Halloween

Ben was really busy this fall, so I headed out solo with the kids to The Great Park for their annual pumpkin festival. It was cool this year, a nice change from 77 degrees and baking in the sun while waiting in lines. Each year the festival gets more elaborate, so it was fun to see what was new. As long as you pay for parking, you can pick your pumpkin for free. Jilly quickly found the smallest one she could, Gordon wandered about not knowing what he was looking for, and Evelyn tromped over a large patch of the garden looking for the perfect pumpkin (that we never actually ended up carving. Holiday tradition fail). 

I like walking around the square foot gardens complex they have at this park, and the kid's favorite thing to do is see the chickens in their coop, and dig in the worm composter. The garden volunteers are always really  nice and enjoy teaching the kids in the ins and outs of vermicomposting. Jilly was trying to show me a little red worm she had found in the dirt. 

There was a large wall of carnival games for the kids to play, and they all got prizes. All three of them fared best on the beanbag toss.

They all really wanted a picture in front of this blow-up. 

This year Ev started out being a vampire, but quickly discovered the fake teeth were uncomfortable, and that I could do some awesome fairy face-painting. So she opted to be a "dark fairy witch."

 Bet you can't guess what Gordon went as. 

 Jilly opted for a fairy outfit of her own making this year. She loved the butterfly on her face. 

Posing here with some neighbor friends of ours before heading to the ward trunk or treat. Which I thought I had photos of, but apparently not. Ben and I even dressed up this year - Ben went as a Dodger's fan, and I wore my homecoming dress from 1998. We looked awesome. The kids were very excited that our whole family dressed up. We did some trick or treating also, but next Halloween I'm going to have to get rid of all that candy. The kids were on some wicked sugar high/drop for the next week and I think I promised myself everyday of that week we were never celebrating Halloween ever again. I will just have to get over my "unwrapped food cannot be wasted" mentality and let the trash have most of the candy.

Let Fall Begin

 The girls walking together one morning shortly after the school year had started. The novelty of school has worn off by now, and we spend more mornings running to the bus stop than I would like to admit. 

 Doing homework together - actually Ev's the only one with homework and Jilly chooses to work out of her summer workbook. 

 I was gone somewhere one night and the girls constructed this hat out of an extra bed raiser we had laying around. It says, "Princess Jillian," among other things. 

 Boba Fett rides cows during church in Gordon's world. 

 The area off our balcony is a construction zone right now, where the main piping is getting replaced. We've had a few nights where the plumbers forgot to turn the hot water heater back on, equaling cold morning showers, but nothing else too bad. 

 The kids enjoy watching the heavy equipment, especially the little Bobcat digger. We have real bobcats running around and then the mechanical kind, so I'm not always sure which one the kids mean when they yell,  "There's a bobcat!"

 "Racing" at the playground. No serious injuries. Yet. 

 The kids concocted a "show" one afternoon outside our apartment, which they asked Ben and I to watch. It's always funny to see their shows, they act like they have a big production planned out, and then get about 2 minutes in and wing it from there. This show was about 10 minutes long, complete with singing from Evelyn, floating dances from Jill, and Gordon running around while yelping, acting like a dog, and climbing on the railing. Our neighbors either find us entertaining, loud, or weird. Maybe all three. 

 The show ended with the transporting of this 'nest,' with a 'baby bird' in the middle, to our porch for safe-keeping. 

 We rarely go to the toy section in stores, so when we do, the kids love it. They don't throw tantrums about anything, just ogle all the toys. Gordon had his eye on this toy bench and big trucks. 

 First day of preschool for Gordon. I love this boy and his faces. He loves acting like a dog lately, and is getting so big that when he comes running in for a hug, I have to brace myself. I love seeing his developing language and logic patterns, he comes up with some funny stuff. It all goes by too quickly.