Halloween

We celebrated so much this Halloween that by the actual day finally came I was like "oh lets just get this done"! All the activities the week before and day of really wore me out (in a really fun way of course). On Sunday night we had the Strobelts and Flakes over for dinner and pumpkin carving. It was a hit and I hope to make it a tradition. For our pumpkins this year the girls picked out a ghost and bat. Scarlett has been studying about bats at school so that was a super easy choice for her. Monday was Halloween and here is our list of activities: Alice had dress up dance class, Spencer came over for making/frosting cookies, Scarlett had her costume parade t school, we went trick or treating to the  dinosaur house down the street and saw ALL our friends (its an old Henderson tradition), and finally trick or treating around our neighborhood. We just LOVE where we live and all the wonderful people we have met. Everyday I feel so blessed for area we chose to live and the way we seamlessly fit in. It was our very first time trick or treating around our neighborhood and not going to Hillsboro. 

Alice changed her costume every time we dressed up for a Halloween event. She was a ballerina, fairy, Elsa from Frozen, and for Halloween night a mermaid. All the kids just loved our final trick or treating and especially helping to pass out candy. 

Halloween Activities

We had the school fall festival filled with candy and little toys, the pumpkin patch twice in one day (once with preschool for Alice and then later with Strobelts), and Halloween costumes to school. It was a busy week of way too many fun things. We also made cookies, ate candy, had a cousin sleep over, went to the children museum, and took Scarlett out of school to go to the pumpkin patch. 

Gilcrest Orchard

I have wanted to take the kids to Gilcrest Orchard all season. But it has been too hot. So we waited and waited and no change. Finally we just had to go despite the mid 90's temperature. Lets just say Las Vegas doesn't do Octobers very well...at all. The orchard was hot, dusty, and completely out of any produce (which devastated scarlett who wanted to pick apples in the worst way). All the pumpkins were just trucked in and placed in the field. None were left on the vine to pick. To top it off Nick couldn't come and I forgot Jacks shoes. So I had to carry him the whole time..ugh! Luckily Emily came with to laugh with and the kids LOVED it. So it ended up being a great adventure. We rode the hay ride, had amazing apple cider donuts (but no apple cider cause they were out...of course), petted chickens, and explored the dusty and veggie less fields. They said if you wanted to pick pumpkins or apples you had to come in August. Ummm hello 115 degrees. I think not. I would say this might become a tradition but probably not. But those happy faces I saw running around wild and free were pretty special!!  

Newport 2016

 

We had such a great time this past weekend at Newport Coast Villas. The first day we laid around by the pool and enjoyed all the fun family activities ( crafts, basketball, sandboxes, mini golf) and then we headed to Crystal Cove after naps. The weather was perfect all 4 days we were there and it made the beach beyond enjoyable. No cold breeze, no sweater, no kids/me complaining about being cold. It was just sunny, warm and beautiful. The second day we headed to Sea World to see Shamu! Sea World is canceling the killer whale shows at the end of the year and my kids have seen them, so we had to go! We really liked the killer whale shows but my kids loved the dolphins shows even more. No trainers get in the water anymore during the killer whale shows but they do with the dolphins. The trainers ride their backs, stand on them like water skis, and have the dolphins jump over them. It was quite a display! We are so glad we made the drive to San Diego to go see all the wonderful animals. On Saturday we had an all beach day and lived it up!! We were there for 8 hours and not one person complained. The kiddos LOVED the tide pools and playing with hermit crabs. Sunday was a quick drive home to normal life and crisp fall air. Newport was a perfect way to enjoy one last week of Summer and get a tan that will hopefully get me through winter. Summer is and always will be my favorite time of year and I always hate to see the days get shorter and mornings get cooler. Fall is cozy and all but nothing beats the freedom and hot days of summer!!