes and colors of the pumpkins themselves. We used bow and arrows, feet, bats, rakes, shovels and brute strength to smash those pumpkins thoroughly.

When we're talking about Bristol Ridge residents, we know they expect the best. We made sure to deliver just that!

It was hard work. Backbreaking. We really hated it.... 

Okay that last part may have been a lie :)

Those pumpkins were annihilated! We made sure all guts made it into the field for compost.

If your neighborhood doesn't offer this service, are you really getting the most out of life?!

Goodwill On Earth

Okay this entry isn't about US, but we did help so....

Mom and Dad went out on a Goodwill Date Night last night. We had an absolute blast picking their outfits at Goodwill!

The Vance's looked fantastic in their Thrift Store Threads.

And Mom said it wasn't all that fair that she was the only hideous participant, but wowsah.... they definitely drew attention!

While they were out trolling the streets, they popped into ANOTHER thrift store and Dad fell in love with this coat he was told made him look just like Connor MacGregor.

SPOILER ALERT:  Mom and I snuck back to this very store a couple of days later and picked it up for him.

There were all kinds of goodies there!

What a fun night with some fun people. Our parents sure do have great friends.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for all the wonderful people in our lives.