This is Halloween!

 Time to carve pumpkins!  It is always Delwyn's job to cut the top off and get the seeds out.

 

 Then it's time to scrape the insides and make the walls thinner. Gross!

 

 The look on her face says it all!  Pumpkin guts--yuck!

 

 Blake carved his name into the back of his pumpkin.  How clever!

 

His favorite show is Psych, and he wanted his pumpkin to show it!

 

 Britta made the crazy clown.

 

 Ryan was quite proud of his creation.

 

 She really loves that clown!

 

Last year Melissa told Britta that pumpkins make a good facial scrub.  She wanted to give it a try.  Not me!  All that stringy stuff on your face, yuck!

 

 She is going to smell like a pumpkin!  Hopefully her skin will be so soft.

 

 She wondered how she would look with a pumpkin mustache.  I do have some silly kids!

 

 

 It has been a very long time since Castle Rock Elementary allowed students to wear costumes to school.  The parties were first thing in the morning.  They had a costume parade, breakfast in the classroom, games, and then back to regular schedule for the rest of the day.  There were some creative costumes!

 

Batman (Ryan) and the banana are getting ready for the parade.  It was held outside on the field. 

 

 Ryan and Ethan play some Halloween Bingo.

 

 Mesa Middle School students were allowed to dress up, but no hats.  Britta's costume involves a hat, so she decided to become a Rockies player during the day for school.  Move over Tulowitzki!

 

Britta wasn't sure if she was a bizarre ballerina or a rag doll.  Ryan wasn't in the mood for pictures.

 

 The happy group!  I wanted to full body shot to show Britta's wild socks.

 

Fred Flinstone joined the group.  We headed to the Blanch's barn for a surprise dinner the ward was providing (homemade macaroni and cheese and hot dogs!), followed by a costume parade and a spook alley.  No trunk or treat this year.  Then it was home to trick or treat around the neighborhood.  Happy Halloween!

Visiting in Texas

We were so excited to see Claire and her big welcoming smile!  I just realized as I was writing this blog, that we were so excited to see Austin, Melissa, and Claire that I didn't take any pictures of their house.  Oh well, next trip.  We got to their house about 10 minutes before Austin was due to arrive home from work and we had promised not to take the tour until he got home.  We hadn't unpacked anything, so I didn't have my camera out yet.  Their house is adorable!  They have painted and cleaned and re-modeled, and everything is very pleasant. They have a bay window in the kitchen that is really fun.  It was Britta's favorite spot to read.  We arrived on Wednesday and went home on Sunday.

 

 We are on the way to the park!  It is only a couple of blocks away, and is a nice walk. 

 The previous owners of Austin and Melissa's house left some tennis equipment in the garage.  We have never played tennis before, and the kids were excited to give it a try.  Needless to say, we ran around chasing the ball more than we hit it.  It was still fun, but I must say, it is harder than it looks!

 Some older men were playing on the other court.  They were very friendly and gave us some tips on how to play.  They told us that our equipment was antiques!  No wonder it got left behind. Supposedly our rackets are too heavy and the balls don't have enough bounce in them, so they gave us some of their balls to use.  Ryan looks like a pro!

 The kids really enjoyed this twirling thing at the park.

 Britta wanted to hang upside down.  She is part monkey, I think.  Kids are never too old for the park!

 Blake and Claire had fun on the swings!

 Claire just wanted to climb up and down the stairs.  She kept us busy chasing after her.

 Down the slide we come!

 

More fun at the park!  

Time to head home!  Claire took good care of the balls for us.

 

We all such so much fun playing with Claire.  She can't quite figure out how to move the car with her feet, but no worries.  She has plenty of horse power in Aunt Britta and Uncle Ryan.  She got tired of riding before they got tired of pushing.

 



More riding fun!

 



Melissa, Claire, and I went to a Farmer's Market.  Claire was really interested in the pumpkins.

 



They had a cute maze for kids, but Claire wan't quite big enough.  They had a lot of yard decorations that Melissa and I enjoyed looking at.

 



Melissa and Britta had a hair party.  Melissa knows how to do a lot of cute braids.  This one is called a halo braid.

 



Claire LOVES books!  She is true Palmer girl, we all enjoy reading.

Me and my girl!

 



Austin had a couple of projects he wanted Delwyn's help with.  One of the them was to re-tile the shower in the master bathroom.  The master bathroom is really nice.  It has a long counter with two sinks and a bathtub on one side and a shower on the other side.  Ryan was quite interested and helped as well.

 



It was a hard job and took most of the day.

While the tiling was going on, the rest of us played games.  Claire wanted to be Blake's partner.

 



We played Upwords, Monopoly Deal, Uno, and Old Maid.  Old Maid was Britta's idea.  We haven't played that for many years, and we laughed a lot.  Who says Old Maid is only a game for children?

 



The weather was perfect!  Not too hot and not very humid.  We enjoyed playing out on the patio.  Claire loves to be outside.  When you say the word "outside", she runs to the door.  We had a great visit, but it ended all too soon.

 

 

 

 

Fall Break Travel to Carrollton Texas

 We are spending part of fall break in Texas visiting Austin, Melissa, and Claire.  They bought a house last spring and we are very excited that we will finally get to see it.  We left Tuesday afternoon and drove part way.  We are spending the night at Dumas, Texas.  Our hotel had pool, so of course we went for a swim. 

Ryan and Blake played some games in the pool. 

 

 Of course, no trip to Texas would be complete without a stop at Braum's.



We all had a double dip cone, and enjoyed every bite!

Cub Scout Raingutter Regata

Ryan received some awards before the race began. He earned his Webelo badge, which includes a Mother's Pin.

Ryan's last rain gutter race as a cub scout.

He has won quite a few times. He has learned the secrets!

Ships ahoy!