There's no place like home...

I know this is probably the last year my kids will let me dress them up in coordinating themed outfits. But, I LOVE IT!!! Last year they were Cinderella and Gus-Gus.

This year (I’m not sure how) but I talked Allie out of being a princess again, and being Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I guess the sparkly dress and amazing red shoes helped J She even had to find a small basket with a little dog in it to be Toto. She carried Toto around all night long (along with her candy pumpkin). She was simply adorable. She's growing up too fast for me. She would walk from booth to booth doing each one by herself. (Well, thanks Papa & Grammy for a little help on some of them!) She went right up to the cake walk and knew exactly what to do. And knew she wanted one of their cupcake prizes.

Drew made my heart melt everytime I looked at him. He was the perfect scarecrow. I’m not sure why, but it completely fit his personality. He wasn’t too sure about the costume at first, but as soon as I gave him a piece of candy, he completely forgot about it. He ended up LOVING Halloween. He had a blast roaming around in the church parking lot at our ward Fall Festival. They rented a couple bounce houses, and he was right in there with all the big kids – holding his own.

After our ward party, we loaded the kids in the wagon and went trick-or-treating to a few houses in our neighborhood with Sarah & Gavin and their cute little princess Felicity. All three kids piled into the wagon and off we went. It was so handy – we’d drive them right up and they’d get their candy. One neighbor called it “Drive-thru trick-or-treating!”.


Drew wasn’t so sure about it at the first house. He didn’t want to hold out his pumpkin, but was curious what this person had just dropped into his bucket. As soon as he figured out it was candy, he said “tant too” and was excited to go get more! He loves candy way more than Allie ever did – or still does for that matter.

When Allie gets to go pick out a treat with her dad, they usually come back with movie theater popcorn. Dan insists Allie chooses it, but I’m sure he had a hand in it somewhere along the way… Just like the lemons, limes, pickles, olives… Happy Halloween!



I don't think we're in Kansas anymore... Drew, Allie, and Felicity (their cousin)

Our cute little Dorothy and adorable scarecrow.

Trick or Treating in the wagon...

Drive-thru service here.

Drew, Gavin (bro-in-law), Felicity and Dan at our ward party.

Allie with Toto...

Our cute little scarecrow.

Allie pumpkin bowling at one of the booths.

Playtime at the Gym

Finding indoor activities to escape the mid-summer heat can be challenging at times. Luckily, there is a super cool indoor gymnastics center a few blocks from our house. We went there with my sister Tricia and friend Jackie and their kids. Everyone had a great time- the kids got free reign to around and check out the various pieces of equipment.


One of the highlights is an enormous foam pit you can jump or swing into from a rope. They had a fun parachute activity that all the kids loved, especially Drew. He thought he was so big holding on to the edge of it like all the other big kids. They'd take turns running under it - Drew didn't ever want to come back out! Allie was listening intently to when it was her turn to go under, or what to do next.


The foam pit was so fun, but a workout to move around in it - or to get out of it! Drew let me throw him down into it, and he'd try his hardest to get his legs on to to crawl out, but it was like quicksand, the harder you worked to get on top, the more you sunk down into it. After minutes of squirming he finally gave up and just layed there...


And little Allie is so creative. She thought it'd be fun to create a castle with the giant foam blocks from the pit. She and Lyndsey were pretending to be princesses! I barely saw Allie the entire time we were there. She was so busy doing her own thing and playing with other kids - she's becoming so independent.



Lyndsey, Allie, Tricia, & Cannon at the parachute.

It's hopeless... He gave up trying to get out ;-)

Allie having fun in the foam pit.

Drew - trying to figure out what to do next...

The "Castle" and the princesses inside :-)

He loved to hang from these parallel bars. He'd hang on as long as he could, until his little fingers would slip off, and then climb back up again. It made him look so long and skinny!

So, we were leaving for California the next day, so most of Drew's shorts were packed. I put these ones on him (they use to fit a couple months ago, but he's lost his baby belly - so they are a little big on him). His shorts kept falling off him whenever he'd bend over, or climb up something, or just about anything. At one point, I saw him frustrated with them and trying to take them off...

This sets up the following video...