Halloween 2014

The kiddos and I started Halloween day off with some spooky shows and breakfast.  Then it was time to start crafting…I had a list of things I wanted to make, but always forget how long one thing takes.  So we got a couple crafts done and then changed for our lion walk before lunch.  After lunch it was naptime and W and I snuck away for a few errands.  When we got home Halloween was in full swing.  We attempted William in the pumpkin like we had in years prior with Thomas and Elin…he hated every single miserable second.  In fact I am certain that he thought it was the worst thing that has ever happened to him.  After we gave up on that, Thomas and Elin Mike and I carved pumpkins.Then it was time for a quick dinner and TRICK OR TREATING!  The kiddos were so excited to go this year.  We had been reading books, watching shows, talking about trick or treating and maybe just maybe they both remembered a bit from last year.  Thomas for sure did, Elin might have?  We took our family photo out front again and again had a lot to piece through to get a good one…This year Thomas was originally going to be Bumblebee the Transformer from Rescue Bots, but then he decided he wanted to be a farmer.  Elin, along with many other little girls out there was Elsa or “Frozen Girl.”  William started the day off in what Elin called his Pumpkin Patch outfit and ended up being a cross between a farmer and a scarecrow. We met up with a group of neighbors and the kiddos ran door to door as we made our way to the neighborhoods block party.  Once we arrived at the block party it was mass chaos. There were bounce houses, a scary Halloween movie playing, a haunted house and trunk trick or treating to be had.  After trying to survive there for a bit we ended up over at the pumpkin painting and then called it a night.  We trick or treated back home and then the kiddos got to check out their candy haul.  After they got to fill their belly with some of their sugary treats we all headed to bed.  At some point when we were sleeping the switch witch came to our house.  We didn’t get a note or anything but she left a couple of Lego toys and a few candy treats, but the rest she took with her.  The kiddos were pleasantly surprised with how “nice the witch was” to leave them some candy and a toy.   What a great and safe Halloween night! 

Storybrook Ranch, Fire Safety Town and a birthday Celebration…a very busy Tuesday!

We started out the day with our adventure at Storybrook Ranch.  We did this last year just after moving to Texas and wanted to check it out again.  The kiddos again had a blast playing in the bounce houses and running through the hay maze. Elin loved spending time with the ponies.  She wasn’t afraid of them at all and she was eager to ride on one.  Trying to teach her to be careful around them was a huge task and thankfully these ponies were very well mannered.  She’s such a fearless little thing!  After the kids got their fill of the ponies and animals we hopped on a wagon ride and headed back to the 1800s.  The ranch’s historic “dry bones town” has buildings from all over that they hand picked and had delivered to the town to preserve them.  In our quick tour we stopped into the jail house, the doctors office, the barber shop, the black smiths shed and the fire station.  There was so much more to see and explore  but time ran out!   We found a live praying mantis on the blacksmiths workbench.  It was so cool and very neat to see in the “wild.”  I hope to someday have one of these critters in my garden!After we were at the town we stopped back at the pumpkin patch for a few pictures and then headed out.  We got a decent picture of the kiddos and I still can’t believe I have 3 kiddos when I look at the picture of myself with them, crazy and amazing all at the same time!

After a quick hour at home and a recharge and refill of our waters we were headed up to Fire Safety Town for Grahm’s birthday.  The little boys were pretty excited and I was very proud of how well Thomas listened and answered the questions.  He was so eager to learn and tell the fire fighter what he knew about fire safety.  Elin did a pretty good job for not having a nap and paid attention as well as an over tired 2 year old could!  She loved driving the big fire truck at the end of the tour.    After we finished the tour we headed over to a park for cupcakes and some playtime to finish off Grahm’s birthday celebration.

It was a busy and extremely fun day!  On our way home I risked a complete melt down and took the 3 kids out to dinner.  Elin wasn’t going to make it home in the car awake and we were just about to the time when if she goes to sleep she could sleep til the next morning…so we stopped in and grabbed a quick bite successfully before heading home.  As expected Elin fell asleep at 6 in the car and slept til the next morning at 7:30, it was a busy day!! 

Pumpkin Patch and Fall Fun

Thomas, Elin and I joined our friends Anna, Tripp and Boston at the local pumpkin patch for some fall fun.  The kiddos played in the bounce houses and hay mazes and burned off their energy.  Then we went for a hay ride through the old town that was decorated spooky for Halloween.  Thomas and his buddy Tripp enjoyed a pony ride and then the highlight for the kids was feeding the chickens, sheep and goats.

Dallas Arboretum and A huge Hockey Parent Fail

We started off the morning heading to a hockey camp for Thomas.  It was his first time on ice in months and it was without his Daddy.  It ended up being a horrible flop for Thomas, he was terrified, cried the whole time and Mike and I both lasted about as well as Thomas did.  He was on the ice for maybe 10 minutes and then we rescued him.  About 20 minutes later, hockey was “super awesome, but he already knew how to skate so he didn’t need to go back anymore!”  The next night, we headed over to public skating so he could head out with Mike and shake the jitter bugs off.  That went much better and all was well again.

After our non successful attempt at hockey, we headed over to the Dallas Arboretum.  We had lunch walked around the pumpkin village.  We only covered about 1/3 of the arboretum before we called it quits and headed back home.  Can’t wait for our next trip.