Pumpkin Patch, Halloween, and Island Park

Finding the perfect pumpkin is always fun!





Carving is definately not my forte, nor my favorite. Dad is such a great sport!



Halloween was FREEZING cold!! The kids were Pirates, per Princess Pirate Reagan, the Dictator of the household :) Kade learned a new word "CAANNNDDDYYY", which he has perfected every day since then. We decided to brave the wind and cold and just participate in our neighborhood trunk or treat. Short, sweet, and to the point. HIt a few houses on the walk back home, but home and in the tub by 7. It was just too dang cold otherwise. Kade remembered to say "Hewwow", "candy", and "thank you" ;) I apparently was stinkin' at taking pictures this night. They aren't the best!






Scenes from Island Park this time around. Very cold, but still had a nice trip.












Mike and Reagan's "Playdough Pumpkins"

Speaking of climbing....

This little dude climbing the fridge. He's CRAZY!

Scenes from October

Warning: Photo Overload

The "chill in the air" went from an excited, anticipated feeling, to a shock, reality feeling very fast. While we have enjoyed some beautiful, "perfect" fall weather, for the most part, I think it's a reality check that we are moving full force into a season that I have come to dread...winter :( While October kicked off with a big snow storm and several inches of snow, it's followed that up with weather in the 60's. And, although sunny, usually we are accompanied by sweatshirts and pants, along with mid-day hot chocolate!
Here's what we've been up to so far this month :)

The first snow!




And of course all the fun had at parks (which are my least favorite thing to do! I know, I'm a grouch, but parks aren't relaxing for me. It's always trying to lift here or get kicked in the head by a swinging child on monkey bars, or constantly being nervous Kade will end up with a broken bone!)


I call this picture "my life on the run"!

Also NOT a big fan of these chairs! Not sure if it's because I, myself, cannot tolerate anything that goes in circles, or if it makes me so worried they spin uncontrollably fast, and how great can that be for their little brains!

My little climber


Kade loves to swing

And this little monkey LOVES LOVES the monkey bars. This is actually at our little tiny swingset in the backyard. But she had Mike remove everything from this side so she can go back and forth. She's had blisters for awhile.


Nature adventures to the mountains and greenbelt
Course he's trying to climb this tree




This is for you Jennifer ;)

Trip to the Apple Orchard
Good news is, my kids love apples, especially Kade. Bad news was, he was sure his Papa was there and followed this not-super-friendly "grandpa" around so I spent most of my time prying his juicy hands off the imposter "Papa". That and making sure he only ate apples that were off the tree, not already half eaten, and tossed on the ground :)





A week left in October and it's insanely hard to believe! Reagan has been loving her dance class, my PE teaching hasn't been as terrible as I thought (although challenging!), the business is gearing up for the insane season, we are heading to Island Park next weekend, Halloween, a visit from my dear friend, a girls getaway at last, Thanksgiving, retail insanity, and Christmas will be here before you know it! Where, oh where, does time go!

Sunday Afternoon Adventure

Who doesn't absolutely love beautiful scenery?! Mother Nature has a way of taking your breath away. Another spot we'd heard a lot about and wanted to see for ourselves is Palasades (Swan Valley) Wyoming. Took just over an hour to get there and well worth the drive. It was so beautiful. The foliage is starting to turn, the lake there is huge, huge and beautiful as well. We stopped a few times to get out and check out future camping/hiking spots, and can't wait to try the water next summer (if maybe the bears aren't out and about like they are this year!)
There are so many fun and interesting places close by and we love scoping them out and having us some family fun.



Soaking in the sunshine and drawing pictures

At first I was impressed that Mike reached into the stream and caught this fish! Then I realized it had reached the end of his tunnel and was searching for the light! I also learned something I did not know, and that was the fish is red because it was dying, and that fish apparently return to their place of birth in order to spawn/die. Who knew!

Kade's reaction to the fish ;) He would scream like a little girl and hide his head when Mike got close with the fish

But...he was sure happy to be roaming around in the outdoors, getting dirty, throwing rocks in the water, climbing on falled trees, and enjoying nature