Really big, long, Halloween Post

In full disclosure, these first pics of the kids in their costumes were taken over a week ago when getting ready to go to a neighborhood party.  Mason was the adorable train conductor which Cameron wore when he was the same age.  Gavin was a ninja and he loved it so much he wants another ninja costume for Christmas from Santa.  Cameron was Harry Potter as he is full into a HP phase and I love it!  I made the cloak but everything else was store bought- phew!

One reason I was so glad that I had taken these pictures early was because I thought our Halloween might look a bit like this:

 And indeed Hurricane Sandy did arrive in full force here on Monday night, cutting off our power for a day and bringing buckets of rain and some really horrifying wind.  Although the above picture is not our trampoline, ours did in fact blow far into the neighbors yard and I believe is beyond repair but we are counting ourselves lucky compared to the damage that others we know sustained.  During the storm schools were closed, work was closed and we were forced to bond as a family.  It was perfect timing, because I was lamenting the fact that we hadn't done much Halloween-y stuff yet this season.  We carved our pumpkins and made caramel apples and had just sat down to watch Hocus Pocus when the power went out.  In 9 years of living in this house our power has never gone out so we were not all that prepared, but were able to find our flashlights and candles and hunkered down for the rest of the night.  Thank goodness for Grandma and Jeff, we were able to chill with them the next day instead of freezing at home with nothing to do.  Others did not regain power until today so we are thankful that we only had to last one day.

 The hurricane did not ruin our Halloween, maybe due to dome earnest prayers from three little boys.  After filling their tummies with a wholesome dinner, we set off to trick or treat.  Unlike last year when Mason was dragging toward the end of just going up and down our street, this year he was wired and full of himself!  He kept telling everyone who he was (even if they didn't ask) and asked what their names were and why they weren't trick or treating.  As always, the older boys went back out with dad to increase the stash, and they did not disappoint!  We had a whole lot of trick or treaters this year which is unusual, lucky for us we had bought enough candy.  Mason took door duty and made sure to ask about everyone's costume before doling out the candy.

 If you look carefully, you can see Mango, one of our kittens in this lady's arms.  He loves his new home!

 Not a bad take!

Hungry Mother

This weekend my sisters Kristin and Lisa all met midway between our homes for a little family reunion with our families in Hungry Mother State Park.  Kristin has been talking for some time now about wanting to go there and finally the stars aligned so that it worked out.  None of us had ever been there before so it was fun to explore everything the park had to offer- we were not disappointed!  We had lots of campfires, hiked, played games but most of all just enjoyed each others company.  It isn't often that we are all together (we missed you Becky!) so it was great to just relax and watch the cousins bond.  Hopefully we can all make the time for this every year so that it becomes a wonderful tradition that we all look forward to!

Ticonderoga

One of the great things about fall in Virginia is the plethora of pumpkin patches available.  We've tried most of them, but this year found a new one that's even closer to home and had no crowds at all!  Mason was going to miss his 4 R's pumpkin patch trip this year due to a family trip so we took the boys all out of school early one day to try Ticonderoga Farms.  We drove up and there were maybe 10 cars in the lot!  This place had it all, slides, tractor rides, teepees to play in and unique wooden playground equipment, as well as fire pits to roast s'mores, and a patch to pick out your own free pumpkin!  We stayed for hours and closed the place down!  We love Cox farms but it is always crowded and I feel like it is so big that the kids could easily get lost.  Here they could run around and I didn't feel like I had to keep such a close eye on them.  It may be our new favorite place, at least until other people find out about this hidden gem!

Anatomy of a Dounut

Fry the dough.

 Frost and decorate

 Enjoy and get Messy!

Our family loves this tradition every fall!

Up to?

I looked at my blog today and realized it has been 2 1/2 weeks since my last post, what is going on?  If you saw the calendar on my refrigerator our life looks full of action, but nothing super interesting, I guess.  All three boys are continuing swimming, Cameron and Gavin at our indoor Piedmont pool twice a week and Mason at the local community center also twice a week during the day.  His teacher is the same lady that taught Cameron and Gavin-man does she have a lot of patience to be able to do that for so long!  Cameron has scouts, piano and chess club and Gavin just signed up for Tae Kwon Do that should start next month.  We are getting in gear for Halloween and have the costumes pretty much figured out if I can find the hat that goes with Mason's costume.  This weekend we met Aunt Kristin and her family at Kings Dominion for one more day using our passes and had a blast even though it was pretty crowded.  All the kids got pirate gear and we went out for pizza afterward.  We have some fun things planned in the coming weeks that we are really looking forward to and I can't wait to have some photos to share.  Happy fall!