October was a very busy and very fun month at our house. We loved the beautiful weather and loved enjoying the fall activities.
Near the beginning of the month my preschool class took a field trip to Wheeler Farm. It was such a nice day and we had so much fun!
A sample of Mia's writing.
One day this month it was crazy sock day and walk to school day on the same day. These cute neighborhood friends were heading off together in their crazy socks.
Mia does some sort of art project almost every day.
At the beginning of the month we were "dolled." Apparently our neighborhood has started a tradition where they drop off a treat and a creepy doll at your house during the month of October. Then you have to pass the doll and a treat onto somebody else. You are supposed to take a creepy picture with the doll and post it on Facebook before you pass it on. It got delivered to our house right before bedtime which made putting Mia to bed a challenge that night. We had to put the doll out in the garage just in case. It was pretty funny!
Cute Zayne turned three this month and we got to celebrate him. He had an awesome cake and party.
We were excited we were able to grab some pumpkins at the pumpkin patch this year. We went again with our friends the Petersons. Our kids love getting to hang out with them. We got lots of awesome pumpkins.
Because of Covid we tried to scale back our activities this month but one we couldn't miss was Cornbelly's. Luckily it didn't get too busy until the late afternoon and that's when we left. It was so much fun and we filled a lot of hours there.
Mia got really into the rides this year. She liked putting her hands up on them.
For the first time ever our kids had six days off a school for fall break. We decided to take a mini vacation. We drove to Colorado to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. This is something our kids have always wanted to do thanks to the commercials and we knew Alex would be too old for it soon. We were nervous for the long drive since our kids haven't driven that long before but they did really well.
The best draw of the lodge is the indoor water park but they also have a ton of other things to do. Our kids each got a pass that allowed them to try everything which was so much fun.
They had a Build-a-Bear right in the hotel and our kids got to each pick a character to make.
They also had mini bowling which was a lot of fun!
One of the best things was our room. It had a mini room for the kids with bunk beds and their own tv. They thought it was pretty awesome.
The water park was a lot of fun. It had a wave pool, lots of playgrounds and water slides. Mia waited until our last day to really try the wave pool and then she decided it was her favorite and we spent hours in it.
They also had an arcade where they could win tickets and pick prizes.
Probably their favorite thing was a shock to us. It was this Magic Quest game. They each got to pick a magic wand and then they ran around the hotel on quests. They had to find hidden objects and do different tasks. They spent hours doing this!
They also had a cool ropes coarse. It is hard to tell from the pictures how far up it is. The first day Mia was too afraid to try it but the next few days she did it and loved it.
They also had rock climbing. We were shocked when Mia just jumped right up and climbed very high.
They had a Ben and Jerrys in the hotel that we visited a couple of times.
At night they had story time. It was pretty cute.
Apparently Mia had my phone at one point and took about 30 pictures like this.
The kids also got to go Trick or Treating around the hotel. It was a fun little practice for the big day.
We also did some miniature golfing.
We started one morning with a yoga class.
Then we went to their breakfast buffet. Because they can't really do a buffet right now they just bring you out some of everything. It was awesome!
We also mined for gems.
We made it so far into the Magi Quest that we finally got to defeat the dragon.
Another fun thing they got to do with their pass was pick out a cup worth of candy. It was pretty cool.
This was the scariest water slide at the park. You have to stand in this tube and then suddenly the floor falls and you fall down in the a very fast water slide. Alex did it once but then was good after that. It was pretty crazy!
One night we ended the night with a dance dance party. Sadly Brandon and Alex declined to participate but Mia made sure I did it with her. She loved it.
It was Mia's turn to defeat the dragon.
I'm so grateful for the relationship these two have. They get along so well and have a lot of fun together.
And just like that it was time to head home. We weren't really sure how much fun this place would be but we really loved it and the kids especially loved it. It was the perfect mini vacation.
I was shocked at how well Mia did on the drive. She never complained. Alex was awesome too but he ended up getting sick about half way home. Luckily we had a bag ready and he felt a lot better after that.
Just two days after getting home we threw our annual Halloween party. It was a lot of fun as usual. Our kids love helping us plan and get ready for it. Brandon smoked ribs and chicken and we ate lots of yummy food. We had a cake walk and played Halloween Jeopardy. It was a great time!
Later in the month we got to celebrate my birthday. It was a great day and I was very spoiled.
This was also the day that Alex and Mia got to wear their costumes to school and have class parties. There was no parade like normal and parents weren't allowed to help in the classrooms but I'm glad they got to celebrate anyway.
Among his many talents Brandon makes amazing cards. I loved the theme of this one.
Also on my birthday we had our preschool Halloween party. It is one of my favorite days of preschool and this year was a lot of fun!
Our kids saw this Halloween decorating house at the store and talked us into buying it at the beginning of the month. We finally got around to decorating it at the end of the month. It turned out pretty awesome.
Also this month the kids found out they each received an award for their participation in the school reflections contest. This is the first year they have ever entered so it was a lot of fun. Alex's drawing gets to move onto the district level now. They both did a great job!
The night before Halloween it was finally time to carve our pumpkins. It is awesome now because Alex can do his completely on his own and he did two pumpkins this year. Mia declined to clean out her pumpkin but she did do all the tracing of the pattern. They all turned out awesome!
Wolf Man (Brandon), The Child (Alex), The Mandalorian (Rachel), Wednesday Addams (Mia and Brandon), and Pikachu (Alex).
Finally the big day came! It was nice that it was on a Saturday this year so we had lots of time to take pictures and visit family. Mia really has this posing thing down. She just goes with it and I just have to take the pictures. She made a beautiful fairy!
Alex is less into posing but is always a good sport about it. He made an awesome astronaut.
We got to visit Grandma and Grandpa, Sarah and Jen, and the Everitts.
After some pumpkin shaped pizza they were ready to go out. Luckily the weather turned pretty nice after some cold days.
Alex went again with a big group of boys in our neighborhood. Mia and I went with a few other moms and kids her age. It was so much fun!
We made it to our own house. Brandon had the job of giving out candy.
This house in our neighborhood always goes all out with their decor and it was especially awesome this year!
Mia was triumphant! We finally made it back home. She made it way longer than I thought she would and I only talked her into going home when I convinced her that we had already visited every house in the neighborhood!
Alex finally made it back at home after really visiting every house in the neighborhood. His candy bag weighed over five pounds. I don't think either of them has eaten more than three pieces of their candy yet but they sure worked hard for it. I'm so grateful we got to trick or treat despite the state of things. It was a great night!
