Happy Halloween 2012

We had a fun-filled Halloween at our place this year. :)

Candy Corn Waffles for our Second Breakfast
Idea from http://the-wilson-world.blogspot.com/2011/09/candy-corn-waffles.html

Painting Pumpkins

Both kids were Doc McStuffins this year. (Their favorite tv show character.) Lorelei thought of it a couple of months ago, and as much as I tried to convince Makin to be her side-kick, for example, her blue dragon, Stuffy, he insisted that he wanted to be Doc too, so we just did a boy version of Doc. I was thankful he did not insist on wearing the headband...I did get him one since we had a discussion a week or two ago when I told him boys don't wear headbands..."I DO!" he insisted. :) But not a peep about it today. :)

We enjoyed celebrating Josie's birthday again before going Trick or Treating with them in their neighborhood.  We left a bit early so we could head home and pass out candy and do a bit more trick or treating in our neighborhood. Brad got lots of compliments on the jack o lanterns while the kids and I hit up a few more houses and we met one more neighbor! :)

Both kids were very excited for that candy. :)

So. Much. Candy.


Happy Halloween!!!

Jack O Lanterns

We look forward to this every Halloween and this year was no different! Brad and I had our usual routine of him doing the carving and me in charge of the seeds...but one thing that WAS different were the amount of pumpkins to carve...

Brad was telling his boss how much he was looking forward to carving pumpkins on Sunday, and then eating the seeds. This led him to discover that Johnson (the boss) had never had pumpkin seeds. (Seriously, how many of these people can there be in the world!?!) After hearing Brad rave, Johnson promptly went out and bought a bag of pumpkin seeds and absolutely loved them. Since Brad had mentioned how much home-made were way better than store-bought, Johnson THEN went and bought eight, yes EIGHT pumpkins, along with some packages of carving cools, and gave them to Brad, asking us to give him some of the seeds. So, as we have stated many times, Brad and I are crazy, so we carved all eight pumpkins. Well, Brad carved for hours...I picked seeds out of pulp and washed them for hours. :)

Lorelei loved being a big helper and was very into these pumpkins. She loved washing them, rolling them to Brad for him to cut open, and pulling out the "gunk" from inside. She did get a bit frustrated that she could not draw the faces completely herself for Brad to cut. She did draw one mouth completely on her own which she is quite proud of, and instructed him on many of the parts of the other faces. There is nothing this girl does not love about pumpkin carving. :)

Makin is still not a huge fan of the "icky" factor. He only wanted to use the scoop. ("Poop" according to him, he he he.) He did love helping and I have a feeling in a year or two he might not mind the gross factor and we will have two amazing carvers to lend a hand.

By pumpkin #5 we broke out the electric knife...we never use it for turkey anyway! :)

And a couple of other Jack O Lantern activities the kids enjoyed. :)  Felt Boards and Cookies!

And had to get them lit up! One was in Lorelei's room, in case you are counting. ;)

Kites

We loved taking some kites out Thursday after school! Lorelei is really getting the hang of keeping her kite up. They didn't get to fly as high as we would like, but still a pretty good go at it! :) Lots of running and exercise for the kids and then they enjoyed playing at the playground for a bit after that.

Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch With Auntie Di

After last year's adventure with Auntie Di's first ever hayride/pumpkin patch, we were happy to find out she was up for another pumpkin patch adventure with us.




As we checked out some pumpkins, I was dumbfounded to find out Auntie Di has never had pumpkin seeds before!!! We will be mailing her some. :)

The kids loved a chance to play in a huge pile of hay. They climbed up and jumped down many, many times.

The other highlights included the haybale maze, which they went through together several times, the hayride, and of course the very friendly horse Lorelei loves. Both kids were thrilled to bring home some kid-sized pumpkins for a little pumpkin family and are proudly keeping them in their rooms.

Thanks for a wonderful day Auntie Di!!! :)

S'Mores

I am sad to write that S'mores died on Wednesday morning. We really don't what happened exactly. At the end of September we took him to the vet when we figured out he was sick, and after meds and being fed with a syringe he seemed to be back to normal. Alysa and her parents took care of him on our trip and I honestly think they took great care of him. When he got back home he didn't have his usual appetite and wasn't very active.

These pics were taken the morning we took him to the vet several weeks ago. We had already talked to Lorelei as we thought he may not make it then. So, she is taking it pretty well. Of course, she has made several comments about it, but she has done ok.

A few sweet things I remember her saying about him throughout these weeks. "I love having a real animal, Mom." and "I always wanted a pet with whiskers." :) She also loved calling him Smoresies. :) We are not brave enough to try another guinea pig and not sure when we will give a pet another try.

Home Again

Going home after a trip is always a bit depressing. No difference this time. Because of American Airlines drama, we got up super-early Monday morning and then waited three hours in the airport to then spend three more hours in the airplane. When you consider all of that, we really do have two AMAZING travelers in our children. This was more rough than the trip there, but they were definitely troopers, all things considered.

And our first full day back, Lorelei was off to school. Makin and I headed back home to unpack, do laundry and play. And what wonderful games he invents. He requested I blow up a balloon and we had some fun with some balloon baseball/golf.

Glad to be settled back in our own beds, but a little sad our travels are over too.

We Love Gigi and Pops!

Grandma had not seen Lorelei since she was 7 months old, which of course, means she had not met Makin at all yet. Grandpa had not met either of them. We are so, SO thankful for this special time and know we are so blessed to have them here to share memories with. :)

Gorgeous Sunday

Piano Playing...although this was definitely an every-day occurrence.

Pancakes at brunch. Grandma and Grandpa go here every Sunday after church. They loved having a full table with them. :)

Picture time! :) 

Four Generations

Great Grandparents/Great Grandchildren

Playing in the leaves. We made Grandpa take it easy and did some raking and playing in the leaves, enjoying the perfect fall weather. So much fun. :)

Priceless day.

Milwaukee Zoo Day

I love the Milwaukee Zoo! We grew up going to this zoo every summer and have such great memories there. I have been so looking forward finally getting to take my own children to see it. :) 

It was definitely different going in the fall, but we had a great time in the COLD. Good thing we had our winter coats for this trip! Our highlights would have to be...watching the elephant attempt to figure out how to lift a log with his trunk (and using his foot to help him do it, I might add), seeing hippos actually move (they were eating apples in the water and even wiggled their ears! It's true!), and seeing a lion closer than ever. He was not very happy his kids were playing outside and he was inside (they are more like teenage kids, and we have no idea why but they were out and the mom and dad were in) and he even let out a huge roar.

The zoo on a cool fall day. Warm popcorn was a must. :)

I have a special attachment to this little red zoo train. Many pictures taken here throughout the years. :) And of course, both kids were loving the idea of their train ride at the end of our visit. We heard the whistle blow many times while walking through the zoo, followed with Makin saying, "Nain!" :) The fun part about going in the fall was that there were pumpkins EVERYWHERE throughout the zoo. Carved pumpkins. Hundreds of them. Got a quick shot of some fun ones they made look like flowers along the train route.

Had to add in some old pics for sentimental value. :)

The kids at the Milwaukee Zoo. By this time they were ready to be done, so this is the best we could do!

We stopped off quickly to pick up Grandma and Grandpa (the zoo is way too much walking for them now) and headed to my Uncle Gary and Aunt Michelle's house for supper. The kids had fun playing in their (and their neighbor's) backyard and watching a movie while we got to visit a bit.

Side Note: I must mention the amazing crackers we enjoyed for appetizers...Townhouse Flatbread Crisps - Sea Salt and Olive Oil.
GET THEM NOW!!! :)

Friday Hangin' Out

Mother Nature did not cooperate with all of our plans, but what can you expect during fall in Milwaukee!? :)

Friday was supposed to be our trip to the zoo and Saturday a trip to the pumpkin patch, but the weather was cold and rainy, so we decided to skip the pumpkin patch and go to the zoo Saturday. It rained off and on throughout the day, but Lorelei wanted to get out in the leaves as much as possible, even though she got soaked each time! Makin loved the leaves too, but decided laying in them getting wet was not his idea of a good time.

Leaves Round One

They loved raking. They loved jumping. They loved throwing. :) What is more fun than leaves? :) Pops had a huge pile all ready and waiting for them and Nana made sure they had kid-sized rakes waiting for them as well. As you can see, they were absolutely thrilled

Then, when they finally decided they were getting cold they came in for a break and Nana made them some hot chocolate.

Hot Chocolate With Nana

We did lots and lots of coloring! Loved using some old coloring books from the early 80s! :)

Leaves Round Two

They were rarin' to go back out. They also added rolling down the hill to their fun. :) (As you would imagine, this was also what we loved to do as kids!) They loved counting off the jump into the leaf pile together. Lorelei even got buried in the pile.

Makin decided to go in eventually, but Lorelei stayed out FOREVER and had a fun leaf fight with her mom and dad. :)

Leaf Fight With Daddy!

Both kids said their favorite part about visiting GiGi's house was raking leaves. Can you tell? :)