It Is Almost Time To Go Trick Or Treating.

October 31, 2008

One of our favorite traditions around Halloween is carving pumpkins. As soon as the decorations go up Forrest starts to ask when we can carve pumpkins. For us we like to invite some friends over to help make the mess. We let the kids paint, draw and carve on the pumpkins. Forrest only wanted to carve his pumpkin, but Eliza did all three.


This Year both Forrest and Eliza helped to clean out their pumpkins.

I even got in on the act, but let me tell you I would really rather have not. You see I can't stand the smell of a freshly cut pumpkin and I hate the feeling when slimy strands of squash slip through my fingers as I try to remove all the seeds. It is amazing the things I do for my kids.
I finally gave up trying to clean out the pumpkins and decided to roast pumpkin seeds instead. These were a big hit. The kids really enjoyed eating them. I really liked them too, but next year we defiantly need to do it with only the small seeds. They were defiantly the best.

So once again we will have jack-o-lanterns on our porch or should I say deck. Greg is always worried that some kids will smash them so he won't let them be out where anyone can see them. I of course want them outside, but do agree to have them in the back. I really don't want to have to explain to the kids why some big mean person smashed their pumpkin in the road.

Too Much Fun For One Night

October 29, 2008

On Monday we had our annual Halloween Party. Monday did not start off so hot. For school Eliza was supposed to dress up. I spent extra time doing her hair and getting her all ready. When it was time to put on her costume she refused. I wrestled with her for a couple minutes and then figured it wasn't worth. I then went and got a Halloween shirt. Unfortunately it was dirty so I tried on another Halloween shirt that had some strange blue tint to it. I took that shirt off and put the other shirt back on even though it was dirty. By then the bus was there so I shoved her out the door. As I was walking in I realized I had never even fed her breakfast. I must be losing it. Good thing they give the snacks early at preschool.

Since Eliza really didn't want to wear her costume I was a little worried about the Halloween Party. But I shouldn't have worried at all. she was more than happy to put on her dress. On a side note when I got her ready for school on Tuesday she threw a major hissy fit because I wouldn't let her wear her costume to school. Go figure.

Once we got everyone there we started to take pictures. Forrest was really nice and offered to hold my niece during the pictures.

After pictures we decorated pumpkins. Valerie had found these really cool stickers that the kids could put directly on their pumpkins. The kids had a great time with it.

After pumpkins we went outside for our annual pinata. I was very disappointed in this one. It broke really early. Of course the kids didn't really care. Most of them are just happy to get the candy.

Of course I think some would have loved to take another whack at it.

Of course after the pinata breaks you have the carnage of the scrounging for the candy.

Once the candy was distributed then every sat around talking. I tried to get some more pictures. It seems easier to feed some kids to keep them still.

Other kids you just have to tell them to flex their muscles. It was great night and I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Last Day Playing in the Sun

October 26, 2008

Now some of you may be wondering why, if I don't really care for Las Vegas, why did we go down there. About 4 years ago we went down around Thanksgiving for Greg's side of the family. Shirley hates to cook and would rather travel on a holiday. While we were down there Greg and I stopped and saw the Hoover Dam. Forrest at the time was only 18 months old so we left him back at the condo so he could take a nap. Fast forward four years. The new transformers movie comes out and I causally mention that we have been to the Hoover Dam. When Forrest realizes that we left him home he makes it is life's mission to convince us to take him there. I think there was a major guilt trip going on. Greg and I stood firm but Shirley caved and got another condo down in Las Vegas so that Forrest could see the great Hoover Dam.

For our trip we saved the best for last. Our last day we drove up to Hoover Dam. We even payed to take the tour. Forrest and Greg were completely fascinated. Eliza and I not so much.

Once we got outside Forrest insisted on having his picture taken so he could prove he had been at the spot where the transformers were.

Greg on the other hand was completely fascinated with the new road they are building. The new plan is to come back in 2010 so we can drive over the newfangled bridge. I trust engineers and all, but I just might get out and let everyone else drive over and then come back and pick me up.

After Hoover Dam we headed over to Lake Mead. We had hoped that they would have some nice beaches, but the one we wanted to go to was pretty far away so we settled on this one. It wasn't all that. We spent a couple of hours playing in the water and then headed back to our condo. We of course had to go swimming one last time. After that we were all pretty beat so we holed up in our condo for dinner and went to bed early to get ready for our 7 hour drive home.

Las Vegas Day 2

October 24, 2008

I am sure all of you have been waiting on pins and needles to find out how our Las Vegas trip went. Lucky for you I finally have a couple minutes to sit down and blog. Needless to say this week has been crazy. I thought when the kids went back to school things would calm down and I would get a nice break, but it seems to be the complete opposite. We are more busy now then we were during the summer. Oh well, what can you do.

On Day 2 of our trip we started off our morning in the swimming pool. The place we were staying at had three swimming pools. The problem was they only got sunlight for about 4 hours during the day. During the hot summer I a sure this isn't a big deal, but for us it was a little cold.

When we headed out we hit the smallest swimming pool because it had a little bit of sun. Forrest was not happy. He wanted to go to the big pool where he could touch. He pouted until we finally left and headed over to the other pool. Of course once we were there they played in the deep end for the first 30 minutes that we were there. Little stinkers.

Eliza had a blast. She loves swimming and playing in the water. I think she would have been content to stay there all day.

The kids had a ton of fun. Forrest would chase Eliza through the pool trying to catch her. She would run away screaming. I thought this was a great action shot. Forrest trying to tackle his poor baby sister who is loving every minute of it.

After lunch we headed off to the Lied Children's Science Museum. If you ever have to go to Las Vegas with kids I highly recommend this place. The kids had a blast. Everything is hands on. We could have spent all day here.

Forrest favorite part was the Quarry worker. You would load the pretend rocks on the conveyor belt. From there they would fall in the buckets and then be delivered to the truck. It was a lot of fun. Greg even got in on this fun.

Eliza's favorite thing was dressing up as a princess and performing on stage. She tried on every dress they had there. She would then get up on the stage and dance to the music they had playing. Defiantly a big hit in our book.

This was a fun place. I am glad we found it. If we go back hopefully we will be able to do it again.

On our way back to the condo we stopped at Circus Circus. Both kids played some games in the arcade and even won some stuff animals. After we ran out of money we hit the buffet and then headed home to bed. Another great day.

We're Back

October 20, 2008

Did you miss us? What you didn't even know we were gone. Some family you are. Well anyways we just got back from Vegas. I wasn't too sure about this vacation. I really don't think Vegas is a family destination, but we made do.

We left on Wednesday right after Forrest got out of school. We made pretty good time and were in our hotel by about 8:30 pm. After exploring our surroundings we headed to bed.

On Thursday we let everyone sleep in. After exploring the hotel a little we headed off to find a gas station. The concierge gave us bad directions to their local Costco so we spent some time exploring the outer regions of Las Vegas. After getting gas we headed to Springs Preserve.

Shirley had heard about this place from a friend so we decided to check it out.

This was a very kid friendly place. They had quite a few hands on activities for the kids to work on. One of our favorites was the flash flood demo. They had you stand in a room on a platform. You were positioned as if you were in a narrow canyon. After explaining the dangers of flash floods they let the water loose. They kids loved it and ran around screaming as the water roared right under our feet.

They also had some desert animals for the kids to look at. The place kept us pretty busy until lunch time. Unfortunately they didn't allow food inside and we really didn't want to eat at Wolfgang Puck's cafe. Luckily I had packed a lunch and we had a picnic in the car. After lunch we headed back inside. We checked out the gardens and played for quite awhile in the kids play area.

There was a huge sand box that Eliza spent most of the time running in.

Forrest on the other hand loved to climb the giant Mammoth bones. Our last stop was their scarecrow exhibit that they had for Halloween. The scarecrows were pretty inventive.

My favorite was the bride and groom. They looked pretty gruesome, but all Eliza cared about was the beautiful wedding dress. She kept pointing to it to show us all how pretty it was.
We finally called it quits and headed back to the condo to swim. At 4:00 we got all cleaned up and headed out on the strip. Forrest really wanted to go to the M&M store and we planned on eating at the Rain forest Cafe in the MGM.

At the M&M store I let each kid pick out one thing. When they rang us up the lady gave each kid their own bag. They both got such a kick out of this. Both kids carried their little bags with them whole time we were out.

The Rain forest Cafe was overpriced and nosy, but the kids really enjoyed it.

After a quick stop to see the lions we headed home and to bed.

It Is Way To Early To Be Doing This.

October 13, 2008

Sunday morning we woke up to snow and it kept on snowing the rest of the day. Of course once we got home from church the kids had to get all suited up to go outside.

Poor Forrest doesn't even have any snow clothes. I had to dig last years out. The snow pants were floods and the jacket didn't quite cover his wrists, but he was in seventh heaven building his snow fort.

Eliza on the other hand. Jeez, someone really needs to teach her not to eat the snow. I don't know what she sees in it, but she really loves to eat snow. Good thing we don't have any dogs. We will just have to keep her inside during the winter at the Parent's house.

My Garden Is No More

October 11, 2008

Last night the cold temperatures got to my plants and killed them all. Luckily last night I picked a bunch of tomatoes that will hopefully ripen up in the windowsill. We have really enjoyed our garden this year. Forrest was really sad to see it looking so bad this morning and Greg already has big plans for what we will do next year. For sure we are going to get Heartland tomatoes again. They did really well and gave us awesome tomatoes. Too bad that all has to come to an end. There is nothing like fresh salsa made with produce from your very own garden. Until next year.