Can you believe Halloween is over and now it is time to turn the calendar to November?! Wow - time sure flies once summer is gone. Well, we had a fun Halloween this year. Taylor finally gets how much fun it is to go to our family and friends houses, ring the doorbell and say "Trick or Treat!". Every time we would get back into the van she would ask if we were going to another house...how cute is that?! Bryce also did great this year. It's hard to believe that just one year ago he was only a month old and riding around in the stroller for Halloween. This year he marched up to each porch right behind sister.
We started our Halloween festivities this week with pumpkin carving - Daddy usually takes over in this department. Taylor designed her own pumpkin face this year and even made last minute design changes as Daddy carved - "Daddy, I think his nose should be bigger." Too cute! I designed Bryce's pumpkin face and Daddy did a great job with both of them.
Bryce looks like he's saying "hey, is this one mine?". :)
Taylor enjoyed all kinds of Halloween fun at her school. They could wear their costumes and that really made Taylor's day. They had face painting, special Halloween snack, shared treats with each other and even went trick or treating to some select homes in the neighborhood. Miss Linda always goes all out!
Halloween day included a visit from Pawpaw and Nanny Fink. They visited and played with the kids. Nanny Fink and Taylor even baked M & M cookies - yum! Daddy arrived home from work and it was costume time! We had a beautiful (brunette) Cinderella and a cutie Cowboy. They both looked just adorable. Bryce was even able to wear cowboy boots that were mine when I was little - that was pretty special!
Trick or treating at Aunt Barbara and Uncle Sonny's house.
We always meet up with our friends the Drowns on Halloween night to get pictures of the kids together and see each others cute costumes. Ben - the lion, Ethan - the tiger and Clayton - the monkey. What cute boys! Their costumes were the best!
Taylor and Addy on Halloween night - two beautiful princesses!
I just love how Bryce is peaking around Taylor to see who is at the door - why it's Aunt Kristin!
No one wanted the night to end, but we had two very tired trick or treaters and a mommy and daddy that were pooped too. What a fun night - can't wait to see what next year brings.
More later...
The next one was 
Daddy wasn't able to go to either of these patches with us so we waited to pick out our big carving pumpkins until he was able to go. We visited The Great Pumpkin Patch to get these.
There were many bike rides and lots of outdoor fun:
The kids found a cute little frog that kept them entertained for a while - I hope the poor little thing survived - yikes!
Meal times with our friends. Thankfully Ryan and Holly had a screen room that we could all fit in for our meals, which really helped with the bees and leaves - thanks Drown family!
Holly and I took a hike, which was supposed to be flat and easy - yeah right! Poor Holly was pulling the wagon with Ethan and Clayton and then she had Ben in a backpack on her back. Let me tell you that this little trail wasn't flat or easy - we were just glad to make it back to camp alive! :)
We took a pumpkin along for the kids to design and carve (with adult help, of course). They had fun working together to design the face and give him a name (Max Max Clayton Franklin - wow, what a name!).
Our friends had to leave Sunday evening, but Neal surprised me with staying another night. We were all very excited to stay one more night in our new camper. Our last sunset during supper.
Time to brush teeth and get ready for bed.
Breakfast the next morning.
A little fun in the leaves before we had to leave.
"Hey Dad - you need help with the leveling jacks?"
A couple of cute pics of the kids before we left - don't worry Neal is holding Bryce from behind.
Thanks for a great weekend Ryan, Holly, Clayton, Ben, Ethan, Chad, Julie, Noah and Ellie!
More later...
