Carving pumpkins

We Skyped with our favorite Mexican exchange student tonight, then Elsie enjoyed carving a pumpkin with me. She definitely preferred a spoon over her hands. We attempted Jack Skeleton from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Timing that could not be made again.

Note (that no one probably cares about!) This was a draft from a few weeks prior to it's publishing date. I don't think I can get it to fall in with when I wrote it.

Nice Fall Day

It was a little cloudy and breezy, but nice weather for some fall outdoor time. I wouldn't ordinarily rake leaves, but I thought the girls would enjoy a pile. Elsie helped me a bit and really enjoyed walking through the piles. Madelyn came out later and enjoyed having a dad for a foundation while in the leaves.

We kept them bundled up and made the short trip to hike at Mt. Airy. I'm disappointed that we've not thought to hike there before! I'm excited for when we can be more adventurous with our outdoor excursions as well. Now it's neat to focus on the girls' curiosity.

-Will

Unsure, but content.

Hiking at Mt. Airy

This + hunger marked the end of our hike.

Elsie loves to sleep!

I usually have to wake her up from her nap, or she'll sleep for more than 3 hours. I do this by first opening her blinds. She found a way to hide from the light.

Another afternoon nap. She likes to wear comfy pants for her naps.

She wanted to read to Minnie when I put her to bed. This was about 10 minutes later.

Fighting getting up from another nap.

Halloween Fun

This year we took advantage of several Halloween events around town and had a blast! Will and Elsie started out the fun by going to Bat Fest at the Cincinnati Museum Center. This event was sort of by accident because it wasn't until they already decided to go that they discovered the museum was having this event. Nevertheless, they had a good time! They did all sorts of batty things like go through the cave, taste fruits pollinated by bats, and watch a bat flight. Elsie came home with a bat mask and stamp. Following the museum, we went to Halloween Nights at Parky's Farm that evening after dinner. They had light displays, a fun house, a hardly haunted tent, an on-stage entertainer, and other little things for kids and families. Our favorite thing was the hayride! We also went to HallZOOween. We had an enjoyable day at the zoo; which included some highlights like hearing the white tigers roar at each other and seeing the new baby manatee. We also had a Halloween party at our Tuesday play group! We had lots of delicious food and the kids all dressed up :) For Halloween, we had Will's family here. My parents joined us for dinner and part of the time. Elsie trick or treated for about an hour with Will, Baba, Auntie Em, and Alahna, who was a cheetah. It was nice and wet, but Elsie didn't want to stop!

On the way home from Bat Fest

Madelyn's pumpkin

Hallzooween

Sully

checking out the manatees

the new baby in the upper right corner

our family of pumpkins

trick or treating in the rain with Baba

 Madelyn, not trick or treating

Halloween Nights "Hardly Haunted Tent" 

Halloween Nights

 Tuesday play group