Top 16 Halloween Pictures from the Rogers Family

Halloween is over.  Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks & there is a little piece of me that is glad to say farewell to this fun holiday.  We have had lots of fun this season with the kids.  We have carved pumpkins, done Halloween crafts, made Halloween cupcakes & pancakes, attended Halloween parties & playdates, wore our costumes more than enough, did trick or treating at the Reston Town Center, read lots of Halloween stories & watched a few Halloween movies, & finished this holiday with a trick or treat session with some great friends.  What a fun holiday this has been with the kids & today I'm sharing some of my favorite pictures from this year's Halloween featuring Tinkerbell, Batman, & our little Minion.  Happy Halloween from the Rogers Family!

A Special Trip to Hershey, PA with Aiden

I will never get caught up on this blog.  Life is just crazy with three little ones, so I have accepted the fact & will share when I can find time.  This past month has been crazy with Chris out of town for several weekends due to various reasons & the one weekend he happened to be around was the weekend that I had planned with my sister to do a special trip to Hershey PA with our big boys!

After school on Friday, once Chris arrived home, Aiden & I loaded up the car and drove north to my sister's.  Just me and him.  My first time taking just one kid somewhere (and I have to admit a lot easier!).  We arrived in time for some playtime & a sleep over with cousin Jack.  

The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast before we headed up for a full day at Hershey Park.  Jill had some great discount tickets through her "company day" at work so we joined them for some fun rides & thrills all day long.  I haven't been to Hershey with my kids (last time I went was when we were first married living in New Jersey) & I was pleasantly surprised by how nice, clean, & fun it was.  We had a great time despite the chilly weather!  We finished the day with a trip to Chocolate World, where Aiden picked out a special pack of candy that he STILL haves.  This kid is a SAVER (or should I say, hoarder?!)

We ended our day with movie night for the boys upstairs & movie night for the moms downstairs!  What a fun weekend for us & here are some pictures from the big trip!

Our Trip to Lancaster, PA

This is a super long overdue post, but I wanted to "remember" this moment.  We headed up to Lancaster, PA this past summer to meet one of our bestie NJ families for the weekend.  We had such a blast reuniting with our friends & spending the weekend in the country.  

The kids were amazed with country life.  We decided for something different & blindly opted to rent a country house off the Internet.  Thank goodness, we found the perfect home & now we have a new favorite place to stay when we head up in that direction.  Seriously...the house was amazing.  Lots of bedrooms, big kitchen so we don't have to eat out all the time, the yard was amazing (beautiful views of country life, huge yard for the kids to run around in with complete swing set & toys to play with, bonfire area to hang out at during night time, & all on a working farm where they gave us tours!).  

We arrived & the first thing the kids did was play.  Look at this corn!

The farmer arrived later that night & said to come on down to see the baby cows & take a tour of his barn.  Seriously, this made my trip.  Look how adorable these cows are & we got to give them baby bottles full of milk to drink!

Later that night, it was time for our first bonfire of the weekend before we hit the beds!

The next day, we awoke & had a quick breakfast before we headed over to Dutch Wonderland, one of my favorite amusement parks for little children.  After spending all day here, we went to one of the well-known Amish smorgasbord before heading home to call it a night.

The next day, we awoke & had a lazy Sunday morning (or as lazy as it can get with five kids, five and under) before we headed out to take a ride on a real Amish buggy through the countryside!

Before we left, we had one last lunch in a real railroad car & watched the train go by one more time!

What a fun summer memory for our family!

Andrew's First Day of Preschool!

This big guy started his second year of preschool this month, just like his big brother started kindergarten!  Andrew is going to a new school this year not because I didn't love his school last year, but selfishly I picked the school that is closest to us & right across the street from Aiden's.  He now goes three mornings a week from 9-1, which allows him to even eat lunch at school.  So far, he is loving it just like Aiden does.  He doesn't talk too much about it, although his favorite thing to do at school is play superheroes with his classmates.  

At this school, I do drop off & pick up from my car which is wonderful so I don't have to unload Abby & take everyone in and out.  But it's really funny to watch Andrew hop out of the car & lug his big tote bag in every day.  It's also odd as I haven't had much communication with the teachers, but I guess no news is good news right?!  He also has some fun things at school:  PE, music, & chapel but don't ask him what they do because he's a boy of few words unless you speak firefighting, Rescue Bots, or whatever world he is in at the moment!

So here's to another fun year of preschool for Mr. Andrew!

Heading to Kindergarten!

I know...it's been a while.  Like a long while.  It's amazing how busy life has gotten with three little kids at home all doing different things.  But I'm taking a few moments here at 8:45 pm while Chris & I have dinner in the oven for the two of us and the kids are finally asleep to update you on a few great things that have been going on around here.  

Let's start off with a very special moment in our family's life.  Aiden headed to kindergarten at the beginning of September.  It has been an easy transition for him as he LOVES school which has made it a much easier transition for me.  He eagerly gets ready for school everyday & seems to enjoy his time there. 

The days are long.  We drop him around nine and don't pick him up until four which makes a long day for a little five year old, but he soaks it all in.  He loves all the different specials including some awesome options:  PE, Music, Art, Spanish, Library, STEAM (science) lab, & Computers.  He has chosen to buy "hot lunch" on a few select days with a packed lunch on the other days AND loves the days where we he gets to buy!  His teacher is new & young, reminds me of myself back in the day.  Ha:)  He seems to enjoy all his classmates & has nothing bad to say about school.  He completed his first homework assignments this week & nothing too intense, trust me.  He loves picking out new books from the library & his latest favorite book is his Lego Movie chapter book where he can read his own "chapter" book.

He loves school so much that he comes home & plays school for at least another hour.  It's his absolute favorite thing to do!  You never know what him & his class of stuffed animals  may be doing...art projects, heading outside for recess, having a snack, or reading stories.

It's been a big adjustment having him at school all day long, but he loves it & I am slowly adjusting to having my first child away for the day.  Thankfully, I have two other little ones & life in general that keep me from ever slowing down.  

So here's to a truly awesome first year of school for my sweet boy...