A Frozen Halloween

In more ways than one, this was a Frozen Halloween.  The obvious is the kids' choices in costumes (Queen Elsa and Olaf) and then there was the sudden sharp drop in temperature, increased wind and off and on rain all day.  And chance of snow tonight, plus a freeze warning.  Give me a break!  It's Halloween, could the cold not hold off for one more day until November?

But our troopers, tired as they (Ben) were, donned costumes and winter coats and headed out into the cold.  And, unlike some kids who were being driven house to house, marched on bravely to collect their treats.

having boycotted a nap today, Ben got a pass and rode in the stroller

I asked Natalie if she would "bring back summer" and she looked at me very seriously and said,

"Mom, I'm not the real Elsa."  

After Ben had enough, Nat and Daddy hit up a few more houses

(a girl after my own heart: sacrifice feeling in your fingertips for chocolate!)

Ben did not appreciate the "Do you wanna build a snowman" jokes.

bundled up back at Mimi and Pa's house, we saw Cowboy Jack and his lass, Anna 

and baby Addison in an adorable Halloween tutu.

Natalie was really taking advantage of having been out in the cold...

Princesses & Heroes

Last night we took two overly tired kids to see Disney on Ice.  The theme was Princesses and Heroes, and it included a big Frozen segment, so there was something to keep them both pretty interested throughout.  Natalie really loved it, Ben would have done a little better if he had a nap, but overall a great evening out!

Ben had a complete meltdown after the warm up skaters left the ice,

but recovered once the show started with Mickey and Minnie.

(I think the lady next to me was a little nervous about his wailing!)

She HAD to have cotton candy...fine.

And what a surprise, it came with a crown, 

which she has not taken off since except for her bath last night.

Halloween at the Zoo

Today we braved the crowds to take advantage of the nice weather and HallZOOween.  For one little batting-stuffed snowman, the temperatures were a touch on the warm side, but he was way too pumped about his Olaf costume to take it off, despite being very sweaty underneath.  As for Natalie, she really got into her role of "Queen Elsa" and let her friend push her around half the zoo in Ben's stroller.  Lovely.  Luckily, neither seemed to mind much.

It was nice for me to have an extra few sets of eyes and some adult company, and the kids had a fun day with their friends.  Behold, Queen Elsa and Olaf at the zoo:

within minutes of arrival, Natalie had climbed off and on that wall and sat on a hay bale...

her dress was a tangled mess of tulle

checking out the crocodiles

(that we had to visit twice)

Olaf cruising through the zoo

visiting the treat stations

face painting

We came home exhausted and on sugar overload.  Sounds like a pretty good Halloween day at the zoo to me.  Now the costumes need a quick clean up (and detangling), so we are ready for trick or treat on Friday.  And, on the way home, I realized that I forgot to sew the tooth on the front of Ben's costume.  So I guess I have a little more sewing to do, too.

Ben Turns Two

Last week we celebrated a big birthday in our house...Ben turned 2!  (And he's been proving he's every bit of two by throwing big boy temper tantrums whenever the mood strikes him.)  We celebrated extra hard this year, even after deciding to forgo the traditional birthday party.  I figured with the timing of the birthdays in our house, people get tired of party-going anyway, and thought maybe we'd try to make plans to do something we normally wouldn't do as a family.  I already had a pretty good idea up my sleeve for Natalie's birthday, so it was really just deciding what to do for Ben.

We landed on taking the Lebanon Monroe Railroad for the Pumpkin Patch Express outing: ride a real train 45 minutes out to the pumpkin patch, participate in farm activities for an hour and a half, and then ride the train back.  It ended up being rainy and cold, but it didn't stop us.  The kids loved it!  And I left my camera, and my phone, sitting at home on the counter.  So, so bummed that I have not a single picture.

Then on Ben's actual birthday, the four of us went to dinner and celebrated low key with cake and presents at home.

after the train, we did have a Dusty Crophopper 

cake for those that came along with us

getting a little help from daddy

family birthday selfie!

Fall Fun

Holy moly.  Where did October go?  Partly it has been taken up by two weekends of me having races scheduled, but what on earth else have we been doing?  This month is moving at break-neck speed for sure.  As the beautiful weather is quickly dwindling, we are trying to take advantage of every opportunity to soak up a little outside time.  And last night, we snuck in an hour of sunshine before dinner.

pretty landscape

the kids were pretty excited to find all the acorns down in the yard, so we found a bucket and collected as many as we could

yelling at daddy on the lawn mower

after tiring of acorn hunting, we found a fallen limb to explore

I love how Ty always keeps a close eye on the kids

pretending to mow

Ty pulled this stick off the fallen limb and decided to carry it around the yard

best back drop

watched the sun set before finally going in for dinner