thesellers.net

Ever since Halloween last year, we’ve had an ongoing conversation about costumes for this year. We all wanted to do a family costume and Jen was ready for a break from princesses after the last three years. Jen and I pushed for more creative costumes (e.g. a lunch box, sandwich, juice box, etc.) while the girls wanted something more common. In the end, they really wanted to be superheroes, so we decided to make up superheroes of our own. From left to right - the Caped Computer Crusader, Music Molly, Rainbow Girl, and the Super Seamstress. Together we are the Super Sellers.

Jen made all the capes, masks, and tutus and appliquéd the designs on their 3 shirts. She also cut the hole in my shirt and applied stabilizer in it. In that hole is an iPad running an app I wrote for this that types out computer code (complete with typing sounds). Also, Music Molly has an iPhone strapped to her leg playing music wherever she goes. Here are a few more pictures of us to enjoy:

Since Halloween day was going to be very busy and Aunt Caroline would not be home early enough to see the girls then, we decided to trick-or-treat at Grams’s house a few days early. We were already getting dressed up to go to Trunk-or-Treat at church, so Sunday made a good time to visit Grams as well.

We wanted to get a few pictures with the girls, but Leah decided to be stubborn and refused to take them. Eventually she came around.

The girls are superheroes, while Aunt Caroline and Grams maintain their secret identities.

Before arriving at the Trunk-or-Treat festivities at church, we already knew where the girls wanted to go first - the donut swing.

After some indoor fun, we headed outside to trunk-or-treat.

This car was our favorite - a prison cell with a little door to reach through for candy.

The girls were very excited about the costume competition, and even more excited when we won for best family costume (the Minnie Mouse jar full of candy was the prize).

All that, and Halloween was still 5 days away. Lots more fun to be had before then.

Molly’s class took their first field trip of second grade to the Howard County Antique Farm Machinery Club’s Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. It’s a non-functioning farm that they use to teach about what it was like on a farm before electricity. I went along.

It was an action-packed day with 10 groups and 10 stations. Each station got 8 minutes to present what they wanted to show, so there was no time for goofing off. Fortunately, large groups of second graders never goof off...

Our first stop was the blacksmith, who made a mini horseshoe for us.

We then processed corn stalks, learned about grains, checked out where they milked cows, learned about making brooms, made some rope, and learned about bees (sorry, no pictures).

Next, Molly used the corn sheller to remove all the kernels from this ear of corn, leaving her with only a cob.

She took those kernels and put them in the grain mill to make cornmeal.

After that, we headed into the farmhouse to see how they did laundry, cooked, and lived without electricity.

The kids had a good time and learned a good bit, but it was an exhausting pace. I think all the parents breathed a sigh of relief when the kids got back on the bus to head back to school.

Leah’s preschool had a picnic (as they do every year) and lots of fun was to be had. Molly found if she stood on this stone wall, she could pop the bubbles that floated up high.

Molly loves to hula hoop. She was doing 4 hoops at one time later as well.

Molly found an old preschool friend (the older sister of one of Leah's classmates), who showed Molly how to make a hula hut.

These girls thought they could hide from my camera. They were wrong.

Molly does love to spin.

We also had some yummy waffles from the La Pearl waffle truck. We'll pretend like that was a healthy dinner and not a dessert.

We’ve debated taking the girls to a full-size amusement park (as opposed to one for little kids) for some time. We’re also debating a trip to Orlando, and thought this might be a good low-cost experiment to see how they handle a full-size park with full-size rides. So, we spontaneously (yes, shocking for us, I know) decided to go to Hershey Park, then headed up a couple days later. The girls are very excited to be in the Sweetest Place on Earth.

Leah was very excited about a boat ride, so our first stop was the Coal Cracker - a flume boat ride with a big plunge at the end. Molly sat with Jen in the front of the boat.

And Leah sat with me in the back of the boat.

Jen took two Dramamine in order to be able to ride rides, but she still wasn’t going to get on the tea cups. So, it was me and the girls. And Molly got sunscreen in her eye, which meant she had trouble with the sun. So, she stole my hat and covered her left eye.

Molly and I went to the bathroom to wash out her eye while Jen and Leah stood in line for the Skyview. We got back in time to watch them soar above everyone.

Eventually, I convinced the girls to try out a roller coaster. We went for the little Cocoa Cruiser. It’s so small that they let you go around three times before you get out. Leah handled it well and did not freak out or get scared, but afterward calmly said she did not like it and did not want to do another roller coaster. Molly, on the other hand, was excited to do a bigger roller coaster.

As a reward for trying the roller coaster, we got ice cream. Molly went for a Pepsi float, and Leah got a cup. Both were comically large.

This is the Sweet Swing, and it is just a giant swing. It is a very simple, but the girls loved it. They did it twice, and would have kept going all day if we’d let them.

Second time, still fun.

Next, Molly and I went to try out her first big roller coaster - the Comet. It’s a wooden roller coaster (which I love) that seemed like a good first coaster. Molly was very excited.

What we didn’t realize was that the Comet began with a 96 foot drop. As you can see, Molly got scared. But she recovered quickly and had a great time on the rest of the ride, smiling and yelling along the way.

Here’s proof that Molly was smiling at the end of the ride. She said it was great, and wanted to ride on another roller coaster.

While Molly and I waited for the Comet, Jen and Leah went back to the Skyview. Here’s the two of them high up above the ground. They actually saw us on the roller coaster from their high-up vantage point.

Jen and Leah then headed to the Carousel while Molly and I sought out another roller coaster.

Molly and I next rode the Trailblazer, a steel roller coaster with no big drops (though some pretty tight turns and good speed). She loved it.

After being separate for a bit, the girls were excited to ride something together again.

We then ate some dinner and left the park, but not to head home. We headed over to Chocolate World. We took the Great American Chocolate Tour, which the girls claimed was their favorite part of the whole trip. Then we bought a big pack of Twizzlers, a giant Hershey's Kiss, and stuffed toy versions of those same candies.

Finally at 8:40, we were on the tram ready to head back to our car. It was a very long day.

The girls had a lot of fun and were immediately asking when they could go back. I'm not sure when that'll be, but I give Hershey Park a thumbs up as well.

G’Mom and Grampa came into town to celebrate Leah’s birthday. And since Friday was a day off of school, the girls had plenty of time to play with them. First stop - a playground. Grampa couldn’t bear to let Molly be taller than him, so he gave these trees a climb as well.

Later, G’Mom and Grampa got to see Leah do some gymnastics.

Grampa got a sweet hug from Leah during a short activity break back at our house.

They then headed to the school to ride their bikes on the blacktop and play on the playground. Leah likes to keep her helmet on so she can jump back on her bike whenever she likes.

How long do you think G’Mom can stay on this log roll?

Saturday included some games. Leah’s excited for winning this round of Crazy Eights.

Next up was a game of Hedbanz.

Next stop - pottery painting. Molly chose to paint this monster box.

Leah painted this magic wand.

After the girls finished, they waited for Jen to finish painting her plate. Getting the details right takes time.

That was a lot of activities, but it was just the warm-up. We hadn't even started celebrating the birthday yet.

Since the previous post on karate did not include shots of the actual class, I took a few at their second class to give you a better idea. Here’s Leah practicing her punch.

And here she is practicing her high block.

Molly is learning her stances and punches.

Molly’s foot is moving too fast for my camera.

Nice punch form, Molly.

As they do every year, Molly's school had their back-to-school picnic. Leah couldn't wait to get her face painted.

Molly got her face painted after Leah, which gave Leah plenty of time to check out her reflection.

Face painting, complete. The girls were actually very excited about the result, despite their faces.

Molly participated in the hula hoop contest. She didn't win, but had a lot of fun.

These four friends had a lot of fun together.

The picnic even had a green screen photo booth to put you on exotic backgrounds.

And here's a look at what the photo booth spit out for the girls.

The girls have started a new activity - karate. Here they are ready to head to their first class, which they enjoyed a lot. And even better, we found an all-female dojo for them to join - no boys allowed. In case you’re wondering about their faces here, they’re showing off their kiai!

First, the prelude:

Molly’s school lets the kids come the Friday before school starts for a sneak-a-peek at their classroom and teacher. So, of course Jen and Molly weren’t going to miss the chance. Here’s Molly giving a sweet treat to her new second grade teacher, Ms. Diop, last Friday.

Then this morning, the big day arrived. Molly was excited as always. Here she is ready to go to her first day of second grade in a new dress made by Jen. She’s also got some new earrings that Jen surprised her with last night.

Here she is on the way. We still love being able to walk to school.

Molly had a lot of fun playing with the twins this summer (they live behind us off to the side). She was excited to find out Jordan was once again in her class.

Per tradition, a bunch of the kids from the neighborhood gathered for a picture on the first day of school.

Molly and Jordan walked hand in hand most of the way to school. Clearly that didn’t stop Molly talking with her other hand, though.

The Wildcat was on hand for the first day of school, and Molly was excited to take a picture with him.

And then she was off. We’re looking forward to a great year.

Thursday was the girls' last swimming lesson of the year. It's amazing how far they've come, particularly Molly. At the beginning of this year, we were worried about her being too scared to put her face in the water. Now, she's underwater all the time and spends her lessons working on technique rather than fear.

Leah's come a long way as well, and is becoming a great little swimmer. She still has some trouble coming up for air (she prefers to just hold her breath for the entire length that she is swimming), but she's getting better at it.

Here are a couple of shots of Molly swimming during her last lesson.

And here she is showing me her underwater handstands while Leah is having her swim lesson.

Hard to believe she didn't like to put her face in the water just a short time ago.

Now, to really give you an idea of how they're doing swimming, here's a short video of both of them from their last swimming lesson. Enjoy!