Fall Fest

Our school had our Fall Fest on Friday. It was a fun filled evening...for half the family anyway. Little Miss A and Mr. D both had TONS of friends all over the place and bounced from friend to friend. It was hard to keep up with who was heading in which direction with whom. With lots of games, bouncy contraptions and a great petting zoo...Little Miss Social did not want to leave. She and I outlasted the boys by a good hour and a half. Her "big" friends (some of my 4th graders) were quick to find her and take her under their wings and play. Such amazing girls!! So glad my Little Miss A has such good girl role models to look up to. :)

What a fun family night!

Tuesday Trip #3

We took an evening trip with Daddy tonight to a

Round Rock Express game.

Not sure how much the Caswell Kids actually understood about the game, but they loved the interactive games, songs and dances between innings. :) They especially enjoyed rolling down the grassy berm area towards the end of the game.

We were so glad Daddy could join us for a Tuesday Trip!!! :)

Wii

In an attempt to prime the kids for tomorrow's Tuesday Trip (without them knowing) we played a little Wii this afternoon. We started with Mario Kart. Though we haven't played in FOREVER, the kids have actually improved. A single race didn't take 30 minutes like it used to. Of the four races in a match, their best places...Mr. D came in 9th for one race, Little Miss A came in 5th for a race!!!! This is astounding since they were ALWAYS either 11th or 12th (last and second to last place) based on how the other twin played. Remarkable...and there were no arguments, a sad Mr. D (shocker, right?) about his performance, but that was it. Then we broke out baseball. Uncle K taught them how to play when he came to visit in the fall. (Have I mentioned how much I love you for that BTW?) This is seriously a no fighting, no tears game that the kids can totally play on their own. The cheers of "There's Mommy, Daddy, Aunt K, Cousin J or Uncle D" prompted us to make more Miis for our system. We now have all of our family members accounted for and some friends as well. I wonder if the Miis they made for themselves on their own systems look like the ones we made for them here? :) Can't wait to play again to see if we filled up 2 baseball teams and can avoid playing with "strangers" as the kids call them. :)

Did I mention the Wii might need to become a more regular occurrence. Now that it seems to be less frustrating for the kids, we may need to try family game night again. Aunt K already mentioned we need Wii Dance...bring it...that's my kind of game. After seeing the pics of the Florida fam playing for Father's Day, that's a definite!!! (Not to mention the fact that I think it would be HILARIOUS to watch Jamie.)

Indoor Rainy Day Games

With afternoon rain showers the past few days, the Caswell kids have been enjoying some new indoor games. This was one...

Wheelbarrow races were a HUGE hit one rainy afternoon. :)

Croquet

Mr. D is a persistent little man and has been wanting to play croquet A TON lately. The problem is, he usually asks like RIGHT before bedtime or something crazy like that. So we took the opportunity (with the day off) to play during the day. :) Let's just say our yard is not the best design (TOTAL HILL) to pull this off, but it definitely made for a challenging game. The kids had a blast! We had a few casualties with some of the pieces, so we'll break out the wood glue and finish our game up tonight with Daddy when he gets home. :)

Some Outside Play Time

After a long night at school last night, all I wanted to do was hang out and play with the kids this afternoon. :)

We began our afternoon of play with a nice old fashioned game of Quidditch. (Yes, my son is still obsessed with Harry Potter...Universal here we come!!)


After a nice round of Quidditch, we played hide and seek (not an easy feat in a VERY bare backyard) and tag. We had a BLAST!!!!
Thank heavens for the warmer weather. We've been a little water logged over here lately with all the rain, not to mention colder temps. It's official, the Caswells are ready for SPRING! :)

Wii Competition

Ah, the Wii!!! Uncle Kyle and Kayla brought their Wii remotes with them so we could have a full on competition. Sadly, they ended up helping the kids instead. We had a few rough moments...it's not easy to lose, but he's learning. Little Miss A was all smiles the whole time, such a SWEET girl. Even when she lost, she said "it's okay." Mr. D, on the other hand, needed some convincing to continue to play then some major cheering to maintain his interest. We'll see if we can keep it up.

Thanks, again, Uncle Kyle and Kayla for coming to visit!!! We love and miss you both so much!!!

A Game of Strategy

With a game room that will actually hold all of our games in one central location and an organization system that has them far more readily available than they were before, the kids have REALLY been exploring their options with the games we have. This morning I taught them both (one at a time) to play checkers. The majority of the games we play don't really have opponents and never really involve thought out technique. It was so funny to see the difference in strategy.

Little Miss A was aggressive, chasing me all over the board with her pieces. Mr. D, on the other hand, was far more defensive in his play by play strategy, looking up to see my reaction with every piece he was going to potentially put down. Given the difference in strategy, completely offensive vs. totally defensive, it probably doesn't come as much of a shock to hear the reactions to losing checker pieces. Little Miss A just laughed (sweet girl) and tried to get another one of mine, Mr. D pouted with furrowed brow upset that he "was losing". So I'd set my pieces up so that he could take a few in a row to change his outlook on the game. When attempting to play one another, Little Miss A lit up at the chance, D got worried and decided not to play once the pieces were all set up. Maybe next time. :)

I'm Not Playing

A fun, family game night tradition at the Caswells went from fun to frightful when Mr D had to leave his spot 2 color squares away from Candy Castle to go all the way back to the Peppermint Forrest in a game of Candy Land gone wrong. A tragedy that has occurred SEVERAL times in the past, but today was actually accompanied with the famous "I'm not playing" statement and the biggest pout I've ever seen. (I had been waiting for that.) Even though I truly felt bad for the little guy, it was so hard not to laugh.