Halloween 2019

Mama and Reed at the Strathmore Halloween parade. Beckett, not pictured, was climbing trees in the park with his friends (in costume) by the time this picture was taken.

This Halloween was remarkably warm (70 degrees) but very rainy and windy at times. It didn't stop us from having our usual fun of eating pizza while serving treats up to the earliest trick-or-treaters, then getting costumes on and running around our neighborhood with friends. Grandma Joanie manned the door while the rest of us were gone. When the flash flooding made our streets into rivers, everyone but me and Beckett went home to get warm and dry. Beckett hit a few more streets, collecting more candy, but everyone was home and dry by 7:15.

Pumpkins

A few weekends ago Reed and Theo and I went to the regional market. We ate lots of market snacks (doughnuts, fried dough sticks) and picked out some primo produce.

After the Hollow trip, we painted the pumpkins we picked out. We did not make the mistake we have made other years, though, by leaving the pumpkins out to get rained on and the paint washed away. The beautiful painted pumpkins are now safely under the awning.

Mystery reader: Taco edition

The boys' school welcomes parents as mystery readers, which means the kids don't know which parent is coming in to read, so when the parent shows up, it's a surprise. I was scheduled for October 19, which coincided with my finishing my homemade taco costume for Halloween. My complete costume is Abraham Taco, which is the taco on the bottom and a black stovetop hat and beard. Not wanting to miss a chance to wear my new costume, I tried to find a way to incorporate a costume into my mystery reader gig. Luckily I found one of the boys' favorite books, Dragons Love Tacos, as well as a biography about Abraham Lincoln that the boys like. I went to each boy's classroom and asked whether they wanted me to read the Abraham Lincoln book or the Dragons Love Tacos book, prepared to dress in either costume depending on their answer. Both classes chose Dragons Love Tacos, so I got the chance to put my taco costume on in both rooms.

One of my favorite memories of that day will be when I brought the books in to Theo's room, and the kids chose, and then I told them I would be right back. Theo face-palmed, anticipating (correctly) what was coming.

Videos from the Hollow

The Hollow

A couple weekends ago Auntie Alexis came to visit and after eating and playing at home we took her and the kiddos to one of our favorite fall spots--the Hollow in Onondaga. We fed some ponies and goats, rode some slides, played in the corn barn, and jumped off some haystacks. Some of us got our faces painted as well. Theo stayed home to play with friends in the neighborhood.

Zoo day

Sometimes because the zoo is so close and easy to get to, we forget about it. None of the kids wanted to go when Jeff and I proposed it but of course we had a great day. There are several new animals, including leopards (and their twin babies!) and a new baby elephant. Whenever we take the stroller for Reed, Beckett wants to push it. Often he and Theo fight over pushing it but Theo wasn't that interested on this particular day. Unfortunately Beckett chose to wear flip flops and experienced the annoyance of flip flop blisters so Theo ended up pushing them both home.

Visit with Uncle Jon

While no photos were taken of Uncle Jon, he did visit a couple weekends ago for four days. It was great to have some low-key time with him. The boys played lots of catch with him, we flew the drone, and he got to watch a soccer practice and a soccer game.