Trick Or Treating

We celebrated our good friend, Madelyn's, first birthday this evening. After the dinner and cake, we all dressed-up and went Trick-Or-Treating as a large group. We had a blast! The weather was supposed to rain after 8pm- and after a brief, slight, drizzle at 6:15pm, it ended up being a wonderful evening. Word must have gotten out that our neighborhood gives out good candy because at 7pm, we started seeing houses that had run out of candy- and Trick-Or-Treating didn't start until 6pm!

Without further ado....

Minnie Mouse and Bat Man


Ready to go rescue some candy!



Minnie Mouse ready to charm some candy from our neighbors!


"Trick-Or-Treat!"

I started the evening off with the stroller- but since the other family had brought wagons, I had to go home and get ours. In the end, we had 4 kids in this wagon!!

Checkin' out the loot- LOTS of excellent chocolate!

Watch Out American Idol!

She's singing "Hot Cross Buns"- in case you coudn't tell....

Pumpkin Carving

This year we decided that the kids were old enough to carve pumpkins. When asked what they wanted- and they said Mickey Mouse- I was a wee bit scared! Thankfully the internet provided some excellent templates!

Alden with "his" pumpkin


Addie with her pre-carved pumpkin


According to the directions, you need to poke pin holes all over the outline of the stencil- easier said than done....

Now, time to take out the "guts"- the kids thought this was GROSS and would only take out a few handfuls before the left was rest for me....

Alden liked how the spoon sounded as he whacked it around inside the pumpkin.....

Minnie All Done- and I can't wait to see how amazing she looks with a candle inside her!

Poor Mickey did not turn out as nicely- He was done 1st and I learned from him. Alden likes him and that's what counts!

The Sea Witch Festival

A big tradition around here is The Sea Witch Festival. Last year it was freezing and raining so we didn't participate. This year it was supposed to be the same- but at the last min the weather cleared up and ended up being 79 degrees!

Since Al was working, the kids and I ventured out by ourselves- meeting up with friends towards the end. Thankfully there was a free shuttle service so we did not have to battle the traffic. The kids had a BLAST and they may have a picture in the local paper....

Here they are all dressed-up- many kids were!


Free face-painting- Addie got a pink heart.



Alden got a bat, appropriate for BATman!


Waiting for the parade to start- we got good seats which meant that we would have to just chill for about 30 min. It wasn't bad- across the street- the direction the kids are looking- was were the bands were practicing/warming up, and were all the people walking (in costumes) were signing-in. It was a show BEFORE the show!

One of the said-bands- they were great!

Sitting on the sidelines, ready to grab the candy that was thrown. We had made friends with the little boy sitting between my 2. The big kids on either side of us tended to grab most of the candy- but thankfully their Moms noticed it about 1/2 way through and made them start giving the little kids the candy they had grabbed. That my friends, is living proof that nice people DO exist!

This was a REAL parade- unlike my July 4th experience....

This one had FLOATS- and here is 1 example

And it had balloons- the token Sea Witch- there was another one much less-scary, but I didn't have my camera out....

There were also kiddy-friendly floats- this one was really funny- especially if you are a lobster. My favorite- which I couldn't grab my camera intime for- was a boat filled with Gilligan's Island crew- all in drag- only in Rehoboth would that be considered appropriate for a family-friendly parade....

Alden would get several pieces of candy, go back to the stroller, eat the candy, come back to the front, get a few more pieces, go back to the stroller, over and over again. He thought he was SO slick...

No parade is complete without the Shriners in their tiny cars- ahhhhh!!

At the end, we walked around and Addie got to meet Snow White- this is where her pic was taken for the local paper....

Taking full advantage of the extra-large platform for the feet as a place for a 3rd kid!

Alden LOVED sitting next to Mr. Jeremy on the bus ride back to the car. It was a loooooong but wonderful day!

Fifer Pumpkin Patch

Over the last few weeks, I have been trying and trying to go to this amazing Pumpkin Patch around here- and every time, I have been rained out. Well, Friday was a clear day AND Al was off!

Getting our stamp to show we paid (bet you didn't know you could turn a single stroller into a double this way?!?)


1st stop- duck racing- they all loved the old-fashioned pumps!


2nd stop- haybale maze- Alden walked around and then decided to just sit on a bale and watch everyone else.... Last year this was his favorite part!

3rd stop- Soybean Pit! Can you tell that Addie and Grayson are swimming and having the time of their lives?!? Avery and Alden had fun, too, but not in such a dramatic way!

4th stop- Tricycle Maze- even though their feet couldn't touch the pedals, they still found a way to make them move- and they had a ball!

5th stop- Hay Slide (you climb up this mountain of haybales and then choose 1 of 3 slides). Here is proof that I was with them and we had fun! There are tons of pics of them climbing to the top- but this is the only one I will bombard you with!

6th stop- fun cut-outs! I have one from last year- and sadly, they don't look all that different!!

towards the end.... Hay Castle- there is a slide in here and the kids liked peeking outside of the "holes"- what a cute group of munchkins!!

Final Stop- whew!- picking out the perfect pumpkin. We opted out of painting them as last year, we all ruined our clothes with their paint....


Alden found the one HE wants!!!

Pony Rides

Our MOPS group had an event at a horse farm. Most of the kids in our MOPS group are City Slickers so they were all thrilled to ride a pony! I must admit though, that for most, the favorite part was the huge trampoline right next to the horse arena....

The kids checking out the horses as they are prepared for the kids to ride them.


The highlight- the trampoline- Addie spent most of her time on this....



Alden was the 1st kid to ride. I wasn't expecting this as he refused to get within 3 feet of one a few weeks ago.... When all the other kids went to tour the barn, he refused to leave the gate where we would start the riding from- he didn't want to give up his 1st place spot....


Addie, not to be shown-up by her younger brother, was next!

Everyone could ride as many times as they wanted- here is Alden on his 2nd turn- he has no shoes on because he came straight off the trampoline.

Addie on her 2nd turn- she thinks she hot stuff!

"Her" Boys

Some good friends of ours have 3 boys. Ever since Addie met them- when she was 14 mo old- she had adored them and they have adored her. Recently, she has become obsessed with "her" boys- asking me all day long what "her" boys where up to. Thankfully, the boys came for a visit and the all got to play together- Addie was in heaven! What women wouldn't enjoy having these 3 handsome boys at your beck and call? We love you Boys- thanks for loving Addie- and Alden, too!