Last Wednesday Connor had the famous art lesson of making masks.  The kids were all excited but also nervous about having things pasted on their face.  The art teacher wanted the kids to place the Vaseline on the face inside the classroom and went outside to the table / bench for the paper mache part. Most kids were very careful and diligent helping each other making a great mask.  The art teacher, their teacher, the other parent and I went around guiding the kids, taking them inside the classroom to dry their masks and remove their masks.  This mask making took quite a bit of time but all the kids were patient and did a great job.

     Since we had a three day off last weekend and the weather in SF was perfect, we decided to make another trip to Alcatraz.  We all still remembered our trip to Alcatraz two years ago, but none of us minded going again.  We planned well and parked in a good spot.  Since it was a holiday weekend, there were lots of people in SF.  We had a nice lunch at the pier first; we wanted fish and chips, and Logan was tempted by the crowd with street food and had a hotdog instead.  Then we were off to the ferry ride.  Once we arrived at the island, we all recalled the drill.  We walked inside the cellhouse and got situated with the audio tour headsets.  The tour was excellent and we all enjoyed it just as much as last time.  We spent some time in the gift shop afterward and bought some souvenirs, and finally picked up a hot cocoa too.  Fortunately as we exited, we were able to rush to the departing ferry and saved a lot of waiting time.  This was a newer and nicer ferry and the ride was quite enjoyable.

   When we returned to the city, we decided to walk to the Fisherman’s Wharf as it was such a beautiful day.  There were many people and lots of things to see there.  We checked out a few interesting stores and came across a store called Mirror Maze; both boys were interested, so I went with them.  It was actually very cool inside.  The boys and I had fun running around and getting lost.  We found the exit but we decided against leaving and staying inside longer.  At one point, we were racing to the exit; Connor and I got separated with Logan, and it took us over 5 minutes to be reunited with him.  Finally we came out of the maze and we all ran to Stuart to share our experience which made him wish that he had gone with us.  We walked around the wharf some more, got some ice cream and snack before we headed back to our parking.  Connor also asked to stop for quite awhile watching a street entertainer.  By the time we got home, Buddy was very happy to see us after being alone for 8 hours.

     It was conference week, and Connor’s conference was last Wednesday.  Connor was a bit nervous as I picked him up from the after school program to walk to his class.  Connor’s teacher, Mrs. Bernhardt, ran the session differently; she had the student sharing what he did to the parents while she filled in with more details.  Connor was smiling a lot while sitting next to the teacher, and read to me some of the things he wrote.  Based on the report card, Connor is doing very well.  He is improving on comprehension, and doing great with writing.  Math is never an issue for him and he is being a good student in the classroom too.

   These are the boys’ school pictures and Logan’s Cross Country photos.

    Connor initially wanted to stay home to give out candies, thus he wanted to decorate the house and suggested us to buy a fog machine.  Then on the day of Halloween, his classmate Micah asked if Connor would trick and treat with him, and Connor agreed.  This year Maxim had decided not to go out, so Logan and Stuart went out together with Connor, Micah and his family.  Stuart decided to take Buddy out as well.  I ended up being the one operating the fog machine while passing out the candies.  I peeked through the peephole every time before opening the door and watching the kids get startled from the fog which was quite funny.  Most kids did like this little extra effect at our house.  Logan returned home first as he did not feel the need to get lots of candies while the rest of them were out for 2 hours.  This year we actually did not have too many trick n treaters.  By the time the rest of the family returned, the festivities had ended already.  Connor came home with tons of candies, and we also had a lot leftover as well.  According to Stuart, Buddy did a great job out there; he barked at dogs probably twice, and the rest of the time just hung out with everyone, sat and waited when the kids went up to each door.  Buddy was tired and slept well afterward.

    This year we are down to only one kid having a parade.  The kids could dress up at BH middle school, but Logan did not want to dress up, so he was off to school as usual.  Connor had wanted to be very scary this year and had wanted a headless bloody costume initially.  That costume was too gruesome for me, so I convinced him to get a slightly less scary Zombie one.  Connor seemed to like the costume, but was contemplating not to dress up for the parade.  I brought his costume with me to school, but at the end Connor kept his decision even though he could tell that I was disappointed.  I was sad that my little one was also growing up and not wanting to dress for the parade already.

    The parade was entertaining as usual, watching all the kids and teachers enjoying this festivity.  The class then took some group pictures before returning to the classroom for the party.  I had volunteered to help out so I stayed.  During the party, I ended up being in charge of taking the photo booth pictures of the kids and I enjoyed my task.  I did make sure I took pictures of all the kids; I also encouraged the adults to take some too.  The kids also rotated through the different stations.  They decorated donuts and enjoyed eating them, they decorated a mini pumpkins and had fun with a game called freeze dance.  An hour of fun time went by fast and the kids had a blast.