Early Trick-or-Treating

This last Saturday, we made plans to go to Sleepy Hollow (the state campground) for some early trick-or-treating.  It's a pretty big event for the campers -- a lot of them decorate their campsite (and some of them even dress up!) and then sit outside to pass out candy for an hour.  It's only about 15 minutes from our house and the weather was darn close to perfect, so we gathered the kids and their costumes and headed out. 

We got there about an hour early so that we could meet up with one of Steve's co-workers at their site.  I had a quick dinner packed for the kids, so they ate that at a picnic table before donning their outfits.  It was a nice trial-run so that I could then determine what we need to make their costumes better for Halloween (Sam needs a white shirt that fits her better, Jack needs long underwear to wear underneath his form-fitting costume, Sophia needs a higher collar on her shirt for an itchy place that bugged her and Jimmy -- well, he was all set).

We did not cover the whole park; we really only traveled over half of it.  And I was fine with this.  The kids filled their bags with enough candy to last a while and they had a blast doing it.

A quick photo at one of the campsites before we started:

Samantha was a ghost, Sophia was Maleficent, Jack was Flash and Jimmy was a lion.

As you can see, the weather was perfect -- almost 60 degrees and not a drop of rain in sight (unlike last year when it POURED buckets of rain and we opted to just stay home).

My little lion:

For the most part, the kids stayed together and visited the sites in unison.  I was grateful for this, as I know the time is coming when they will want to quickly run off and grab as much candy as they can, as fast as they can.

Jimmy was a bit leery of clowns and the scary decorations, but then warmed up to them and realized that that they are all just for show.

Mr. Independent was a favorite among everyone there.  His little voice that said, "trick or treat" and followed that with "thanks" as he walked away was certainly something to see.  He has a lot of personality inside his little body!

The Orchard

I go to the orchard every Sunday for a weekly meeting and sometimes I take the kids with me and sometimes I go alone.  They really enjoy going, but depending on our weekend activities, it doesn't always work out. 

A couple of weeks ago, we made plans to head out there on a Saturday and spend most of the day there.  We invited one of Sophia's friends to come with us, and it's safe to say that everyone had a blast.  Jimmy was so tired by the time that we left that he fell asleep in his car seat before we had even made it a 1/2 mile down the road.


Picking Galas out in the orchard:

Sophia picked more than one and savored them on the wagon ride back up front.

I can't get over how beautiful and clear the sky was that day.  It was the perfect temperature outside and we couldn't have chosen a better day to go.

Apples for everyone!

Jack bit into his apple as soon as he picked it off the tree.  Yup, my kids are raised on apples, applesauce and cider, just as I was growing up.

We spent a great deal of time in the store (stocking shelves and bagging apples) and zipped out back to feed the pigs our leftover apple cores.  I was too busy to take pictures at the time, but made sure to grab some out in the pumpkin patch.

We let everyone pick out their own pumpkin -- those will be the ones that they carve the week of Halloween -- and it interesting to see how each of them had their own idea of what constituted "the perfect pumpkin."

Searching for the best one that she could find:

Jimmy was starting to get a little tired at this point and I turned around to find him resting on a pile of pumpkins. 

Samantha's was the biggest one and I had Steve haul it back to the van for us.  It was certainly heavier than it looks.  (Little does she know that the bigger the pumpkin, the more cleaning out she will have to do inside when she is carving it!  Ha!).

Along the outer perimeter of the pumpkin patch, there were some gorgeous Red Delicious apples.  They are huge this year and the deepest red that I can recall them ever being.  Jack couldn't resist picking one, and I don't blame him. 

The whole crew:

Bates Scout Park

One night, we took the kids to Bates Scout Park downtown so that they could run off some excess energy.  This is the same park that we stopped at last year to take a few pictures for our Christmas card.  The equipment there is a little outdated, but the kids don't mind and we left there more tired that we started and a lot more dirty -- just in time to head home for showers and packing their bags for school the next morning.


There are several of these and James loves going from one to the other:

The girls ran to the teeter-totter right away and their laughter could be heard all over the park.

Before long, Steve joined int he fun:

I turned around and Jimmy had found another one of his favorite toys there:

Four sections/four kids.  Perfect.

A father and his son -- a very special bond.

Just as special as the bond between sisters.

End of Summer Randoms

Summer Produce --

Cucumbers from our garden:

Lots of tomatoes:

And some sweet corn (store-purchased, but good):

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Strawberry Pie -- 

I taught Sophia the fine art of making a pie and she was a complete natural.

Cutting off the excess dough (which was later rolled into strips and baked with butter and cinnamon sugar for the kids):

Filling the pie shell:

My personal favorite part, "fluting the edges:"

She needs a tad more practice on it (and maybe larger fingers), but she was certainly getting the hang of it:

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Knitting -- 

Samantha learned to knit and it is the perfect activity for her.  She is now on her second scarf!

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Papa's 70th birthday -- 

We celebrated my dad's birthday at our house, complete with grilled shish-kabobs, some sides and cupcakes.  The rest of the time was spent down at the beach, hence the wet hair and swimsuit cover-ups:

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The Sandbox -- 

The backyard sandbox has been in full use this summer, especially with the boys.

They play pretty nicely together, but every once is a while, I hear a bit of yelling and find that Jimmy has been banned from the tire sandbox and forced to the other sandbox under the slide.  Brotherly love.

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Downtown Pancake Breakfast-- 

The girls begged to have these balloon octopi at the annual downtown Pancake Breakfast (pancakes and sausage served out in the street) and I obliged.  Honestly, I pictured them popping before we even made it home, but they surprisingly lasted for several days.

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Chillin' -- 

Partners in crime.  They are never too far away from one another.  And I love that.

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Book bags -- 

New book bags and matching lunch bags (purchased every other year) all ready for my full-time learners this year:

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Crafting --

Our summertime crafting game was strong this year.  So many fun projects ...

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Sidewalk Chalk -- 

Truth be known, Steve loathes sidewalk chalk.  He hates seeing it all over the place and especially doesn't like running over it with vehicles. 

But I love it.  I secretly keep adding to our stash because I have been known to do many drawings out there, sometimes even without the kids.  I just love seeing their creativity in action.

(As a side note, Sophia's hair is starting to get so much longer and thicker these days):

So many pieces and so many colors to choose from:

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Miss Diane -- 

Celebrating Miss Diane's birthday with Grandpa at our house, complete with a homemade chocolate cherry cake:

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Summertime S'mores --

This might possibly be one of Jack's favorite things ...

It combines his love of fire and dessert.

Jimmy needed a little assistance obviously, so I happily jumped in.

He was pleased with the outcome, of course.

The girls are pros now.

No assistance needed.

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