Our first “trunk or treat”!

I was first introduced to the idea of “trunk or treat” events last fall while reading through numerous blogs. It’s something new to me & had previously not heard of it in our area.

That is, until this year.

After hearing numerous radio ads about a local “trunk or treat” event going on, my sister & I decided to take our boys & check it out…us, along with about 2000+ other people. I later found out that this was the 10th year they held this event, although it’s only gained popularity in the past few years. This year’s attendance was record breaking for them.

We waited in line to get into the event for about 45 minutes. When my youngest nephew, my boys & I first got into line (my sister & oldest nephew met us there less than 10 minutes later)…I thought we were crazy to stay. But, we did stay. The weather was beautiful & warm (60 degrees) and the boys behaved far better than I had hoped they would. They were excited to be dressed up & all ready to collect some candy, so heading home at this point would have been a big disappointment.

Three amigos...excited, but not yet aware of the
wait we have ahead of us!

My two cuties!

Wyatt - Spiderman
(don't ask, he put on a sad face & asked me to take his picture)

Colton - BumbleBee the Transformer
(what one does, the other follows...)

Part-way through the event...a quick photo-op stop.

All four kiddos!
("I" - Dark Spiderman, Colton, Wyatt, "N" - a Knight)

The event was very well put together and the load of goodies the boys came out with made it much worth the wait! It threw off the rest of our evening though, as we had not expected to spend the entire night there, so as a treat for good behavior we took the boys out for a late supper all together at a quick-service Italian place.

We had a fun night & it gave us another opportunity for the boys to wear their costumes – especially now that tonight’s trick-or-treating forecast is chilly & windy!

Happy Halloween!

A Fall first: carving pumpkins!

The boys have been asking to carve or eat the pumpkins since we brought them home in late September. One of Cory’s uncles grows a massive amount of pumpkins every year to sell to a local grocery store. The boys & Cory brought home a couple pumpkins over several visits out to his grandpa’s farm (where the pumpkins were being stored).

The beautiful weather this past weekend made for an ideal day to carve the pumpkins outside.

I started the process by cutting off the top of each pumpkin and giving each boy a spoon to scoop out the insides…although my mom, sister & I ended up doing most of the scooping as it was kind of tough for little hands. I’m also not sure the insides of the pumpkin were what my boys thought were going to be inside! Once the insides were scooped out, each boy was going to draw their own pumpkin face with an erasable marker (we didn’t like the stencils that came with the carving kit). My boys didn’t want to draw their own, so I asked them about what shape they wanted to eyes, if they wanted a nose or not & how many teeth their wanted for their mouth; so each was unique!

The carving part was a bit tough, but the long carving knife that came with the kit worked fairly well. The boys each helped out with carving their own pumpkin & were so proud to do so!

We ended up with 4 super cute, unique pumpkins!

(Although I didn’t get a picture of pumpkin #4, as my nephew “N” was too busy helping Papa & riding with him on the tractor that his pumpkin was mostly completed by Grandma.)

Ready!

Cousin "I" scooping.

Colton scooping.

Wyatt scooping.

Cousin "I" - face drawing time!

Colton - face drawing time!

Wyatt - face drawing time!

Colton helping Grandma carve his pumpkin.

Cousin "I" & my sister carving his pumpkin.

Tractor rides for all - Wyatt!

Tractor rides for all - Colton!

Colton's finished pumpkin!

Wyatt's finished pumpkin!

A good day for ice cream!

Last week Friday (& all throughout the weekend) we were blessed with unseasonably warm, beautiful weather. After picking up the boys for daycare (& making a quick stop at the local shoe store to cash in on their annual winter boot sale), we stopped at a local ice cream shop for a treat!

Wyatt chose pumpkin!
(I honestly thought he had chosen orange sherbet until I actually tasted it!)

Colton chose mint chocolate chip!

Cory’s 1st 13.1!

Half Marathon!

After a change in plans, which canceled his North Dakota hunting trip in early October, Cory decided to change up a scheduled 5K run in mid-October & take on the half marathon challenge instead! He had already been mixing in some longer runs in his training, so he was already well on his way to run 13.1 miles.

Race day turned out to be beautiful with cool temps but a bright sun. The half marathoner started first, so the boys & I got to stand by Cory & cheer him on for his race start. He ended up with a great time, very close to his goal – despite having to wait 5+ minutes for a train where the race course crossed some train tracks & a whole group of them running the wrong way on the last 2 miles or so of the course (a poorly marked section of the course so really, we think he ended up running more than the 13.1 miles)! The boys & I were so proud of him & were excited to be at the finish line to cheer him in!

Daddy & his boys, pre-race

At the starting line gates...ready to run!

Almost to the finish line!

First post-half marathon pic!

I stuck to the 5K run that day, pushing the boys together (for the first time in a race since last May) in the double stroller. Each race it gets a little harder, as they just keep growing & gaining weight! The hardest part for me on this course was the hills. I was able to run with them up the first one, but after that the hills pulled me down to a walk. I was still very happy with my finish time & to have the two best racing buddies I could ask for…as I know our racing days together with me running & them riding are slowly coming to an end.

Mommy & boys, pre-race

Waiting for our turn to start at the starting line gates!

After Cory finished his race, we headed back to the car to head home. We parked in a near-by park, right next to a playground & river. The boys immediately noticed the number of ducks in the water & went down near the water with Cory to get a closer look. Before we knew it, the ducks were following them back to the car. These ducks were so tame; I think Cory could have picked one up. Cory had some leftover cereal that he hadn’t eaten before the race, so he & the boys had some “duck food” to share. The ducks were loving it & the boys got such a kick out of it.

4 year pictures!

We had the boys’ 4 year pictures/family pictures taken a couple weeks ago. We had actually had it planned for late-September but got hit with a couple rainy days & had to reschedule twice!

The boys didn’t cooperate as much as I had hoped…well, who am I kidding – I should have expected it to go exactly the way it did; but our photographer still got so many good shots. Now comes the hard part of choosing what to get printed & which one will be our Christmas card photo this year!

 

 

Apple Orchard Visit!

An apple orchard visit, to one of Cory’s childhood friend’s family orchard, is always on our fall to-do list. We had a cool, but beautiful Saturday morning to make the trip.

We got the first wagon ride of the day, played on the playground, picked apples & came home with entirely too many apple products (bag of picked apples, apple cider, apple donuts & an apple pie).

It’s one of those things I love about the area we live in & something that just makes fall seem more like fall!

Wagon ride time.

Two thumbs up!

Colton, enjoying the ride.

Wyatt - one crazy tractor driver!

Colton - second crazy tractor driver!

Three pirates!
(Not sure what pirates have to do with apples, but it was fun anyway.)

Wyatt finding just the right apple to pick.

Colton taste-testing his first apple picked.

Daddy, helping them reach the high ones!

Colton & his bucket of apples!
(he was more busy eating his apple than picking more!)

Colton picking more apples.

A beautiful date at the orchard!

Wyatt off to find his next apple.