San Diego, Halloween, and Everything In Between

What a month. It began with San Diego (which, I will eventually finish blogging-I hope!) and ended with Halloween. Both events that I just loved, but we packed a lot of other things in between as well. The fall colors were the best I've seen in years, and I wished I had my camera with me almost every day as I drove past a new vibrant red and orange tree. On a few of the warmer days after school, the kids and I took walks outside with Kerry and her kids. Her backyard is not like anyone else's in the entire city0--It IS the forest. It's so awesome.

I mean, really? Love that kid.

The week after San Diego, Alice and I had a lot of time to be together since we were on fall break. One day, we took a bike ride and had a picnic. It was really nice to spend quality time with her and have 3-year-old talks.

And she has loved spending lots of quality time with all of the new babies in our lives (I will be writing about this in a separate post). This is Max, our new nephew (Staci and Bob's baby). 

Also this month, Jack, Shane, and Ryan had a few sleepovers. I was worried they'd be out of control at my house (since there is far less room to play), but they were ANGELS ;)  ....

 They had a little concert at night,

 And colored in the morning.

They are great kids. 

 Speaking of Saints, Jack's class had to dress as their favorite saint.  Well, most kindergarteners don't know even 1 saint, so we had to do some research. I shouldn't have been surprised that he wanted to only be a saint who wore armor.  So he chose St. Michael. He was a petition reader, and he did great. He was very comfortable up on the altar. NOT shy at all. Kind of funny.

Ya think he was loving the attention??  Not very "saintly," if you ask me!

He and St. Francis of Assisi were really adorable, though. 

Onto Halloween festivities:
We went to a pumpkin patch, and as beautiful as the day was, it was not the most pleasant of experiences. Extremely crowded, very crabby 3 year old, and a lot of expensive "extras."  But, my boy still had a blast.

Uh, didn't know giraffes lived on pumpkin farms??  (Pretty cool though, I must admit)

Corn maze...we actually got a little lost inside!

And this is some ginormous pillow thingy that he LOVED.

From there we went to a party at one of my college roommate's house.  There were several of my closest friends from "back in the day."  We had so much fun catching up, and our kids had a blast too.
Look at this cute dessert that my friend Maureen's husband made with their kids (But Maureen gets the credit, since I am sure she bought everything and explained to him what needed to be done ;)

My GIRLS.  I love these chicks. 

And all of our offspring!

And I will end this long post with our Halloween pictures.

Jack was Iron Man and Alice was a cupcake.  We were able to spend time with all of our cousins. LOVE THAT. Alice was a hit at school (which I am so fortunate to be able to see first hand!), and she was quite sweet all day.

How can you resist a little lovin' from a cupcake?! I guess if you're her big brother, it's easy.

My nephew, Tom, who was the Solar System. Ask this kid ANYTHING about outer space. He knows it.

Tiny Max the Penguin!

Our best decorated house on the block is always a tough one for my kids. They love to look at the decorations before Halloween, but when the time comes to go up the stairs and ring the bell...well...

they choose to stay back here.

Another adorable little one.  Phoebe the puppy.

Hannah

Mentos???

Awwww...Maddy and Jack hand-in-hand.

And if you know my family at all, you know that the adults NEVER grow up. We all went out on the town the Saturday before Halloween. This is the same porch I stood on as a kid. Taking pictures before trick-or-treating. I think it's funny that we still do this. I was whipping together my costume on Saturday morning (I was champagne, by the way...to go with my sister, the "White Russian"). Even my dad can't stay away from the fun!