October Fun

As Halloween grows closer there are more and more fun activities for our little family to do. I'm loving it! Halloween is so fun and Tanner is really into it this year.

Last weekend we went to the "Haunted Hallow Hayride".

At first I was worried that it would be too scary for the kids, because we've never been before, but it turned out fine.

When we walked in there were a couple of games for little kids and Tanner and Bailey loved it.

They had a "Rat Hunt". The kids had to search in the hay for fake rats. Tanner found one and was sooo excited.

Then there was the frog toss. You hit the end of the spring board and the frogs went flying. The object was to hit the target with the flying frogs, but Tanner didn't even get close. He had a lot of fun though!

After playing those little games he got to pick out a candy from the treasure chest.

And Bailey got some candy too.

Sweet kids and I before starting the hay bale maze

Bailey thought she knew where she was going, but she lead us all into a dead end. (Love my chubby girl)

The kiddos following Daddy through the maze

The champion- he lead us out of the maze! Such a big boy!

After we found out way our of the hay bale maze, we did some trick-or-treating. Bailey loved this, although she cant say "trick-or-treat" yet, she'd walk up to the person and just smile and say "PEEEAAASSEE" and no one could resist that face- so she got a bag full of suckers and smarties.

Then we made our way over to the line for the haunted hayride.

Me lovin' on my girl while we are waiting in line for the hayride.

After we got on the hayride, I started to get really worried because I was getting scared. After I jumped from fright the first time I realized that Bailey didn't jump with me. I looked down and she was sound asleep. I guess the hayride wasn't scary enough for her.

When Chris asked Tanner if he was scared he said "Mom will save me. She's a super mom"

Seriously, that kid melts my heart!

Tanner was a little scared, he kept having me cover his eyes. But then Chris told him he could shoot at the monsters and Tanner loved that. So he spent the rest of the hayride pretending to shoot any monsters that scared us. He LOVED it.

Here we are on the hayride. The flash blinded Tanner....but he was having a great time.

On the way home Tanner fell asleep and Bailey stayed asleep. I guess they were totally worn out. It was about 8:30 when we got home and both kids stayed asleep when we moved them to their beds. It was such a fun night. Tanner told me the next day that he saw lots of "scary stuff" but he shot at them and they "couldn't get us".

 

Today we carved our pumpkins. Tanner loved scooping the "goop" out, but not with his fingers, he'd only use the "goop scoop" Tanner requested we carve a "Spooky Ghost" pumpkin. So I found a stencil for a ghost and then the fun started.

Bailey sitting with her Daddy. (She's really into her Daddy lately. Its adorable)

Daddy and his kiddos carving pumpkins

Mommy and kiddos and pumpkins

Kids getting the gooey stuff....

Bailey LOVED it. She is fearless! The squishy goop didn't faze her!

Tanner thinking about using his fingers to get a handful of "goop'

Sweet Bailey

For lunch we made "Mummy Pizza". I was going to make these on Halloween, but Sonic was advertising .50 cent corndogs on Halloween, so I knew we'd be there instead.

 

Tonight we went to the "ASU Kid's Bash". It was super fun. It's a little halloween festival just for kids. Bailey loved wearing her costume. I can tell you she loves how she looks in her tutu.

Best friends walking to the festival...

Fun at ASU

Tanner feeling different spooky textures...this one was "Monster Brains"

Bailey was in her element. She loved the music, the games and all the kids!

My sweet Captain America. He played all the games, but didn't want to do any of the spooky or scary stuff. He kept telling everyone "I CAPTAIN AMERICA!!!!" I think this year's theme is his favorite for costumes!

When we got home that night I made "Mummy Dogs" for dinner. We devoured our festive meal and put the kids down for bed. They were exhausted from all the fun!

 

This month has been soo fun. I cant wait for Halloween tomorrow. We are going to our ward "Trunk-or-Treat" in full costume. Wish us luck!

 

The place I'd like to live...

After work on Friday we headed down to NW Arkansas. It was such a gorgeous drive. The trees are changing colors and it's beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour drive with my sweet husband with my babies asleep in the backseat. When we got into town we went straight to my cousin's house. Him and his wife, Stephanie, live in Rogers. We hung out for a while at their house and let the kids unwind from the car trip.
 

After a short break from the car we loaded back up. The girls, (Stephanie, Bailey and I) headed over to Carters to do some shopping and the boys (Chris, Tanner and my cousin Aaron) headed over to Cabelas and the "Wal-Mart Associate Store".

A couple hours later we met Joseph and his family at "The Flying Burrito" for dinner. Can I just say, YUM! So good. Love a good burrito place. After dinner we all went and got ice cream at TCBY. Tanner loved this since it was a serve yourself ice cream bar. Lots of fun.
 

Then we took our kids back to Aaron and Steph's house to put them to bed. They were exhausted and went right to sleep. Tanner woke up around 11 to throw up all over the little bed he was sleeping on, on the floor. So that resulted in a ton of laundry the next day and a middle-of-the night wardrobe and blanket change. But no worries- he was so exhausted he literally tried to lay back down in his throw-up so he could sleep again. Poor kid. We got him cleaned up and he was out like a light. He was totally fine the next day...

The next morning we got up and got ready for the day. We ate breakfast and did laundry. Then we headed out to look at some houses. Can I just say I love Rogers, AR. It's such a fun town and there are a TON of beautiful homes. I really would love to live there. We had fun looking at houses and imagining what our life would be like if we lived there.

Around 12 we met my parents for lunch at PF Changs. (yep they drove down too) YUMMY!!!! Tanner loved using his little kid chopsticks. He ate so much because he loved using them SO much.

After lunch we headed over to the new "Crystal Bridges Museum" in Bentonville. Wal-Mart covers all entry fees so its free to the public. We met Joseph and his family there and we all went in together

It's a gorgeous setting and a really cool looking building.

We walked through the museum (a little faster than most) and tried to keep the kids from touching everything. In hindsight- I would not bring my kiddos next time. It was hard on them and us. They just wanted to play.
Here is Tanner checking out a brochure. He loved holding the brochures for us. 

Tanner's favorite piece of art. I think it was the only one he recognized. It's huge though. Especially compared to Tanner. 

Bailey loved the huge windows overlooking the water. (Do you see me in the reflection- taking this picture?)

Kiddos exploring the museum

At the end of the art exhibits we found a children's play area.
Tanner had so much fun. There was a block station, puppet show theater and costumes.

Bailey with the blocks

Dressing up with my boy

My little George and Martha Washington playing dress up

Family picture outside the museum

Tanner overlooking the water

Love this shot of Bailey. Sweet girl!

Nanny and Papa with their grand kids. Tanner (3), Clark (2), Bailey (1) and Daniel (6 months.)

After the museum we went to the park while Nanny and Papa went on an ice cream run. It was a really different playground. Tanner loved all the ropes. Little Monkey! Nanny and Papa brought back hot fudge sundaes for everyone and we gobbled them up!

Bailey on the slide!

The kids were thoroughly exhausted at this point and so we loaded back up in the car. I had to stop at a few clothing stores but after that we headed back home. It was a sweet short trip but definitely left me feeling like I would love to live there.

Hopefully Chris will get to start applying for corporate jobs soon and with any luck, we'll be living down there by the new year! Wish us luck!

Pumpkin Patch

I LOVE fall! I love the leaves changing colors, I love the fall foods (apple streusel, caramel apples, pumpkin bread), beautiful weather. I'm telling ya- its gorgeous right now. I also love all the fun fall activities. As soon as it was October I knew we had to go make our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.

We had so much fun. Here are some highlights from our trip.
Tanner climbing the haystacks

Sweet Bailey playing- well mostly just standing.

She didn't do her normal amount of climbing.

Both kiddos

We decided to do the whole lot of "Fall festival" activities. It starts off with a Hayride. Both Tanner and Bailey loved this. Tanner especially love it. Here's me and my boy on the hayride

Our first stop was the little horses and the "mulch mountain"

Tanner thoroughly enjoyed himself running up and down the mountain. It was so funny to watch.

Bailey didn't know what to think....

Our next stop was the corn maze. Tanner loved it this year. He even went without us one time.

.

Dad and Bailey inside the maze...

Here is a family picture our friend snapped after we'd finished the maze

Just Bailey and Mom

After the Hayride we picked out our pumpkins and let the kids play

Tanner loved pushing these carts back and forth. He liked to put one or two small pumpkins inside and push it around too. 

Momma's little pumpkins

Checkin' out the wishing well

Tanner found his pumpkin- it was just a little too big for him to carry.

So he had to settle for a smaller one

Bailey on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin

She found one just her size

Sportin' Mom's sunglasses

Sweet Bailey

 

Anyways, it was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun. I'm so excited for all the rest of the fun activities this month. Coming soon- Haunted Hayride, ASU Kid's Halloween Bash and our Ward Trunk-or-Treat. YAY!