Birthday #11

 

The Witch of Critter Town

 Eden has figured out how to make videos on my phone.  Here's one of her creations:

Jazz Band

 Z had a Jazz Band concert which was super fun.  He and his fellow musicians were fantastic!

Newport Beach

 We had a lovely little getaway to Newport Beach, CA in mid-January  We met the other Hitchcocks (Jeremy, Ann, Evie, Libby, Gideon, and Emmy) there for some fun, food, and beach!

The first morning we were there we had a tsunami warning because a volcano erupted in Tonga!  The water was cleared of most of the surfers, and we ended up seeing dolphins playin in the waves just off shore.  It was amazing!

Z is our water boy.  Has been from the very beginning.  I told him on this trip that it was kind of ironic, because the first time I gave him a bath I nearly drowned him.  It seems to have gotten the water into his blood.

We went on a whale watch but saw absolutely nothing.  Sadness.

Well, we did see a lot of smiling faces.  But no whales.

No visit to California is complete without eating at In 'N Out.

Our last night we saw a beautiful sunset on the beach.

Before we caught our plane we went to Laguna Beach, which was just lovely.

Debater!

 We have a debater in our midst!  Z is on the debate team at Lincoln high school, which seems appropriate since he's constantly debating with Nathan and me.  At his second tournament, which was a week ago, he went 4-1 that day and was awarded (according to a point system), the semi-finalist trophy.  Not bad!!  (And he now has a suit so he can impress the judges with his brains AND his looks.)

Halloween

 Z went to a party with friends for Halloween, and did not dress up.  This is the first year that he has not dressed up at all!

Eden went trick-or-treating with Lydia again and this year she was a huntress of Artemis, Percy Jackson style.  Much candy was collected.

Concerts!

 Z and Eden both had band concerts last week, and Eden had an orchestra concert as well.  Eden is still at the beginning stages, but it's amazing how far they come between 5th grade and 9th grade!