trickortreat

It also just so happened to be Halloween weekend in SA, so I brought along Ryan's batman, and Jaina's supergirl costumes. For weeks Ryan went on and on about wanting to be a "happy" ghost for Halloween. So I started making his costume, then at the last minute he decided that he needed to be batman, what a guy!! We went trick or treating with the Martin clan, Uncle Danny and Uncle Shawn and their crew. I can't believe how early kids go trick or treating these days, I remember waiting until dark when I was a kid, not these kiddos! We got a call at 5:45 saying we better get over there fast because little ghosts and goblins were already making their way down the street!! But not to worry we got there in plenty of time, Ryan had his pumpkin pail filled to the brim with sugary goodness in no time! I was a little worried about Halloween being too scary for Ryan this year. He did good though, he was only bothered by the big scary wolf, aka uncle Shawn! Jaina on the other hand was completely oblivious, she managed to gnaw her way through a package of starbursts while we were going from house to house, so she was content.

Halloween Time at Preschool

Ryan's preschool celebrated Halloween with a pumpkin parade and party. Man, I love private schools...they actually let the kids wear their costumes to school. Ryan was so excited to put his batman on to show his friends! Then he got to school and wasn't too sure ;) They did a little parade around the gym for all of the parents, and then sang some songs. Although Ryan is a star performer around here, I think he got a little case of stage fright!! Oh well, maybe next time! Then right before pick up they had their class party. It was so cute to see the kids saying a prayer before digging into their treats!

Football Time in Dallas

So game time finally made it, Monday Night Football In Dallas :) It seems like so long ago when we gave Angel his tickets for graduation. He said that the game was awesome, and that the stadium was amazing! A real once in a lifetime event. I am so glad that he was able to share it with Ernest, they had a great time! It was also lucky that the Wilsons live not to far away and that they let the guys bunk there for the night. Good times, with good friends ;)

Ren Fest

Another year, another ren fest!! We look forward to going every year, this year was really exciting because we had tons of family and friends there too!! Grandpa, Odette, Uncle Ernie, and Richie, Ashley and Jaden all came. Grandma Lupe made the trip as well, but stayed home with Jaina. It was a lot of fun...since we had a packed van I made the trip up with Clarissa. It was nice to have that travel time to talk! The great thing about going with a group of people is that everyone gets something different to eat, and we all share. That way you get to try a little of everything. I don't know what my favorite was, I don't think I can pick just one....but I have to say that the chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick was pretty amazing! We did rides this year, which is something we normally skip, but we wanted to try new things. The newest thing was riding an ELEPHANT, that's right, an elephant!! Tried to convince Ryan to get on with us, but he looked at me like I was crazy! Most of the time this year was spent eating, and window shopping, and people watching. Some of the people who go to these things get really into it, you have to see it to believe it!

halloween traditions

We started some new Halloween traditions this year. We started this really cool thing called "Getting Boo'd by the Goodie Ghoul" It's pretty neat, you put a basket of treats together, drop it at your neighbors door, ring the doorbell, then run like the wind! Then those people do the same thing to another family, and on and on and on. I'm interested to see how far it goes!!

We also made caramel apples to take to our friends. Ryan had a blast! They didn't quite turn out like I had expected, the nuts and chocolate slid down the sides of the apple! not sure what we did wrong, but hey it was our first attempt, we'll figure it out before next year. The most important thing was the process, not the product, we had fun doing it :)

Our next task was to make some Halloween cookies. Ryan was so proud of his little creations!! Notice the concentration on his face in the second picture :)

There was so much more that I wanted to do and didn't have the time....on our list for next year:

carving pumpkins, dewberry farms, putting up past Halloween photos, and zoo boo!

Pumpkin Patch Photo Shoot ;)

Every year usually around Christmas time we get our family pictures taken, this year we wanted to try something new. So we enlisted the help a friend who is an amazing photographer to take our family pictures out at the local pumpkin patch. I am so glad that we did, the pictures came out GREAT! We've spent a lot of time lately reading books about fall, and pumpkins, and halloween to get ready for all of the festivities. so Ryan was really excited to get to the pumpkin patch. Here are just a few of my favorites!

Camels, and Zebras, and Emus Oh My!

Grandma Sandy came to stay with us while Daddy was off at boy scout camp with the church for the weekend. I've been waiting for almost two years to go and check this place out, the Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin, TX. The weather has finally gotten cooler around here, so I seized the opportunity, we packed up the car, and drove! We paid at the booth and got our bucket of food and proceeded to drive. I wasn't expecting to be bombarded by wildlife trying to get to the parking lot....some really big animal caught me by surprise and a let out a scream, probably not the best thing when trying to convince a 3 year old that this is going to be fun! The best part of the park is the tram ride through the 86 acre habitat. It was about 45 minutes long, and we were able to see and feed a lot of animals. Ryan was tossing out one pellet at a time, I guess he was trying to make it last! When we got off the ride we took the kids to the petting zoo. Grandma braved it with Ryan, while Jaina and I watched safely on the other side of the fence. The short time they were in there, a goat tried to eat Ryan's shirt and climb Grandma! There were giraffes right next to the petting zoo, it was really cool to be so close to the animals.

Our last stop was the pony rides....we got all the way to the front and Ryan decided he didn't want any part of it! Oh well, so we started walking back to the car....then he had a change of heart! Luckily the line wasn't too long, so we gave it another try. This time he was ready! I'm glad he decided to do it, he had so much fun :) We all did!!

As we were driving into the park!

There is NO zoom on this pic at all

Ryan wasn't too sure about this camel!

Classic face! Ryan's reaction to an approaching ostrich

Grandma Sandy and the kiddos

Jaina wasn't the least bit anxious about these huge animals!

Ryan feeding a little goat, these guys are more his size ;)

"I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor"

Free pony rides!!

Isn't he the cutest cowboy you've ever seen??