Halloween

One of My Favorite Things About Fall...

CARAMEL APPLES!!!

Trunk or Treat

Tonight we went to a nearby church that has a 'trunk or treat' each year. The church members sit by their cars in the parking lot and hand out candy. They decorate their cars and each have a theme. It was a lot of fun and the kids got a lot of candy!

Getting ready to leave the house...

The crew ready to trick or treat!

I finally captured the Pirate and Robin holding hands...they are so cute! They do this everytime we go somewhere together. :)

MG is still trying to figure it all out

checking out the stash!

Down at the Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon we rode about 30 minutes down the road to the country --to a pumpkin patch for some good old farm fun. The kids had fun running through the huge corn field maze, jumping in a huge bin of cotton, seeing farm animals, climbing "hay mountain," taking a hay ride, and picking out pumpkins! If it weren't for the fact that it was super crowded and the admission price was a mere $9/person, Kev and I probably would have felt like we got our money's worth. It was a fun experience, but once was enough.

Everyone's ready for the trip!


The best seat in the whole place!


The boys checking out the corn


Running through the corn maze - we weren't sure we'd make it out!

KK in the cotton bounce

JC was scared he'd fall off this huge bail of hay!

MG waiting her turn on the horse swing

JC's reaction to seeing the huge pile of hay bales known as "hay mountain"

KK immediately scaled the hay tower (about 15 feet high) and stood on the top

JC wasn't so sure about hay mountain!

KK sliding down the huge "mountain"

One of my favorite pics of the boys in the hay loft of the barn

Fun Run

Our KK has decided that he wants to "run track." I have searched for local youth track teams, but have not been able to find anything in our area for his age. This morning we decided to run in the Maple Leaf Fun Run in Trussville. We got t-shirts and even had a number to pin on our shirts...that was a big deal for KK! We survived the one mile run and had a lot of fun! KK was very excited that he crossed the finish line before me...I think we ran about a 13 minute mile
(I remember the days when I ran a 6 minute mile!) KK has decided that he wants to do more races, so maybe I can improve my time with some more practice. Seriously, we were nearly in last place (don't let him know that though!). I mostly jogged and walked...there was no serious running for me. The neat thing about the race was that we met another family that homeschools and her boys are on a track team with one of the local groups...which means KK can be on their track team! They don't start back up into the Spring, but he was very happy to hear that he can "run track" on a team sometime soon. :)

The Symphony

Today KK went on a field trip to see the Symphony perform and also to a cool Science Museum. It was all a part of our homeschool school group. My sweet friend took KK and her daughter, while I stayed home with the little kids. She was thoughtful enough to take pics of the big event so I could see what they did today. I think they had a lot of fun!

Silly pics in the car!

They Symphony

Has it really been 20 years!?

While we were at the beach last week, we were able to have dinner with a friend of mine from middle school. We had so much fun getting to hang out with her family! It had been over 20 years since we'd seen each other! Where does time go? Our kids had a lot of fun playing together...in spite of my children getting injured in the ice cream parlor! MG turned a table over onto her leg and JC had a metal pole fall on his head!

We ate at a great restaurant that had live music and a nice play area for the kids. KK found a new best friend!

KK telling Rich about his new power ranger glasses!

My friends' little girls were precious! They were not shy about getting on stage with the musicians!

Me and Michelle

Last of the Beach Pics

Our beach trip was a lot of fun! The boys both got a new pair of Power Ranger sunglasses and had to wear them at every opportunity! We had a lot of fun hanging out at the pool at our condo, but we also spent a few days at the beach with Nana. The water was absolutely beautiful and very calm. We had fun searching for shells, jumping waves, building sandcastles and digging holes.

Digging a huge hole took a group effort!

Jumping waves with the boys--KK spent his time karate chopping the waves and making kung-fu sounds!

MG spent her time digging in the sand

Searching for shells

Digging

We finally got JC to toss his sand into the water (instead of on everyone around him!)

MG likes to put her glasses on top of her head

More from the Gulf

More Beach

On our way to climb the lighthouse

Sitting on the steps to the lighthouse

Kevin having fun on the waterslide

Our friends arrived yesterday and Flash Gordon and Batman also showed up!

We took the kids to a local park to play this morning and Batman and Robin made an appearance...they also followed us to the Outlet Mall...