Trick or Treat

Let me just jump right into things since this will be long.
On Friday, My mom and I took the kids to Busch Gardens. It was the last weekend for Howl-O-Scream. I found out at soccer practice Thursday that two of the kids on the team were also going to Howl-O-Scream on Friday, so we met them there and had a great time!

Mia and Elena:

Mia, Drew (Mia's brother), Matthew (also on Elena's team), Elena, and Kevin:

Kevin was a little scared of the count and wouldn't get in the picture:

Elena's first roller coaster. She was so brave (and so was Granny)! We have the most hilarious mid-ride pic. We actually bought it from BG because it was too awesome to pass up. I'll have to scan it in later. Elena said that she'll go again when she's 5.

We had a great, laid back day. It was cold and drizzled at times, but we enjoyed lots of shows and a few kiddie rides. We left just in time for Kevin to have a late nap on the ride home.

Saturday, Dan actually had the day off and we went to a Halloween party in the afternoon. It was very fun, with wonderful company and great food.

The whole family: Isn't my husband fun?! :) (Side note: He's in a tie because he had a church meeting right after the party). Elena is a fairy princess and Kevin is Super Why (from the show on PBS with the same name). I was so excited about my inexpensive costume (a 25 cent hat) because I was going to go crazy with my makeup and do lots of shades of green all around my eyes. Then I remembered that nearly all of my makeup is in storage, so I did a much more reserved version of witch makeup.

Some kids enjoying the dry ice:

Freeze dance:

Elena the mummy:

Sunday was Sunday. :) We relaxed in the morning, had church in the afternoon and Dan had work. The kids (with help) had carved pumpkins at the party on Saturday and I carved the big one Sunday night.

Elena's pumpkin on the left, Kevin's is on the right:

My blurry pumpkin pic:
Monday, we went trick or treating around the block. We skipped the trunk-or-treat at church because it was also on Monday night. The city only allows trick or treating from 6-8 and the trunk or treat was at 6:30, so I was worried that we wouldn't have time for both. I was sad not to see everyone in their costumes, but I am a huge sucker for tradition and nostalgia. There is just something that I really like about neighbors united by a holiday: Opening their doors and giving out treats to cute little kids.
The first house that we went to was Aunt Bethany's:

Right before this we visited a friend of the family at an assisted living center, so that was their first official spot, but I didn't get a picture there. It was so sweet! On our way out we passed a room where several of the residents were sitting and hanging out, and they called the kids over to give them mints and sugar-free candies that they happened to have in their purses.

Here they are with their treats at the end of the night:

We had a great time and got back to the house just a few minutes before Dan got home from work. Dan dressed up as Dr. Frank N. Stein. I know that if you want to get picky, it's actually Dr. Frankenstein's monster, but that is much harder to fit on a custom-made hospital name badge. Oh, yes, he did. If you look closely you can see his handiwork. Dan said that about 1/2 of the staff (and kids) were in costumes and that it was a really fun day. The pediatric program director actually filled the hallways with those giant blow-up decorations that people put in their yards. We love his job and the people there too.
Bonus pictures:

The kids in their Halloween pajamas. Since Elena was a pirate, she wanted boots and Kevin wants whatever Elena has.

And here is Granny as a witch:

The Sharks

This is Elena's soccer team. The coaches (especially the head coach Wil, on the R) have been excellent, and the kids have had a lot of fun. They've been practicing together since August and their last game is this weekend. One of the mom's brought her awesome camera on a tripod and voila: free team pictures!

The girls: Mia, Elena, Zoey, and Taylor

You know how moms of girls love bows:

Pumpkin Patch 2011

This was our first year (since 2004) not going to Hawks' pumpkin patch in NC. I have 2007, '08, '09, '10 documented here on the blog in case you're interested. I was feeling sad about missing that tradition and the Dixie Classic Fair, so I wanted to do something really fun with the kids. Dan had a Saturday off a couple of week's ago, and we headed to a farm in the city after Elena's soccer game. We were all exhausted after.

The hay ride:

We saw some Chincoteague ponies:

At the pumpkin patch they had some fun stuff:

I love these kids!

Posing with our pumpkins:

Then we took a hay ride over to the petting zoo/picnic area. Kevin kept running up to the goats and asking them how they were doing and what their names were. He seemed sincerely disappointed when he didn't get any responses. Also, he asked me if he could ride one of the goats.

Elena takes a more cautious approach:

There were lots of wooden things for the kids to play on. Besides the tractor, they had a train, a monster truck, a couple boats, and a castle. There was another bounce house in this area too.We had a great time and are excited to carve our pumpkins tomorrow. They've just been sitting on the porch looking pretty for the last two weeks. Happy (almost) Halloween, everyone!

October, how I love thee...

As a kid I hated fall because it meant the end of going to the beach each day and the start of school. As a mom, I love the weather, the colors, the holidays, traditions, and helping to teach Elena's preschool. There is so much going on. I didn't even realize how busy we'd been until I downloaded the pictures.

Dan had a birthday:
Our preschool class and some friends/siblings went to the botanical garden on a gorgeous day:
Shelby (she's having a baby a few weeks before me) and I were able to take our kids to the zoo together:
We visited a pumpkin patch, but that will be a separate post. Also, we've been enjoying a lot of time outdoors at parks. Today we flew kites with friends (Brooke and her kids Sydney and Carson):
We also had an ultrasound and found out that we are definitely having a boy! We now have to spend the next four months discussing names. Girl names come to us so easily. Kevin's name is perfect, but I have no idea what to name another boy. We'll see what we come up with. For now, don't ask. :) This picture is of me today at 21 weeks:
It's been a great month. The only thing missing was a visit from Whitney. We soooo enjoyed having her visit last fall. I hope you all have enjoyed your October so far!

Jungle Golf

Thanks to my mom's Groupon which was about to expire, we got to go to a Putt-Putt place by the beach. We purposely waited until tourist season was over and it wasn't so hot out. Perfect timing because we were basically the only people there.
My sister Bethany came along and the kids got to golf for the first time. We are dressed like it's freezing, but the weather was great. It was one of the first nights were it was in the high 60's and we were so used to temps in the 90's that it felt nice to bundle up a little. :)

Taking her best shot:

Cutie boy getting some help. He teed off at all 18 holes and then ran to scoop up his ball before taking a second/third putt. He loves all things blue. I was worried that he wouldn't give it back.
It was such a great night! Thanks, Mama for treating us. :)

Playing at the Children's Museum

I laughed so hard when I took this video. It's just my two kids, but Elena moved around a lot.

We went to the museum on September 30th because that was the day that my year-long pass expired (we originally bought it to use at the museum in NC). I wonder how long we can go without buying another one. :)