Happy Halloween

We had a GREAT Halloween.  Tommy dressed as Darth Vader and Cole as Batman and they were SO proud of their costumes.  (I was surprised that they both chose something different for once!)  I feel like Halloween was a two week event for us!  Between Halloween parties, pumpkin carving, cookie making, fun spooky crafts and dress-up days at school...our calendar was jam packed with fun!  It all culminated in one of the best Halloweens yet.  Our neighborhood hosted an INCREDIBLE haunted house and Halloween party.  After, the parents took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  It was so funny seeing the throngs of kids invading each house.  There couldn't have been ANY candy left once our gangs passed through.  :)

Here is a short video with some of our highlights.  Including a visit to the boys' classrooms where they sang songs and recited Halloween poems.  It was too cute!

If you can't see the above, just follow this link to view the video!

http://youtu.be/ASbAtO-aIl4

Gravestone Rubbing!

Driving home from school the other day, we passed by the cemetery and I was reminded of a time when I was small and we went to a cemetery and did tombstone rubbings.  It was such a cool experience.  The boys and I decided to give it a try and we recruited some friends to join us.  We baked pumpkin cookies, packed a big jug of apple juice, some rubbing paper and crayons and off we went.

The atmosphere was perfect!  Colorful trees, brown crunchy leaves underfoot...

We found some AMAZING tombstones.  Just look at these carvings!

Spooky!!

After we finished rubbings, the boys played hide and seek amongst the old tombstones.  Then somehow...as only boys know how...they found a muddy hill to slide down on their tummies.

These are their "scary" faces.  :)

They were peeking inside this huge door trying to get in.  Clearly we needed a key.

As they were zombie walking around...

We found the key!  This statue was holding it.  But it was too high to reach.  Ah...the imagination of little boys!

It was such a fun spooky fall afternoon that we're planning on going back again for more rubbings.  The pictures make amazing Halloween decorations...and we loved seeing the stones reveal themselves under our crayons!  

Fall days...

The boys and I spent the afternoon lounging in the front yard yesterday.  We pulled out great grandma's blanket and plopped ourselves down on the lawn for snacks and fall sunshine.  The air was crisp and the sun was warm...it was perfect!

Grant loved sitting outside watching his brothers antics.  And there were plenty of antics!  Here the boys are posing for a picture.   This led to football style tackles and LOTS of laughter!

A CRAZY fall hike. :)

My friend Sue and I decided to take the kids on a fall hike up a local hill.  It's fairly large and actually serves as a ski area during winter months, so you can imagine it is fairly steep.  We were hoping for some colorful views, fresh air and exercise.  Boy!  Did we get our share of all!!

The first thing we should have considered is that we had strollers.  Who hikes with strollers?  But I remembered there was a paved path for emergency vehicles that wrapped around the hill, so if we could just get there...we'd be great.  Getting there was hysterical.  I had Grant on my hip..we were both dragging our strollers over rocks and streams and by the time we made it to the road we were both about to pass out from exhaustion.  Next up?  PUSHING the strollers up a steep access road.  :)  It was a workout!

The boys all had a blast.  We wrapped their wrists with packing tape with the sticky side out and they collected leaves and interesting things they found on their hike.  When we got to the top and the start of the ski area, the views were WELL worth the effort.  Just beautiful!  A mini picnic at the top of the slopes and then down we went.  Of course, we missed the green EASY slopes on our hike and ended up at the craziest, steepest one.  The boys were running and sliding down on their butts.  And Sue and I just laughed at how crazy we must have looked with our strollers navigating this treacherous hill.

Here is our crew, ready for the trails!

We were looking to feed the ducks, but only fed the chipmunks.  Seriously.  The chipmunks were running around eating all the food.  It was crazy!

Matthew among the trees!

First view from the top.  Ella and Grant have NO idea what they are about to endure on the way down.  

My sweetheart.

Here we go!!

The view is gorgeous.  Here the boys are running and sliding.

Brothers!

Stunning views.  When the trees really start to change this will be amazing.

Starting our descent!

Our intrepid hikers!  Taking a rest at the bottom.

View from bottom.  Believe me...MUCH steeper than it appears.  :)

The boys found this cool rock and Matthew taught them how to jump.  This is them PRE-jump.  (They were super nervous.

Matthew showing them the ropes.

Here they are AFTER their first jump and ready for jump number 2.  Clearly they are feeling VERY happy about their accomplishment.  Look at those faces!!  Thanks Matthew!

It was a day full of laughs, exercise and fresh air with special friends.  When we got home, the boys ate dinner and fell into bed.  And mommy wasn't too far behind!!  

Pumpkin Seeds!

A chilly fall afternoon calls for warm toasty pumpkin seeds!!  We roasted them with sugar and pumpkin pie spice...the smell in the house is heavenly!  And the result?  YUMMY!!!  Perfect companion to a cup of warm apple cider (courtesy of the Keurig!)

Boys are a little hesitant on the cider...we'll see if they come around.  I hope so!  It's SO good!

Our HAUNTED pumpkin!!

After an early morning photo shoot at the beach with the boys (mommy as the photographer) we came home to carve pumpkins.  This year we came up with a pretty great idea.  A Haunted House Pumpkin!!  We used small pumpkins as ghosts, monster and a witch.  Then used chalkboard paint so we could decorate the outside with chalk.  It came out pretty amazing...and the best part?  We did not ruin our sweaters or shirts!  Time to roast up all those yummy pumpkin seeds!