Halloween 2010

To say the kids have been looking forward to Halloween this year would be an understatement. Kaden has been counting down the days for the past week and Marin has been saying " happy ween" every time she sees our door banner the past couple days. What a fun evening we had with our neighborhood friends. It's become a tradition to start out with pictures by our front door and we did great to get a TON of kids all looking at the cameras this year.







The big kids then separated ahead of the younger ones and went to the houses together, taking turns ringing doorbells and *trying* to patiently wait for the younger set to catch up after each house. Marin LOVED walking by herself and going to each door.

She proudly carried her candy and by the end would put it in her bag and say "more" as in, she wanted to go to more houses. Also by the end she was asking for "lollies", her favorite candy. She was so cute, she usually got exactly what she asked for.

After a good hour of trick or treating we circled back around to our house. Marin went up to bed and Kaden and I went with our friends Jen and Owen to the local fire stations open house.

I'd call the entire evening a success. Especially considering the fact that a certain 4 year old hasn't stopped talking about firemen and has been wearing his snow boots, winter coat, and fire helmet around all week putting out "fires" around the house. Today he even made an air tank out of paper to put on his back. Yes, I'll call that success indeed.

Feast with the Witches

This past Saturday we went to our second annual Feast with the Witches at the Children's Museum. Our group grew this year and we had 4 adults and 7 children all from our neighborhood. In case you're not familiar with the Feast with the Witches, here's the low down. You get to dress up in your costume, eat breakfast with many museum volunteers dressed up like witches, get your face painted, see some entertainment, and go through the haunted house with the lights on. It's really a fun time! Here are some pictures to prove it!

Pumpkin Painting

This is what we did this morning. Amazingly, BOTH kids LOVED it and it they actually painted until the paint ran out (as opposed to the 2 minutes I anticipated).

Fall at Town Hall

Our town has a hay bale decorating contest. Unique, yes, and also an amazingly fun time (and did I mention ... FREE????). This year there were 90 entries all displayed at town hall (by a busy street which makes for lots of backed up traffic, I might add). We went to check them out Sunday night. It was a perfect evening and the kids had a ball running from one entry to the next. Kaden quickly picked out his favorite (bonus points if you can quess which one it is). It didn't take long, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, the kids are asking to go back. The display only lasts until next week, so I guess I better get them over there again. Not sure which they liked more:the hay bales or running in the green, green grass afterwards.

Pretty Girl

Marin is inching closer to 2 daily! She's learning to say more and more words and is getting more independent. She got tubes in her ears last month, so we're hoping that positively affects both her health and her behavior (she got extremely fussy when she had an ear infection).

We love our little girl and can't believe how quickly she's growing up!

The Start of Fall

Fall just started around here. The temperatures are FINALLY cooling off and we've had our windows open for a couple weeks enjoying the cool nights.

Here's what the kids are up to getting ready for a fall filled with fun.

Marin totes around a pumpkin just her size from Grandma and Grandpa Steckel.

Kaden sports his Halloween costume. The day it came in the mail (I found a deal on eBay), he wore it almost all day and wanted to sleep in it! Guess we chose the right costume this year. He's our little racer in the making!

Scary Fall?

Do these pictures mean we have a scary fall coming up? I don't think so. Cute maybe, hilarious even, but not scary!

**Kaden got these fun glasses from a class trip to the local eye doctor. They've provided many laughs!**