Holly invited us over to tackle a holiday craft (something we do most years). They just got new kittens, which were a big distraction and led to the craft taking a looong time (because we just wanted to pet the kitties), but eventually Benji and Dylan got to work, which included wiring a diode and using a drill press to make the base of a lantern:
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| Fezzik and Mable |
And the final product:
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| The vellum can be switched out for different seasons |
We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving this year. We got up to watch the parade in the morning and then tackled turkey hands:
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| Ruth |
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| Abby |
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| Kevin - it's all of our school's initials |
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| Benji meticulously measured out every line of the football field |
After Turkey hands, we started some of the cooking, wrote our thankful 4s and got the table ready for Gammy's arrival at 4. Dinner was ready pretty soon thereafter and by 6 all the dishes were done and we were playing some cards!
Abby got home smoothly after her first term at Dartmouth, and we picked her up from the Charlottesville airport (after a long day of travel) around dinnertime on Wednesday, just in time for our traditional Thanksgiving Eve fire and cheese plate. We added a cake this year to celebrate:
Steve and Deb invited us to brunch at 11am Sunday, so we had a chill morning in the Airbnb waiting for that (checkout time was conveniently 11am). We played some more Mao (the card game Benji taught us) and ordered in from Dunkin Donuts (thanks to Alex's instacart account):
At brunch, the adults chatted but the kids went off to a field and played at swordfighting (Sage had a live action role play event later that afternoon and had brought swords):
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| Benji, dramatically playing dead and Sage and Soph taking the opportunity to gang up on him |
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| Sage told them to "look menacing" |
We traveled to Greensboro this weekend for Sage LeWinter's B Mitzvah. Alex and Steph came as far as our house on Friday and then we all drove together Saturday morning to arrive in time for the 10:30 service at Temple Emmanuel:
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| Sage with their family on the bima. We had the honor of one of the ark openings so got up close and personal with the Temple Emmanuel torah |
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| Killing time playing cards at the house |
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| Group photo before we enter the party (photo by Aviva) |
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| With Steve |
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| Benji and Soph found another plague doctor to hang out with |
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| Proof that Benji danced with me :) |
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| And played musical chairs. He got viciously shoved off his seat near the end. |
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| Alex and Steve dance-off |
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| Sage's fun cake |
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| Photo booth picture with Steve and Deb |
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| Fun with gifs in the photobooth |
Now that marching band has wrapped up its season, Mr. Hackworth has turned his attention to the regular band program. The fall concert was originally scheduled for Monday, but all Charlottesville and Albemarle schools ended up being closed in the wake of the shooting on UVA's campus. They were able to quickly reschedule to Wednesday, and the concert went off without a hitch. Benji is a member of the Symphonic Band, which is primarily made up of freshmen. Next year, he'll audition to be in the Wind Ensemble, which does not allow freshmen and works on more advanced music. The dress code was "concert black," which was a first for us:
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| Warming up |
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| After the concert, several people commented on how good Benji's posture is when he plays! |
On Saturday, Benji participated in UVA's high school marching band day. 300 high school students from 60 schools across the state formed an "honor band" and had the chance to march and play with the Cavaliers Marching Band. The performance was in honor of Veteran's Day. Benji put in a lot of time the week before learning the stands tunes, half time show and drill (the drill itself turned out to be pretty simple):
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| In the stands with the band. Benji is a row up from the green t-shirts and fourth in from the speaker |
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| The kids got to run in from the tunnel to join the band (while the crowd cheered - the announcer was great bringing them in). Benji is right around the 45 yard line with the red stripe on his pants (unintentional, but it made him really easy to see) |
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| All lined up to play |
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| The high school students marched in for the last formation. Benji is right at the bottom of the U |
Our friend Brady came down over the weekend to visit and introduce us to his girlfriend Amanda. They were off Friday for Veteran's Day, so made their way down early and were able to join us for a full evening of dinner and conversation on Friday. We hit the ground running on Saturday with a campus tour, the UVA football game and then the drive-in to see Wakanda Forever:
We voted! Not much on the ballot down here, but Abby got to cast her vote on several candidates and ballot initiatives and excitedly shared her voting selfie:
The state finals were held at Liberty University, and Kevin and I volunteered to chaperone:
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| We did not realize chaperoning would be participatory. Since it was a windy day, they needed the parents on the field to hold up the flats used as props in the show (you can see one of the flats to the right in this picture). This is a view of the band on the big stadium field |
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| View from behind the flat. This was the only shot I managed to take. Benji is third from the back. |
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| Lunch break - Benji with his band friends having pizza |
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| View from the stands. That's the Liberty Marching Band doing an exhibition performance on the field, which was very neat |
It was senior night for football, cheer and marching band, but we got to leave at halftime to rest up for the state finals the next day. Here's the Marching Knights marching back to CHS for the last time this year:
We had a quiet night. Special dinner, a few trick or treaters, but it was raining. Our jack o' lanterns managed to stay lit in the rain, though. We watched The Worst Witch on DVD and tried to help Abby choose a costume via text. She sent us a picture of the final product, which was nothing we had suggested but pieces she ended up borrowing from her roommate Kelly:
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| All dressed up and no where to go but the couch for a movie |
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| All dressed up and ready to go to a party |
