A week's worth...

Some little moments from our lives this week.

A Sunday afternoon playdate with neighbors...

 We have new neighbors on Somerton and the little boy, Leo, has taken a shine to Ivy.  She was invited to join him, under the supervision of our 5th grade friend Rachel, for a roving playdate that included time at Rachel's house, our backyard with chickens, and Coventry Park.  Ivy was thrilled to be off on her own with friends.  An "I love where I live" moment for this mom, for sure...Good neighbors make all the difference.

Crafting like crazy:  Nat is immersed in the annual construction of Halloween costumes and our dining room looks like a craft store exploded.  Inspired by their dad, the kids have been raring to help with all the things, from sanding the replica Nimbus 2000 to constructing their own wands, to discovering and putting together the Snow-Cone machine in a rare display of teamwork.

What's a little mess when there is so much creativity to be found!

The stunning weather continues:  A gift of a day on Tuesday, perfect for a walk with my honey by the lake.  Because I just spent the time this weekend getting my fall clothes out, that meant it had to be 75 degrees out.  I made sure to enjoy every bit of the "too warm" that I was feeling. And the incredible, unearthly blue of that lake.
Oh, how I love my lake!!

Bunnies.  Yes, two of them.  Turns out we rescued a loose pet rabbit  in our neighborhood, on Monday before piano lessons.  5 adults and 4 children working together to corner and trap the little guy before a coyote could get him... We were sure that he would turn out to be a beloved escaped pet from one of the nearby houses...and here we are a week later with "Buddy" or "Other Bunny" or "Grey" still in residence with us.  No response to signs and posting on local classifieds, sadly.
He's a really cute little guy, if a bit standoffish.    And he and Marshmallow really like each other-- through the bars of the cage anyways.  When we let them out together, there were a lot of... "dominance displays" (aka mounting one another with surprising ferocity...) to the point we had to separate them with a broom handle.  So yeah.  We're not quite sure how to proceed from here, but for the moment we are spending a lot of time cleaning up hay and bunny litter boxes.
What a life I have...

 Wednesday walks...  I'm enjoying taking Ivy to ballet and then sneaking off for a little woods time.  This week I dashed home and got my other girl to keep me company.  A little stream swim and then rolling in the nice rec center grass... happy dog.

Friday-- the day was so very luscious, it would have been criminal to not go to the lake.
As soon as I got home, we packed a dinner picnic and headed out.

 A quick stop at North Coast Harbor (we do love that little Pokemon player of ours...)

 ... and then Whiskey Island for sunset...

 Apparently renovations of the old Coast guard Station are underway, with plans for a kayak rental and concession stand out on the boardwalk.  Super excited about this because I do love this building.  And our Metroparks system, which is totally rocking its ownership of the Cleveland Lakefront.

Saturday Soccer!

 Fall color!  Like a switch has flipped.  The maples are spectacular...
And the weather is fine for soccer!  Cool and breezy beautiful and our kids played with joy.  Jack assisted Ivy's team as a fill in goalie and let in a shot from the other team to help even out the score when they were behind 4-0.  I was so incredibly proud of him for reading the situation and acting on it with kindness.  He has come a long way with his empathy.

We had so much fun at our games, we thought we'd head back to Denison field that night for the CHHS boys varsity game.  Some of the kids' coaches were playing for Senior night and talking it up, so the kids were raring to go.  My family, heading off to a tickets sporting event!  Who knew??

We had a blast.

It was an exciting game, made better by the home team winning 3-0 (despite Mentor's superior passing game.  We had one excellent goalie...).  Jack was rapt, sitting up ramrod-straight to watch the action and spending the latter half of the game up at the rail for a better view.  Ivy wa enthusiastic but increasingly tired and cold... so, lots of good snuggles with my girl under the blanket (which was thankfully still in the van from the afternoon-- we got to look like we were prepared! ha!).  Best moment from her:  after the second goal scored in under 2 minutes, with every person in the stands up on their feet cheering and stomping, little one looks up from playing on my phone and says, with all seriousness, "What?  Did we score???"

Best moment for my boy?  Halftime, when kids headed out to the field to kick a ball around, and he asked to go too... and headed out so confidently to hang out with his college-age coaches, stealing the ball, chasing, having the time of his life.  It helps that he knows this field like the back of his hand, and a couple of the (really great) young men who coach have known him since he was 5... but I was so very proud of his bravery to go out into a new experience, and embrace the fun of it so fully.
We've got a little jock on our hands, I think.  He's even agreed to go to a skills clinic for 6 weeks this winter.  Big boy.

See that little boy in red?  My son!  So big, but so very little out there with those young adults.  

Lazy Sunday snuggles with my favorite girls...

Sweet Cor doesn't come up onto the bed too much these days.  She made the effort this morning and just seemed to soak up the love and comfort.  My good old girl...

A week's worth of wonderful, for sure.  Feeling happy and blessed today.