Happy Halloween

After weeks of anticipation and the last 2 afternoons of trick or treat practice (Isaac dressed up and knocked on the bedroom door over & over again!), Halloween finally arrived!

Daddy came home early from work and we had the traditional Halloween pizza ready to eat.

After pizza, we got dressed and ready to go out to get CANDY!!! Isaac picked everyone’s costume this year. For those of you who have not had superhero lessons, Brian is Green Lantern, I am Wonder Woman, Lucas is Flash, and you’d never have guessed that Isaac would be Superman!

My two little heroes anxious to get started.

First stop, Aunt RaRa and Aunt Cindy’s house.

Then, because our neighborhood is not set up for trick or treating (it’s just too spread out…good for everyhting except halloween) we headed over to a more efficient and profitable neighborhood. The boys did great. Isaac was good at “trick-or-treat” while Lucas was good at “thank you” and yelling “b-bye” to each house. He literally yelled “b-bye” at every person until they answered with their own goodbye, even if he was halfway to the next house.

[Sorry, no pictures from actual trick-or-treating we weren’t sure who we were going to have to carry and how far so we opted to leave the camera in the truck. Just know my kids were cute!!]

Isaac was very proud in that he was able to avenge last year’s scary house where he claims a boy pointed a gun at him. (It wasn’t a gun, it was a sword. But it freaked him out enough to end the night of trick-or-treating and have him talk about that mean kid for a year.) This year, he kept asking where that boy’s house was and he marched right up to their spooked out garage and got his candy….and because he got his candy from that boy’s house, he says he beat that boy and he won! I’m proud of him for facing his fears!

After trick-or-treating, the boys wanted ice cream instead of their candy. Here they are enjoying their Dairy Queen treats. The candy will keep. Who would turn down ice cream!!

After a fun exciting evening and enough sugar to make a pitcher of southern sweet ice tea, the boys are tucked in bed and snoozing away. Mommy is headed that way too. I just don’t remember Halloween being quite this exhausting!! Happy Haunting Everyone!!

Hill Ridge Farms

Nana & Boppa came to visit and take us to Hill Ridge Farms on Friday. When we arrived, we quickly realized that Friday was quite the busy day for school groups. But as it turned out, the lines were not long and the boys had plenty of time to try out all the attractions. First stop, the giant tube slide…

Boppa & Isaac

Daddy & Lucas (Lucas was concerned but wanted to go again once he realized he was okay!)

Next stop, the corn pit. This was by far the coolest thing. I’m pretty sure the kids would have stayed in here all day.

On to the duck races.

Then to what they called the hay jump. It quickly turned in to the hay throw. The boys covered poor Boppa in hay!

You can tell he’s thoroughly enjoying this.

This was more the hay jump they were looking for!

The boys never slowed down even though we stayed for over 5 hours.

Nana & Isaac waiting for the train.

Train Ride!

Isaac & Mommy waiting for train ride #2!

Isaac on the giant bounce pillow. This thing was really cool and I really want one for the back yard!

Panning for treasures…

Panning for trouble…

Last stop, the hayride to the pumpkin patch. When they sat down you could tell they were a little bit tired!

But they never sit for long!!!

Thanks to Nana & Boppa for a great day on the farm!!

Halloween Prep

The boys are now both at the age where they can enjoy the fun activities that go along with Halloween. Over the past week, they have been busy in their preparations.

We visited Kerney’s pumpkin patch (just down the road from our house). The boys carefully picked out the perfect pumpkins. Isaac got the white pumpkin that he has been eyeing since the pumpkins arrived a few weeks back.

Lucas enjoyed meeting the silly ghost.

They’re favorite though, by far, was the spooky talking skeleton in the barn. I thought Lucas would be scared, but he just smiled and laughed and insisted we make him talk again!

The boys helped daddy carve the pumpkins when we got home. Well let me rephrase that…the boys took one look at the goop inside the pumpkins and said no thanks, then supervised as daddy carve the pumpkins!

The first jack-o-lantern…

Both jack-o-lanterns have taken up residence on the screen porch in hopes of protecting them from the sun so that maybe they’ll last until Halloween.

Isaac with his white jack-o-lantern…

This weekend, Isaac started asking when we would be decorating the house for Halloween. Not typically something that I do. But he really wanted to, so on Monday he did chores and worked on writing his letters and was able to earn some money to take to the Dollar Store to buy decorations. His room turned out looking pretty spooky.

The boys’ hallway also got decorated. Lucas’ favorite things of course are the skeletons! Both boys were so excited to show daddy their decorations when he got home from work yesterday!

So, I’d say we’re ready for Halloween. But then of course, there is no telling what Isaac might still on his Halloween to do list!

Safety Features

While in Charleston with the family, the boys and I flashed Oma & Opa our pretty little smiles and managed to secure a bed in the camper while making Aunta and the girls sleep outside in their tent. Okay, really I left our tent at home on purpose, but whatever, we would get our payback for making those girls sleep on the ground.

On Wednesday night the boys were exhausted from a busy day of play and went to sleep with no problem. When I came in to go to bed, I found them like this. Aren’t they cute?!

About 2 minutes after all the adults were in bed and the lights were finally off, I heard Isaac roll over. When he did, something about he way he rolled sounded funny to me, so I reached over to make sure he wasn’t twisted up in his sleeping bag. I reached over and no Isaac. I jumped up and the conversation from this point went something like this:

Opa: “Is everything alright down there?”

Me: “Uh no, he’s gone!”

Opa: “What do you mean he’s gone?”

Me: “I mean, Isaac is gone, he just fell out of the camper!”

I’m reaching down to the ground from the end of the bed. Opa is running out the door. We find Isaac about the same time still in his sleeping bag sitting on the ground under the pop up camper, and he’s still asleep!

As it turns out, Oma & Opa forgot to hook these important little straps on the ends of the bed when popping up the camper. Note to self: Always check to make sure the straps are secure before sleeping! They are more important than they appear.

The next morning Opa and I asked Isaac if he slept well. To which he answered “yes”. Did you dream about falling? “no”

Isaac has no idea what happened. He slept through the whole thing. I told you they were tired!!

Charleston 2012

Isaac’s favorite playground in the whole world is at James Island County Park outside Charleston, SC. We have made two family trips to the park in previous years and he talks about it constantly. So when Opa and Oma said they were going down to camp for a week, Isaac was more than excited for us to join them. On Tuesday, the boys and I packed up and headed out just before lunch time. Isaac was SO excited to get there that he insisted we just eat snacks in the car and refused to let me stop for any reason on the 5 hour car ride. He as just ready to be there!

Within an hour of our arrival, he was at his favorite playground showing Lucas all the cool stuff and chasing his cousins around.

Lucas was only 2 months old the last time we were here, so needless to say he enjoyed the playground a lot more this time around!

On Wednesday we visited the Angel Tree. This was definitely a sight to see. It’s one huge oak that would be SO much fun to climb on…but rules at the park are No Touching the Tree. Try that with a bunch of little monkeys!!

The boys and I at the tree.

The big kids making sure the little kids didn’t touch the tree.

After naps we headed down to the waterfront to check out the view.

Isaac and his BFF Cousin!!

The bridge in the background is the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. Isaac informed me on our drive down that he flew over that bridge when it was red and on the Wii.

Then it was on to the fountain. Perfect outing for a hot summer day, but still fun on a chilly fall day too as long as you bring some warm towels along.

Not quite as into cold water as his brother is, but he did eventually get wet.

Lucas and Audrey warmed up with a nice game of chase. Audrey wanted to play this game naked, but Aunta put a quick stop to that by managing to get panties on her before she took off. Yes, as usual we were a sight to see on town square.

On Thursday, we ventured out to Folly Beach and took a walk on the beach. The kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks by the water and checking out the Morris Island lighthouse.

We ended our day with 2 hours of Christmas lights…yes, it’s only October! James Island County Park does a huge Christmas lights display through their entire park. They must start decorating in September. Thursdays are volunteer days and they turn on all the lights for the volunteers. As guests of the park we were able to drive around endlessly after park hours enjoying the lights. We loaded the kids in the truck and literally drove the entire park a minimum of 5 times for over 2 hours. The kids had a blast!

The boys and I had a great week with Oma & Opa, Aunta and the cousins. I love watching the kids explore, learn new things and see new sights together. I feel so blessed that we are able to take these kinds of trips and make these types of memories together.