Here's some good pictures we took last weekend.

We had some fun playing outside in the driveway on Saturday (probably Hazel's favorite on property activity).

In the evening on Saturday we went to the Ecotarium's Pumpkin Festival. It was jammed packed! Way more people than we thought would be there. We got in for free. A nice lady ahead of us gave us a strip of twelve tickets. We waited for a long time to ride a packed, two locomotive train ride, but it seemed worth it. The kids were excited to ride there favorite train in the near dark. We had cotton candy ("on a stick!") and saw lots of carved pumpkins.

Henry spent the whole of last week working on this scene. It was a lot of fun helping him with it and hearing his descriptions of the place. Every building had a small story attached to it.

575 small dollars had six mint set dollars (1981P, 2002D, 2003D, 2006P, 2007P, 2007D) and one Canadian.

8,000 halves turned up one 90% silver half (1964), eight 40% silver halves (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968D, 1969D) and two proofs (1971S, 1978S).

5,040 quarters rounded up two silver Washingtons (1950, 1964), three Canadians, two Bahamas 25¢, one Bermuda 25¢ and one US nickel.

3,300 dimes got me one silver Rosie (1946S), five Canadians, one UK 5 pence and one Barbados 10¢.

6,000 pennies yielded seventy-six Wheats, sixty-nine Canadians (including one 1936, George V penny), one UK penny, one Panama 1¢, six US dimes and two Euro 2¢.

1919, 1920, 1927, 1930, 1937, 1938(2)

6,080 quarters rounded up one silver Washington (1957), six Canadians, one Philippines 50¢ and one French 10 Centimes (1855W). The French coin is the 4th oldest coin I've found! It is slightly bigger than a quarter and this one is extremely worn. You can definitely see the design/year if you hold it at the right angle, but it is going to be very difficult to take a picture of this one. Still extremely cool! Here's a picture of the same coin in much better condition than mine. Mine is from 1855 and has a W mint mark on the back meaning it was minted in Lille. 9,837,000 were minted.

350 dimes turned up one US penny.

440 nickels got me one Canadian and one US penny.

Today Meg told me another good Hazel quote (she's full of good ones lately).

Listening to Hazel talk to her baby with the little leapfrog writing game...

"Yes, that your name, baby. Now, you try. You write, baby. Hold that. Baby hold tight. Now you draw birdie. You did good." :)

2,360 quarters rounded up one proof quarter (2003S MS), eleven Canadians, five US nickels and one US dollar (an extra one too, the roll had forty quarters in it and one Sacagawea, strange).

2,700 dimes got me three silvers (1945S, 1946S, 1947D), five Canadians, one UK 5 pence, one Chinese 1 Jiao and one Ukraine 2 Kopiyky (2009). That's the first coin I've found from the Ukraine!

2,040 nickels produced eight Canadians (6 Ni), two US dimes and two Bermuda 5¢.

Tonight during supper the kids were super. They actually had decent meals and played very well together, including some really cute costume time.

25 small dollars turned up nothing.

2,960 quarters had two Canadians.

1,500 dimes yielded one silver dime (1926) and one Canadian.

800 nickels rounded up one War Time (1943P) and one Canadian.

This weekend started nicely with a trip to an Indian restaurant on Friday. It was a long experience, but the kids were in pretty good form. On Saturday I took the kids to Olde Sturbridge Village to look for a gift for Nana and play a bit. Considering how the kids were both on edge when we left things went really smoothly. They had a lot of fun looking for their gifts and as always they were very cute at Kid Story. On the way home Hazel was a bit cranky and after I asked him to, Henry was very good and sang songs with Hazel to keep her happy. That evening we went over to my sisters to celebrate Nana and Uncle Greg's birthday. All four kids did super. Hazel was very excited about being outside in the dark when we left. When we got in the back door Hazel said, "I'm home now. Babies, where are you?"

Things fell apart big time Sunday morning before church. It was total chaos in our house. Meg and I didn't know how we'd survive the day or get them to church. All we knew is that everyone needed some time apart from each other and out of the house so we absolutely had to go to church. At church all seemed fine. Hazel had a good time in the nursery and Henry seemed to do well at church school. Henry helped me pick up hedge clippings in the afternoon, went to Home Depot with me and later we got him a haircut. There was a small amount of fussing in the van before we got to the hair cut place, but otherwise things went stellar. At bedtime I said to him, "You did a very good job at the hair cut place." He replied, "I didn't cut my hair. (so why are you saying 'good job') I just pretended to be asleep." I'll take comatose over screaming any day!

Today Meg told me:

we were making ghosts for Halloween, and Henry drew a smiley face on his. And a penis.

Hazel just told me, "You take nap. I play myself."

8,000 halves turned up two 90% silver halves (2 x 1964), four 40% silver halves (2 x 1967, 2 x 1969D), one proof half (1995S) and a Philippines 50¢.

10,560 pennies yielded one Indian Head (1883), one hundred six Wheats, sixty-two Canadians, one Bahamas 1¢, one Bermuda 1¢ and one US dime.

1910, 1918, 1919, 1919S, 1920S, 1925, 1934, 1935S, 1936, 1937(3), 1938S

I didn't turn up much coin this week. It was a pretty busy week though ... so no matter. On Wednesday it was my company's golf day. It sure was a wet one! Before the golf I spent time at home with Meg and the kids. We went to a new old diner very early (Henry was excited about their neon sign.). I also took the time to paint Hazel's nails.

1,120 quarters had four Canadians, one US nickel and one US penny.

5,700 dimes turned up three silver Rosies (1959, 1964, 1964D), ten Canadians, one UK 5 pence and two Bermuda 10¢.

This weekend started a bit crazy, really bad traffic and I forgot my phone at work, but things picked up afterwards! On Saturday we went to the Fall Festival at Tower Hill Botanical Gardens. The kids were pretty well behaved, we went on a hay ride, did some crafts and enjoyed some snacks. My only wish was that Hazel was more up to long walks in the woods as it was really pretty up there.

After church on Sunday we went to soccer tournament to see Evan play and visit a bit with our family. When we got home and were putting Hazel down for her nap we could not find her favorite lovey, Blue Doggie. I was pretty certain we left it at the soccer event, so I hopped in the car and drove back to the event. Meanwhile unbeknownst to me as Meg and I only had one cell phone between us Meg found her just after I left. :( It was a long journey back and forth for gas I say! Oh well. Blue Doggie was found and that's what counts. Meg went to do some errands in the afternoon and Henry, Hazel and I "worked" outside. I took up three stumps (with some digging help from Henry), Henry swept the driveway ("This is a really big job, Dad!" "Hazel's going to help in a few minutes.") and Hazel played with her babies.

Last night after supper Henry told Meg he wanted her to write down some of his stories. Meg wanted some Duck stories, but instead he told a few about trains. She wrote them down (I'll transcribe them here later). He then told her he wanted to write his own. He wrote "I GO TRAIN HOME!" We helped him with the spelling and I had to write the A and the M, but we were super pleased. He then drew pictures with us (recognizable ones) of a couple hot air balloons with fires in them and wrote "COW," "DUCK" and few other words. I'll put pictures up tonight or tomorrow.

This morning Meg e-mailed me this gem:

The world according to Henry, as described to Hazel, "Dinosaurs aren't alive anymore. They died a long time ago. Like a hundred years ago. Then there were people. And then cars and trucks. And then it was like it is now."

1 large dollar was a 40% silver dollar (1971S-Ag circ.). That's the first new large dollar I've found since January, 2008! It is also the first 40% silver dollar I've found. Such dollars were minted just for collectors and originally were packaged cellophane with a blue plastic disk and so they are sometimes referred to as Blue Ikes.

Note: I'm not really pleased with our new camera for macro shots. These two shots are the best I could get, but the depth of field and focus are not what I would have liked. I have to do some more research, listen to Meg and get a better camera for us!

8,000 half dollars produced one 90% silver half (1964), fifteen 40% silver halves (2 x 1966, 7 x 1967, 3 x 1968D, 3 x 1969D), four proof halves (1974S, 1985S, 1986S, 1991S) and one British penny (1912). The British penny is really cool. It is in much better condition that the previous George V penny I found.

12,650 pennies turned up eighty-two Wheats (including one Steelie), one hundred six Canadians, five US dimes, one Trinidad and Tobago 1¢, one Bermuda 1¢, one Barbados 1¢, one Irish penny and one plastic penny.

1917(2), 1920, 1925, 1934, 1935, 1935D, 1939

Two nights ago Meg and I went to Curriculum Night at Henry's school. It was wonderful. I finally got to meet his teacher and see his classroom. His teacher spoke for about 45 minutes and Meg and I looked around for pictures of Henry and artwork he had done. I'm so proud of the big kid he's become!

Hazel had a funny moment last night. She and Henry were fussing about a small spider they found in the house. I came over with a tissue to deal with it, but Hazel grabbed the tissue, said, "I do it myself" and killed the bug.

63 small dollars and thirty half dollars had one mint set half (2012D Chester Arthur).

6,440 quarters turned up seven silver Washingtons (7 x 1964), five Canadians, one Bermuda 25¢, Bahamas 25¢, five US nickels, one US dime and one arcade token. I found all of the silver quarters in one roll! That's the most silver quarters I've found in one time in years! Eleven is my one roll record ... this was close.

4,700 dimes produced four silver Rosies (1946D, 1960D, 1963D, 1964), eleven Canadians, one East Caribbean States 10¢ and one US penny.

2,480 nickels rounded up three War Times (1944P, 2 x 1945P), ten Canadians (4 Ni), two US dimes and one key date Jefferson, the 1939D.

This weekend we went out for alumni event at Meg's college. There was a cross country run for the alum and even a kids' run. Hazel didn't participate in the kids' run and Henry did only so far as to run to me on the sidelines ... oh well. Meg did great. We were really proud of her for going out on the trails again. The event was a little long, but it was very inspiring. Best of all both Henry and Hazel were put to bed by their grandparents! Could a Mom and Dad vacation be near?!

After we got back from Nonnie and Pops we went to our town's Fall parade. We've tried this before and usually Henry doesn't last long. Last year he watched most of it from our window while Hazel and I enjoyed the event. This year, however, things were different. Henry still wore his ear protectors, but otherwise was fine. They were both really excited about all of the candy they got and were really cute scurrying out to pick it up and fill up their bags. Henry particularly enjoyed the old-time cars and Hazel was most puzzled by the dancers. He can't wait for next years parade!

8,000 halves turned up ten 40% silver halves (2 x 1966, 6 x 1967, 1968D, 1969D) and two proof halves (1985S, 2000S).

29,750 pennies produced ninety-four Wheats, two hundred nine Canadians, four US dimes, one UK penny and three Bermuda 1&$162;. One of the Wheats was a new one for me, the 1913S! Only about 6 million were made.

1909 V.D.B., 1913S, 1919, 1924, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1939S