Halloween with family & friends

We were able to break out the boys' Halloween costumes a few days early this year and head to the zoo for Halloween fun with Mom and Dad as well as the Fairs! It was such a fun night at the zoo and then grabbing pizza afterwards!

Two superheroes in the car! It pained me to buy costumes this year since I've loved making the boys' costumes in the past, but of course Reagan's arrival made the possibility of homemade costumes *very* low. And you know the boys were probably more happy with these cheap costumes than with homemade anyways. ;)

Reid called himself "Dash Dash" which fits him well actually-- in between both the Dash and Jack Jack characters in The Incredibles. He's worn that mask off and on around the house, to the grocery store, etc and I love it! Its so cute.

These two were the only ones who took the time to check out the animals instead of beelining for the candy booths!

^^We made a cardboard shield for Captain America one afternoon and Reid had to have a shield too!

All the cousins!

Jake and Cana were glued at the hip as always and on a mission with Isaac to get from one candy stop to the next as quickly as they could, but Reid hung out with his boring parents every so often. ;)

I love these photos of our family! Cropped well you can't tell we squeezed in between a trash can and a Coke machine to get them because the timing was right and someone was around to take the photo for us. Worth it!

^^Look at that lil pumpkin! She kinda hated it but I loved it.

On the actual night of Halloween, we had our friends the Fergusons over for dinner and trick-or-treating, just like last year! It works out since they live in the country and don't have a neighborhood for trick-or-treating, and its so much more fun for both the kids and parents to have friends to talk with while walking the neighborhood! 

Maybe a costume for a one month old wasn't really worth it since she was in her stroller all night...but it did keep her warm! And its all big enough that it just might fit again next year!

Yep, this pumpkin costume was definitely worth it. Look at her!

This year we wised up and got an early start on trick-or-treating so we were back before it was too dark and cold, and we warmed up with some chili for dinner before breaking into the candy stash. Last year, both of the younger boys ended the night in the stroller but this year everyone powered through, with a few breaks on the stroller in between houses. (We had to stash some of their candy in the stroller because their buckets were getting too heavy which is nuts but you know we've managed to eat it all since then!)

Note to self: get a photo *before* it gets dark and everyone's dying to eat their candy! We had just come inside from walking all over and Jake had already taken off his shoes and mask before I could catch everyone for a picture-- he was ready to dive in to that candy!

October

Time to catch up on what we've been doing since Reagan's arrival! We were fairly busy towards the end of October as we crammed in all the fall festivities before the weather got too cold to be outside. (And that cold snap happened *quick* this year, so I'm glad we did it!)

First outing just the five of us to find geocaches at a park nearby! The boys did the exploring; Reagan and I were there for moral support.

Mom was in town for a week and a half shortly after Reagan was born. It was so helpful to have someone who could switch off with me-- one of us entertaining the boys and helping them get their drinks, putting tops on markers and all the other little needs throughout the day, and the other holding Reagan upright while she went through a bit of reflux and would spit up if she was laid down too soon after nursing. Now I get to maneuver drinks and capping markers while holding Reagan which has been not so good for my neck and back. ;)

We visited both of our nearby orchards for the first time this year! Somehow we didn't make it to either last year so we made up for it this fall. We met friends for a playdate one morning at Anderson Orchard which was so good for the boys because this was at the end of their two-week fall break from preschool, plus they'd been cooped up at home with me and hadn't had much friend time lately. Good for me to see my friends too!

Proof that Reagan was there too...although she never made a sound!

More hay bales to climb at Beasley's Orchard, this time with Deric! The day we visited this orchard was so much colder than we expected so by the time we had enjoyed all the attractions we were ready to head home and turn on the fireplace.

Jake loved this bouncy blob! We tried to help Reid get onto it and Jake's attempt to help him was hilarious but unfortunately Reid was a little terrified so we took him to other attractions while Jake jumped. Next year!

Scavenger hunt through the corn maze! Reid rode on Deric's shoulders for the majority of it and I heard him trying to count the corn stalks while we walked. :)

Probably the boys' favorite part of the orchard-- apple guns! This gun was no joke. It shot those apples like rockets clear across that field but the goal was to hit the targets you can see in the background. We weren't too concerned about our aim though; the boys just liked seeing how far the apples could fly!

When we weren't out exploring, you could find me sitting on the couch with this little love! There is nothing better.

baking pumpkin pie with Jake

I'm not sure where Jake got the idea, but he mentioned to me a few times before Thanksgiving that he wanted to bake pumpkin pie. It worked out perfectly that we celebrated an early Thanksgiving two weeks early with one side of Deric's family, so the day beforehand Jake and I got started on our pies. It was a good opportunity to involve Jake on the whole process of reading the recipe, buying ingredients at the store and then doing the actual baking and I knew he'd like having more responsibility in the process.

So first, we read through the recipe and jotted down a list to take to the grocery store...plus a couple extra things we needed. (I had a back up list on my phone in case I forgot what we needed because that handwriting is so cute but sometimes hard to decipher ;) )

Let's see if I can remember...
"pie crust
1 can pumpkin
2 cans (evaporated) milk"
...continued on the back

Then Jake and I headed to the store by ourselves and he got to push the cart and navigate the aisles to find what we needed.

Trying to find pumpkin pie puree amidst alllll the pie filling choices!

Can't get over him trying to read his own writing!

Back home we got right to work on the pies! The recipe was so simple and perfect for Jake to really help with. He's helped me bake for a while and I'm trying to give him more freedom and responsibility lately-- more than simply dumping and mixing ingredients. We can laugh now about the time he was sitting on the counter and broke an egg on his lap. It wasn't funny in the moment but now he thinks it is. And now he's learned to crack the eggs over the bowl, a lesson we all figured out at some point!

One of my favorite things about our house is this big counter that has room for both boys to help me bake. I'm not the "fun imaginative play" parent in the household but I figure it balances out when my activities ends with something good to eat! ;)

Jake's pies turned out great and he got so many kind compliments from our family that next day. I tried a tiny slice but pumpkin pie is just not my thing! Thankfully the rest of the family were big fans and we went home with only two slices left, one for the chef and one for his pumpkin-pie loving dad.

a space-themed Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year! Every year has gotten more fun as the boys understand trick-or-treating a little more, plus I love seeing them dressed up in their costumes. We had friends over for dinner and then scoured the neighborhood with them. I feel like we got a late start on trick or treating but we started at 6! We had a group of kids ring the doorbell at 5:30 and it totally surprised me. So by the time we headed out just a little later, it seemed like we were the last ones out the door...and we were the last ones walking home at 7:45, surprisingly!

Jake was hung up between being a robot or an astronaut for probably a month leading up to Halloween! I'll admit, I steer his decisions based on what I can feasibly create, but he also loves robots and astronauts so I didn't feel too bad. ;) But then after looking online for costume ideas, I worked harder to steer him in the astronaut direction because 1) we already have an astronaut costume and 2) the diy robots just weren't that much fun unless you want to go all out with a cardboard head, and I knew Jake would hate to wear that. So he settled on the astronaut as long as he could have a "robot" jet pack, aka a jet pack he could actually play with! That was just fine with me. Deric figured out the jet pack while I worked on making Reid a rocket ship costume.

(I thought I might have better luck with some photos if I put them in their costumes earlier that afternoon before the excitement but clearly, no. Reid couldn't stand the thought of staying *on* the porch long enough to get a picture!)

This one's a framer. ;)

I love how the rocketship costume turned out but it was freezing that night. So after we stuffed Reid into two jackets, the costume was a *bit* snug. (I'd planned for just one jacket!) But he didn't care. He managed to walk to a few houses and then Reid and our friends' youngest snuggled up in the double stroller and let the big kids get the candy for them. Smart move!

We loved being able to trick or treat in our own neighborhood this year and meet a few more neighbors! It makes me excited for years to come and traditions to continue!

camping trip!

Last week we packed up  every blanket and jacket we own (or at least it felt like it!) and camped at Raccoon Lake, a gorgeous campground less than an hour west of us. We booked a campsite about a month ago with only a recommendation to go off of and totally loved it. We've got plans to go back as soon as we can. (Unfortunately the temperatures at night have really dropped just in the last few days so we may have to wait until spring!) We only planned for one night because we weren't sure how Reid would do or how everyone would sleep and although we all would have loved to stay another night, judging by how quickly the boys fell asleep on the way home-- I think we wore them out!

We set up camp pretty quickly....once we switched campsites and hauled stuff to the new one. Not in our plans but the campsite we'd reserved backed up to a drop off and I couldn't handle the added worry about Reid! Our campsite was perfectly positioned between the bathrooms, playground and water source so we wandered over to the playground while our sweet potatoes cooked in the fire for dinner.

Easy but delicious dinner! Brats, sweet potatoes and fruits/veggies on the side. It balanced out the s'mores that came later. ;)

The campsite we switched to backed up to a trail that led down to the lake so after dinner, we hiked down and spent some time exploring and throwing rocks into the lake, of course. Jake's working on skipping rocks and got one or two with some practice! He had so much fun running along the shore, climbing the rocks and jumping off.

We keep a soccer ball and shovels in the back of the van at all times! They almost always come in handy.

One of us always has a hand on this child when we're outside ;)

Deric's been training him in the art of silly faces for every picture. ;)

Jake sat up with us that night and we looked at the stars while warming up by the fire before going to bed. He is at such a perfect age for camping and he loved every bit of it. Exploring the lake and the campsite, helping roast brats and marshmallows, looking at the stars...hands down the best part of the trip was watching how much he enjoyed it.

My favorite part of camping: the food! Even though we didn't do anything gourmet, drinking hot chocolate and eating breakfast by the fire (even if it was a bit wiggly with Reid!) is so fun. And man if he didn't look adorable in his penguin jammies! I almost didn't want to change his clothes for hiking.

Little brother watching big brother throw the walnuts!

Deric cooked hash browns over the fire and admitted he burned them a bit because of the uneven flame. For some reason Jake thought it was hilarious and kept talking about "the burnt hash browns!" As in, "Mom, can I have more burnt hash browns? I'm almost done with my burnt hash browns!"

Hilarious...and still delicious.

The lake is surrounded by hills and trails wind up and down these hills, over bridges and up log stairs. One of the trail heads was right by us so the next morning after breakfast, we loaded Reid up in the backpack and went out to explore.

Jake was so happy out on the trails. We always designate him our navigator and let him "read" the maps to figure out where to go (with some helpful hints along the way!) He was singing and running and playing and having so much fun. There were so many pretty views of the lake that I'm bummed I couldn't capture them on camera!

Wish we could go back this weekend, but we'd freeze our rears off if we did! I'm so glad we were able to squeeze in a trip on the last week of beautiful weather!