Happy Halloween!

The boys always look forward to Halloween, so when the week arrived and they had to wait all the way until Friday, they could barely stand it.  Fortunately, they had some pre-Halloween festivities to enjoy before the big night.

First, Benny had his Halloween party at school.  The kiddos got to wear their costumes to school, as long as they weren't scary.  Now, Ben had picked out a three headed dragon costume. To any adult that saw him, he looked like the cutest little dragon that you've ever seen with one head on top and one on each of his hands.  However, he thought he was very fierce, so I had to make sure to tell him he had to be a nice dragon at school so he wouldn't scare all the other children.  They had a parade and collected goodies (not candy) from other classrooms and teachers.

Now, at Evan's school, they are not allowed to celebrate Halloween.  However, on Halloween day they did have a dress like your favorite book character day and a "fall" party the day before, so I think he had plenty to celebrate.  I got to help plan the fall party and come in to play bingo with the kiddos.  It was a lot of fun!  Evan's actual costume didn't work for the dress up day at school because I don't know of any books about ghouls, so he wore his Superman costume from the costume bin and brought in his Superman book to share.

Finally, the big night arrived.  While we waited for it to get dark so we could go Trick or Treating, we hung out with our neighbors and munched on lots of goodies like mummy hot dogs (hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls)-yep, that was the extent of my creativity.  As it finally started to get dark, Evan put on his ghoul costume, Ben became a three-headed dragon, and we headed out with our friends.

This was the first year where we didn't bring the wagon and the kids really didn't need anyone to go up to the door with them.  It was quite a bit more relaxing.  We still had to work to convince Ben not to stop and eat each piece of candy immediately after he got them, but they still amassed quite a bit of candy in their pumpkin buckets.

Eventually, all our neighbors had gone home or moved on to other parts of the neighborhood or gone home, and Ben got tired.  So, I took Benny home and Evan and Ian forged on.  Finally, they met us at home.  The happy little ghoul and dragon immediately went up to their beds, fell off their sugar high, and crashed.  Now, they just have a few pieces of candy to enjoy until next year!

(the fierce dragon head to preschool)

(Superman is off to school)

(the neighbors meet up to celebrate)

(Our backyard was getting a little bit scary.)

(The boys pose with our neighbors Izzy, Carolyn, and Jill before they head out.)

(ready to go)

(Of course, Rip had to join in on the fun.)

(our whole little crew)

(Trick or Treat!)

(Ian tries on Jill's wig-I think he looks great in purple!)

Fried Rides

So, October is one of our favorite months in NC, and one of the main reasons why is that it's time for the NC State Fair.  We go every year, and we always have a great time.  We have our traditions, but we always like trying something new.

We arrived as early as we could on the last Saturday morning of the fair.  The weather was beautiful so the crowds came with us.  Our usual tactic is to make a beeline for the kids midway so we can hit the rides before the lines get too long.  Our first one this time was the ferris wheel.  Even though that one costs a lot of tickets, I always like that one because our whole family get to go together and enjoy the scenery.  As usual we had a great time.

After our trips around the wheel, we wanted to let the boys use the rest of their tickets.  So, the boys each picked two more rides and set off.  I went with Evan and Ian went with Ben.  Ben picked two fairly spinny rides and had a great time, even dragging Daddy on one of them with him.  Evan picked a spinny ride first and had a great time.  However, after he got off, he decided that perhaps he didn't feel that great and maybe he only wanted to do one ride after all.

The rides, however, were not what the boys were most excited about.  They really wanted to play the dart game to get a prize.  They always get to play one, and it's one of those games where kids always win.  This time, they not only got to play the dart game, but they also suckered us into the fishing game where you always get a prize.  So, they went home with two little stuffed sea horses and two stuffed dice.  Evan also was brave enough to try the Marines pull up station.  He was hoisted up there and hung, but then he started inching over to the edge little by little.  He ended up not doing any actual pull ups, but he got a sticker for a great effort with his hanging.

Finally, it was time for Ian and I's favorite part of the fair.  It was eating time!  We think it's always hard to find an absolutely fabulous main course at the fair.  So, the boys had foot long hot dogs while I had a cheese burger and Ian had a gyro.  Then, we moved on to the yummy course-dessert.  This year, Ian and I actually tried something new with the gourmet funnel cake stand.  We sampled a half strawberry shortcake, half banana pudding funnel cake and it was really good.  I definitely would be tempted by it again next year.  The boys don't quite have our taste in dessert.  Evan got some cotton candy while Benny went to the all gummy booth and got some gummy snakes.  He inhaled quite a large amount of gummies before he dropped his remaining snake on the ground.  After some tears, he was cheered by some cotton candy from his brother.

As we were wearing out, we finished out the day with a trip by the agricultural building where we headed straight for the record setting pumpkin, as usual.  I always have to get a picture of the boys in front of the pumpkin.  While they boys have gotten much bigger, they still have got a long way to go before they're as big as the pumpkin.

After the pumpkin, we were all pretty worn out.  We had our fair fun and we headed out with our little stuffed animals, stuffed bellies, and happy memories.  Until next year, NC State Fair!!

(Benny and I on the ferris wheel)

(Evan spins on his chosen ride.)

(Daddy and Ben get ready to ride.)

(yummy!)

(hot dog as big as Benny)

(Evan loves his dessert!)

(before the infamous gummy drop)

(Evan tries his pull ups.)

(Last year's pumpkin picture)

(This year's pumpkin boys!)

Field Trippin'

A few weeks ago, the kindergarteners at Creekside Elementary had their first field trip to the NC Museum of Life and Science, and they were nice enough to let me tag along.  I don't know what I'll do if Evan ever becomes one of those kids that doesn't want me to come into his class or come of the field trips with him because I really do have a lot of fun!

We met the kiddos at the museum as they got off the bus.  It was actually Evan's first experience on a true school bus.  He said he liked sitting in the back and feeling the bumps, doesn't everyone?  Each class got off the bus wearing their matching shirts which me at the other room parent had had quite a time tie-dyeing the week before.  We all piled on over to the front door where it was quite a mass of little brightly-shirted kiddos, and their parents and teachers.  Keep in mind that Creekside has seven kindergarten classes so it was quite a group.  Finally, the teachers divided up their groups and we all headed out to explore the group.

I took my little group which included Evan and some of his other classmates into the museum.  As I walked in with the rest of the mass of kindergarteners I started to look around at the other parents with their group, I noticed that most parents had 2 or 3 kids.  My group had six little wiggly, high-energy kiddos.  I guess I should feel good that Evan's teacher was willing to trust me with that many kiddos, and fortunately, I brought them all back to her in one piece.

While we were there, we had so much fun exploring, and fortunately I knew the museum very well because we have been members for the past 5 years that I knew where to take them.  Evan sometimes thought that he needed to tell our group where to go because he was with his mom, but he settled in and everyone had fun.  While we were there we played around at the indoor exhibits-the weather stations, the indoor NC animals, the space exhibits, and a great little spot where we could launch our own paper planes and rockets.

After a quick stop for a picnic lunch in their great dome picnic shelter we were ready explore again,  (And why anyone build a kids picnic shelter in the shape of a dome was beyond me.  Let's just say that making echoes is super-fun!)  Once back in the museum we headed to the outdoor exhibits to stretch our legs.  This part of the field trip was much more relaxing because we were bit more spread out from the rest of the groups and the kiddos were easier to keep track of.  Our outdoor museum session included fossil digging where the kiddos were pretty excited to bring me lots of "treasures" that they found and ask me what they were.  Evan (the fossil dig pro) and I did manage to find six sharks teeth so that everyone could take one home.  We also walked (or ran) the dino trail, checked out all the creepy insects in the bug exhibit, and searched the butterfly pavilion for any butterflies that wanted to land on our fingers.  The kids were so patient, but the only butterfly that landed headed to my head.

It was a fabulous day, and it made me yet again see how much I love hanging out with kiddos, and it was great to get to be with Evan on this day.  Hopefully, they'll have many more field trips, so I can go have more fun!

(Evan and his classmates Bryant, Nasir, and Bo)

(playing in the clouds)

(learning about physics and how to pinch your fingers)

(my whole adorable group of kindergarteners-Barbara, Nasir, Evan, Bo, Casey, and Camryn)

(trying to catch those elusive butterflies)

(Are you surprised that we found Evan at a computer)

(my little hitchhiker)

Up, Up, and Away

Ever since I heard about the Carolina Balloon Fest, I've been wanting to go.  I've seen the occasional hot air balloon floating at a distance in the sky.  However, I've never been very close, and I've certainly never been up in one.  So, the prospect of being able to be up close and personal with some hot air balloons and perhaps even take a tethered ride in one was too much to resist.

So, one morning a few weekends ago, after being up all night with a nasty virus, I chucked everyone into the van and headed on over to Statesville, about a 2 hours drive from home.  I was determined to see those balloons, and once I told the boys where we were going, they were pretty excited too.

After the two hour drive which my uneasy stomach thankfully survived, we finally arrived at the balloon festival.  We parked and walked inside.  Much to our surprise, we didn't see any balloons, just a bunch of festival tents, some bouncy houses, and a bunch of people.  We were a little disappointed because we were expecting to see balloons everywhere taking people on tethered rides, etc.  Turns out that even the slightest wind means that you can't even blow up the balloons and at that time, the wind was a little bit too strong.  They were, however, hoping that the wind would die down in time for the 4 o'clock mass balloon launch.

So, we started killing time till the launch.  We let the boys play around in some bouncy houses for a little while.  Then, we noticed that some people had at least gotten out their balloon baskets, so we went to investigate. The boys were able to crawl around in one.  Then, we found a young guy that had a smallish balloon laid out in the grass with a basket about the size of a planter.  Ian and the boys loved talking to him about how he made the balloon and how they could do it themselves.  (I think Evan just wanted to use it as a blow torch.)

Finally, we settled down on a blanket in the  big field to see if some balloons would appear.  I watched the flags blow in the wind and the lack of balloons appearing and my hopes started to dwindle.  Finally, however, after the launch window had closed, as the sun was setting, the wind finally died down enough to blow up some balloons, not launch them, but at least blow them up.  They all started to slowly come to life.  The boys and I, and really everyone in the field started to get very excited.  It was really, really cool to see them all rising from the field with the backdrop of the setting sun.

We started walking around among the balloons with the light of the fires coming from the balloons.  Evan loved walking right up to the balloons and putting his hands on them while Benny was pretty sure that they were all about to fall on his head.  He was pretty nervous wandering around under the things.  While it was a long trek out there and the day didn't go quite as expected, those magical moments under the balloons made the whole trip worth it.  What a cool experience!

(exploring one of the balloon baskets)

(flame thrower)

(my cuties posing)

(the excitement as the balloons start to rise)

(next to a balloon)

(a beautifully lit balloon)

(touching the balloon)

(fire!)

(beautiful balloons)

(such a beautiful evening!)

Weird and Exotic Pumpkins

Fall is here in NC although the 80 degree temperatures outside may not be too convincing.  Our little family always loves fall because there are so many great, fun things to do around town.  One of our traditions is to head to a local pumpkin patch and have a little fun.  We've checked out several in the area, and this year we went to one we had never been to before, Ganyard Hills Farm.  

We arrived, and we're always a little taken aback by how much pumpkin patches cost.  So, as Ian and I were paying our money, we were really hoping that it would be worth it.  And of course, our pumpkin patch trips never disappoint, so neither did this one.  We started off checking out some of the little kid activities at the entrance.  The amazing thing that we noticed this year was that our boys were some of the oldest going down the tube slide and playing in the huge corn pit.  How did that happen?  The boys had a great time, and I did indeed find a few corn kernels at home that had fallen out of the kids clothing!

Next, we wandered off in search of a corn maze.  At first, we headed into what we thought was a corn maze.  Turns out we were just wandering in a corn field, but Dad, the crop expert, found some corn to show the boys what it actually looked like on the plant.  We passed through a cotton field on the way to the hayride which we found out was the way to the actual corn maze.  The hayride dropped us off at one side of the corn maze and drove off to the other side to pick us up.  Fortunately, this maze was not too tricky and the boys quickly led us through to the other side.  

We hitched a ride on the hay wagon back to the farm.  Since we had checked out the rest of the patch it was time to pick out our pumpkins.  We saw the field with the regular pumpkins, then we saw a big patch labeled "Weird and exotic pumpkins".  The sign did not lie, it was filled with the strangest assortment of pumpkins that we had ever seen from the lumpy and bumpy to the black and misshapen.  We all had a ball wandering through the field searching for the perfect pumpkin for each of us.  We came home with a lumpy, warty green one, a small green and orange one, a perfectly white pumpkin, and a smooth yellow one.  Can you guess which person picked each pumpkin? (answers revealed in the pictures)  Now, as Halloween rapidly approaches we're looking at the difficult prospect of carving these beauties!

(monkeying around)

(lounging in the corn pit)

(smile...)

(...or just make a silly face)

(Which way should we go?)

(losing ourselves in the maze)

(So this is how you pick corn, huh Dad?)

(Ian-warty, Benny-small, Benny sized one that he could hold himself, Katy-white, Evan-the only yellow one in the patch, or so he claimed)

Communing with Nature

Last fall, our little family went on our first camping trip ever.  We went with a bunch of other families from our church and had a great time.  However, since we had never gone before and were honestly not quite sure how we would like it, we borrowed all of our gear.  We also were lacking in several key things.  I forgot pillows for the grown ups, Ian didn't have a sleeping bag, and we didn't have any sort of air mattress.  I think the grown ups had one of the miserable night's sleep that we've had in a long time.

So, this year, we decided to take the boys back out for the camping trip, except this year, we were getting our own stuff.  Ian scoured Amazon and we ended up with a new tent, air mattress, and sleeping bags.  We were ready.  We drove up with a thunderstorm looming and we knew we would get rain sometime while we were there.  I was a big nervous about being out there in a muddy mess.  Plus, if the campfire got rained out, Evan would be devastated, Evan is a big fan of fire.  We did get a little rain overnight, but since we were dry in our fancy tent when it happened, it didn't end up spoiling anything during our trip.

We arrived that afternoon and put up our tent.  Turns out, Ian might have overestimated on the tent size a bit.  I think we could fit a small army in there, but it was certainly nice when it came time for sleeping.  We could partition the boys off in one section, come in and out without disturbing them, and sleep in our own section.  It was pretty nice.  Plus, the air mattress was on our side, so I slept much better than I did last time.

Once our tent was set up it was pretty much time for dinner, so after a quick dip in the lake to get covered in mud, the boys got started on setting up the fire.  The fire is always Evan's favorite part of any camping trip and there were some other kids there that felt the same way, so everyone had a lot of opinions on how to start the fire.  They were building caves for their sticks in the fire and adding pine cones, pine needles, and whatever else they thought would start the flames.

The flames were quickly started, and we skewered our hot dogs and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  The boys didn't care about their dinner though, they were waiting for dessert.  So, after everyone had eaten their dinner we got out the s'mores.  Evan especially loved toasting the marshmallows and devouring them.  I think he might have inherited Gram's love of all things burnt.  After s'mores, things started winding down the the kiddos actually happily went to bed in the tent.  Benny went first, and Evan stayed up telling stories with his Daddy for a few more minutes.  After both boys were sleeping, we were able to sit outside the tent and have a nice relaxing time chatting with some other parents, how fun!

The next day, of course started early with the sun.  I realized that we had forgotten the granola bars, so breakfast consisted of the same thing as lunch would be-peanut butter sandwiches. That's ok, the kids didn't seem to mind.  That day we enjoyed playing ball in a field, getting muddy on the beach then chilly in the lake, scavenger hunting in the woods, and of course, fire tending.  Everyone had a great time, and we were happily tired by the time the afternoon rolled around.  Unfortunately, we had to head home so I could prepare for my triathlon the next day, but at this point, I think one day of camping was plenty for us.

I know everyone is definitely looking forward to our next trip though.

(the taj-ma-tent)

(our fancy accommodations)

(fire!)

(sunrise over the campsite)

(kiddos at the fire)

(Next time we camp, will we have to hunt for our own food?)