Thanksgiving

We varied our Thanksgiving traditions some this year and went to a local restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner with my dad and Paul's mom. They offered a buffet with traditional and some non-traditional food that was very good.
Here is Rudy pre-meal.

And then part way through - notice the tie has been turned around and is no longer under the collar.

Rudy and his grandparents.

The anatomy of picture taking with Rudy. The silly face...

 

the innocent face...

the serious face.

For dessert Rudy got part of a turkey cake. Here he's eating the head of the turkey.

The whole gang.

 

On Friday we had Thanksgiving at our house as usual. The group was smaller, since Chris and Patti and kids were away.

We also celebrated Rudy's birthday.

 

A new bell for his bike.

Let's go put the bell on the bike...

 

Look! A new bike, too!

He was so excited to get a new bike and he showed off his skills by jumping right on and riding down the street.

This year's cake request was easy- a baseball cake.

Since Max, Lucy and Charlie weren't here, Rudy and Paige were the only kids. Rudy did an amazing job with Paige. Right from the time she arrived he showed her his toys, shared what he was playing with, and if he snagged a marshmallow from Grandpa, he made sure to get one for Paige. When it came time to open gifts, he even told Paige she could help him. It was such a nice thing to see Rudy growing up and being so patient with her.

Paige had fun trying out Rudy's various instruments.

Once Paige had her pajamas on, Rudy had to run upstairs and put his on, too. So then we took a few cousin pictures.

So sweet. So thankful for family time and to see Rudy interact so well with his younger cousin. Maybe he is ready to be a big brother!

Biking and Cousins and Soccer Stars

Saturday evening Rudy wanted to take his bike out. At the beginning of the summer, he wanted to training wheels taken off, but once they came off, he wasn't very excited to ride because it was too hard. One night recently, while playing outside with the neighborhood kids, he took his bike and Paul saw some of the kids riding alongside him helping him balance and ride. I think that gave him the confidence (and the peer pressure) needed to give it another try.
So just before dark, while Paul ran out, Rudy and I headed to the end of our street. He did amazingly well. He would go about 20 feet pushing with his feet, and then stand on the pedals and start pedaling. He still isn't going very far before loosing his balance or concentration, but it's enough that he feels accomplished! We had to call Paul as it got dark to drive home quickly to see him do it.
Sunday morning, when Rudy woke up at 6:45, the first words he said to me were, "Can I go out and ride my bike?" We put him off for a few hours, but then he was out there practicing some more.

Later on Sunday we met up with the cousins to celebrate Charlie's birthday at Johnson's Farm. We didn't get to stay long because we had plans to go to a soccer game, but we got to hang out on the playground for about an hour.
The girls stayed together most of the time.

The big boys decided the stroller was the best thing to play in.

Charlie, ever the Daddy's boy.

The girls.

Rudy hiding from Max.

The biggest monkeys.

Playing on the tractor and wagon.

Just before we left, we threw all the kids together to take a picture. I just kept snapping and ended up with some good ones, except for the funny shadows. Everyone cooperated, without any bribes, which was a pleasant change.

After a while at the farm, Paul, Rudy and I headed to PPL Park for a Philadelphia Union soccer game. A local group of families who have adopted from Guatemala planned the outing and there were a lot of perks involved.

The beautiful park.

The players warming up on the field.

We received t-shirts and a bag with a sweatband and wrist bands and a magnet.

The end zone where all the excitement happens when the Union score a goal.

At the 80 minute mark, our group headed into the locker room area for a meet and greet with a couple of players. Here we are waiting (with our bug-eyed son).

Rudy getting an autograph from Gabriel Farfan. He was so excited to meet the players and get their autographs, but really couldn't have cared less about the game. He did say on the way out, "I'm really into soccer now."

We also met Zac MacMath, the goalie.

On the way out I attempted to get a nice picture taken with my son and the Commodare Barry Bridge behind us.
Attempt one.

Attempt two.

Attempt three- guess this will have to do!