Pumpkins

I love carving pumpkins! This year, we switched things up a bit and instead of carving them in the evening, we fixed our pumpkins on Sunday morning. Chris can't work on stage on Sunday mornings (a church meets at the school), so we have built in family time! So, last weekend, we took advantage of our 5 hours together and carved our pumpkins.

I must say that Hasbro wins my vote for coolest Halloween invention. Last year, we purchased the Potato Head pumpkin pieces. They were a big hit last year, but I wasn't sure if Leila would find them as cool this year. She did! It is the perfect way to decorate a three-year-old's pumpkin. Much quicker than carving, which is good for a kiddo who is on the go!

Ooh, goo!
Right here, Dad!

Princess Potato Pumpkin
Add a witch.
And now a pirate.

That night, I took some pics of Leila on the front porch with the carved pumpkins. The one Leila is looking at is Christopher's...inspired by Charlie Brown's costume. Actually, there were several rotten parts, so he carved them all out in an attempt to make the pumpkin last longer.

We couldn't be any more excited for Halloween!

More Pumpkins

Our second trip of the season to the pumpkin patch was great fun! Leila and I met up with lots of folks from Christopher's family...even though Chris was stuck at school working on the set. We spent the afternoon with Aunt Lynn, Uncle Sean, Gramma Shawn, Rich, Shannon, Chassidee and Riley. Once everyone had picked out their perfect pumpkins, we headed back to Aunt Lynn's house for dinner and pumpkin carving...well at least carving was in the plans, but we never made it that far. The girls were having too much fun "putting on a show" for us grown-ups that we just decided to enjoy their performance, chat with each other and carve the pumpkins on another day.

My lovely girl!

Wow, this is a glimpse into the future...what attitude. I'm not ready for that!

Leila (3), Riley (3.5) and Chassidee (4.5)

Love the tilted heads.

Chassidee, Auntie Lynn and Leila
Chassidee, Leila and their grandmas.
Off to find a white pumpkin in the bins.
Everyone needs a cow picture from Spooner Farms, right?
Leila and Gramma
Opening the treat bags that Auntie Lynn made the girls.
The only thing that would have made it any better would have been to have Chris with us! Now to carve those pumpkins!!

Spooner Farm 2010

We visited the pumpkin patch this last Sunday. It was a great way to end our long weekend! Not sure, how we did it, but we managed to hit the patch during one of the only dry times of the day. It started raining on our way to the car, but our pumpkins were paid for and we were just about to the car. Whew!

Is she not the cutest child, ever?!?!
Good thing we all had our boots on! Look at that mud!

Weed loved the mud! She traipsed right through it while she searched for her perfect pumpkin. She kept trying to convince Dad that he needed a super huge one.

Too big to ride in the wheel barrow this year with the pumpkins, but insisted on helping Dad.
The girls.
Not another picture, Mom!

This should be an ad for Spooner Farm....AND I didn't even prompt this pose. I SWEAR!

Picking out some baby pumpkins...

Our family trip to the patch is something I look forward to each year! And we are going back in two weeks! Yeah!

A Day in Seattle

Chris and I are lucky each year to have a state-in-service day in October. This year, Chris suggested that we should spend the day in Seattle. He thought Leila would have a lot of fun and it would be great to walk around Seattle together as a family (oh, and he was able to pick up his light board for the theater that way too. Not that this had any weight in the decision making.). The morning could not have been more fun. We got to the aquarium around 10 and while it was busy, it was nothing near crowded. We walked a few piers down for lunch at Red Robin and then returned to the aquarium for a little more fun before heading to the theater supplier and then home.

One of these days, I KNOW Leila is gonna touch those sea stars!

Great idea on the aquarium's part...a felt board with sea life pieces. Leila could have played here for hours!
Look at that huge puffer fish! Ugh.

If you look closely, you can see the sea horses. Leila wore her sea horse shirt, so here is she showing it to the real sea horses. When she was getting dressed, I said, "I bet those sea horses will say - Look, that girl has sea horses on her shirt." To which she said, "Nooo, Mom! They won't say that." Pause. I am thinking oh she knows they don't talk. Then she says, "They will say - Look, that girl has braids in her hair!".
The coolest sight of the day!! I have NEVER seen an octopus like this...neither has Chris and he scuba dives! Much cooler than the one at PDZA...that one is never visible. Look at the kids' expressions.

Dad
Weed
Mom...we all had to have a turn.

A wolf eel. Ooh. Not my favorite.



I forgot to mention that we took a few turns on the carousel after lunch.
Heading back to the aquarium.
Are you sure you don't want to touch the sea star?
Look who is ready for a nap. We knew she had reached the end of the day here.
What a fabulous day we had together! Leila is already talking about going back to see Nemo, Marlin and Woodstock the seal.