Great Goblin Get-Together

We went to a little Halloween Carnival tonight. It was the first time for everyone to wear their costumes. AnneMarie spent a lot of time crawling around on her hands and knees (at home, before we got there) because "that is how a dog walks."

Jack HATES his WALL-E costume. It took a lot of convincing to get it on him. He wore it happily for about 20 seconds.

Then, he took it off. At the carnival, he wore it through the parking lot and took the box off as soon as we got to the enterance.

Fifi the Pink Poodle and Wonder Woman

There was a little photo-op set up at the carnival. The girls each wanted their pictures taken by themselves, they were quite into posing for the camera. We had a fun time and it was a great trial run for everyone's costume. AnneMarie's was basically fine but Julia's needs some alterations and Jack needs to practice wearing his!

Playgroup at the Pumpkin Patch

Jack & I went to McCall's Pumpkin Patch with our playgroup today. He especially liked the geese & ducks, and the bunnies.

We had some quarters so we got to feed the goats. The eagerly but gently ate the pellets right out of our hands. It tickled a bit but Jack really liked it.

I thought this was a cute scene. :)

Out at the pumpkin field, Jack had a tough time deciding. He rejected many pumpkins, before choosing two small ones, one for him and one for sister.

He's a little short for this, but still cute! We had a great time, although it was a bit lonely without the rest of the family. Hopefully we will get to go back later this month.

Special Shapes Mass Ascention

The Special Shape balloons went up on Thursday, before the bad weather hit. We were glad Gram and Aunt Karen were here to see it! Mom & Kelly unfortunately missed out because they had to work.

Our local weatherman Steve Stucker is a tad bit crazy for Balloon Fiesta!

The Darth Vader balloon is assisted on the ground by Storm Troopers.

The girls are wearing their matching fleece ponchos.

Poor Jack was all tuckered out by about 9 a.m. He was so limp we could barley keep him inside the stroller.

The Balloon Glow that Wasn't

We went to Balloon Fiesta Park on Friday night but the glow was cancelled due to wind. The kids still had a blast. As you can see, Jack enjoyed his cotton candy very much. He had his eyes closed in every picture I took of him; everything tastes better with your eyes closed.

Here, AnneMarie and Nathan are watching the fireworks. At least we got to see something! Oh well, can't wait till next year.

Soccer Game

AnneMarie recently finished another session of soccer with Coach Ray. She really enjoyed it this time, and something seemed to click for her the last half of the session. She played really hard and had a lot of fun. Here are a couple of action shots from the final "game."

Balloon Cake

AnneMarie & I made this cake to celebrate the Balloon Fiesta. She did most of the work mixing the cake (yellow cake with chocolate chips in it), and she also tinted all the frosting herself. We worked on it while everyone was gone, so she was excited to surprise our guests with the special cake.

Great-Gram

Aunt Karen

Julia & AnneMarie

Playgroup at the Zoo

Jack's playgroup went to the zoo on Friday. It was the perfect day for it, the weather was ideal and it was not too crowded.
Here, Jack and his buddies Jordy and Ben are checking out the seals.

Jack really enjoyed the duck pond, which had a variety of ducks, one swan, and a lot of very large koi.