Costume Parade

Today was Beemer's costume parade and Halloween party at school. She was so excited to put on her costume and

wear it to school!

Cutest Tinkerbell around (more costume pictures coming tomorrow, I promise).

The kids all paraded around the gym while parents quickly took pictures. It was fun to see them get excited as they passed their parents.

Somedays, it's weird that she is in pre-school (time passes so quickly), but so much fun on days like today!

Pumpkins!

Monday evening we carved our pumpkins. Beemer was in charge of designing the faces, I cleaned them out and Ahenobarbus carved. Audi watched entranced from her highchair. It was a lot of fun. Here are the results of our labors:

Ahenobarbus and Beemer on the front porch with our pumpkins.

Beemer decided the pumpkins should be scary (Ahenobarbus), sad (Beemer), happy (Audi) and surprised (me). We still aren't quite sure why she assigned which emotion to which individual person/pumpkin.

In the dark.

It's Autumntime

Yesterday was fabulous! Ahenobarbus was able to slip away from school/work a few hours early and we all drove to a nearby farm for the afternoon. It was beautiful weather and we had a great time!

First, we rode a tractor to a section of orchard to pick our own apples. We picked Fuji and a few Fuji/Yellow Delicious mix. They tasted soo good fresh off of the trees.

When we had picked our fill of apples, we stopped by the pumpkin patch to pick some pumpkins to carve. There were so many pumpkins to choose from!

After our apples and pumpkins were safely in the trunk, we stayed for dinner at the farm restaurant - Beemer got to try fresh apple butter and we ended the evening with an icecream treat! It was so nice to have a few extra hours of family time this week. I love the fall!

Daddy-Daughter Fun

Ahenobarbus' favorite parental "accessory" is hands down our Kelty backback. Beemer rode for hours on end up and down the trails and into the backcountry of Cache Valley. Unfortunately, Audi hasn't had as much time in it as Beemer, but she has enjoyed a few rides on her dad's back. If only there were more uses for it here...

Anyway, here are some fun pictures of both girls in the backpack.

Beemer, her first summer, on one of her hikes with dad.

Audi at Elephant rocks last month.

(On a side note, doesn't my hubby look AMAZING these days!?!)

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

Beemer's first field trip for pre-school was on Thursday and I was lucky enough to get to go with her! We dropped Audi off at a friend's house, and drove to the pumpkin farm. It was a beautiful fall morning with the smell of fall in the air and the leaves beginning to change, but it wasn't too cold to be outside.

After everyone from the school arrived, we all went on a tractor-pulled hay ride. Then we got to play in Fort Spooky, have a snack and pick out our own pumpkins to take home. Beemer picked hers out and then helped me pick out one to take home to Audi. It was a fabulous day and Beemer declared that she can't wait to take Audi and Daddy back on another day.

Quick Trip #2 - Party On!

Saturday was a day full of play! In an attempt to make the most of the weekend, Ahenobarbus took off Friday night with Josh, Wildman, and Tristano to do Blue John canyon (he'll get a post up as soon as he has time). While he was gone, the girls and I took full advantage of our time too! The kids were so excited to be together that my sisters and I decided to just to let them play and hang out. The morning started out with a delicious breakfast of german pancakes - Yum! Then we all took a few minutes to regroup. While I fed Audi breakfast, my sis read stories to some of the kids.

Storytime with pez from Grammy (that is a pez dispenser Beemer has under her nose).


I love that face!

For lunch we opted for pizza because it was easy, cheap and quick. The kids were thrilled with our plan. Even Audi was happy - she got to try her first pizza crust!




















After we thoroughly exhausted the kids (and ourselves) we said our goodbyes and turned in early Saturday night (Ahenobarbus got back around 7). Then on Sunday we woke up to snow. Beemer and Ahenobarbus couldn't help but head out to play. We may not see this much snow (all at once) again all winter!


Beemer was worried about Grammy's flowers being too cold. (Notice her very inappropriate footwear, we weren't planning on snow!) When we flew home Sunday afternoon, we returned to warm weather (75 degrees) and my flowers seriously in need of water!

Quick Trip #1 - Let's Party!

This past weekend, my Mom got married. She married a very nice man whom we all like and more importantly, who treats her fantastically. He was also kind enough to fly our family back to Utah for the festivities. We felt spoiled to be able to fly out just for the weekend. It was a short trip, but packed with tons of fun.

We flew out early Thursday (the girls were great on the flight) and spent the day hanging out with my family and catching up. That night we went to dinner at Ahenobarbus' sister's house for her birthday. It was great to see his family, even if it was only for a little while. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera.

Friday was the wedding. It was beautiful! Mom was so happy and we couldn't be happier for her! I don't have pictures of the wedding mostly because there was a very capable photographer there who did a fantastic job. So, I'll post those pictures when I get them.

After the wedding was when the real party started. My sister arranged a fabulous slumber party with the kids, complete with new Halloween PJs, tattoos, a Halloween movie and plenty of snacks. The kids had a blast being together and then went right to sleep after a long day. The adults stayed up way too late playing games!

All of the kids together in their new PJs

A spider, a bat and a skeleton tattoo! Aunt Jojo is SO cool!

Purple People Eater

My Mom loves Halloween. She has always awwed and oooed over kids costumes as arrived at her house to Trick-or-Treat and her decorations are so much fun! One favorite decoration is the Purple People Eater. It rumbles around and sings the song while the older kids dance along, loving every moment. What's the catch?

The kids love it, the babies are never too sure about it. Most of the grandkids have developed an appreciation for this decoration after they can walk. Before that, they admire it from a safe distance, say, on Mom's lap.

While in Utah this last weekend (it was a quick trip), we introduced the Purple People Eater to Audi, and, unexpectedly, she LOVED it...the shaking, the noise, all of it. They are now devoted friends. She was bummed to leave it behind!

Eight at Eight (almost)

Rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Answer the six "8" items.
3. Make sure you tag 8 people.

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. Numb3rs
2. Bones
3. Lost
4. CSI
5. Mythbusters
6. Hmmm....That's about all I watch that isn't on Nick Jr.
7. See #6
8. See #7

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Shopping
2. Made dinner
3. Laundry
4. Labled my "Birthdays" board
5. Read
6. Picked Beemer up from school
7. Rocked Beemer and Audi
8. Snuggled with Ahenobarbus

8 Things I look forward to:
1. Christmas/My birthday
2. Sleep
3. Graduation
4. Time with Ahenobarbus
5. Long walks
6. Visitors
8. Fall

8 Favorite Resaurants:
1. Acero
2. Training Table
3. Iron Gate Grill
4. Spanky's
5. Calloways
6. Wendy's (I know this is pathetic, but I didn't realize I'd miss it until we moved somewhere without them).
7. The Melting Pot
8. St. Louis Bread

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. GPS Unit for my car
2. Visitors
3. Raspberry cobbler and a warm fire
4. Season 4 of Numb3rs
5. Seasons 3, 4, 6, and 7 of Gillmore Girls (Random, I know)
6. Time to sew/craft
7. Family vacation to San Diego and/or Disneyland
8. New bedroom set

8 People I tag:
Ok, I'm cheating here. I've passed on a lot of tags lately, so I'm just going to say, if you are reading this, considered yourself tagged. (Its all about deniability!)

Elephant Rocks State Park

Two weeks ago we took advantage of the fabulous warm weather to have a family day. We packed lunch and drove to Elephant Rocks State Park. It was a blast! We climbed all over the rocks and pretended we were in the mountains. Audi got to spend some quality time in our Kelty backpack and we all got some much needed time outdoors in the sun.

Just Beemer

Our favorite family ice cream spot, Spanky's (yes, that is their real name) closed for the season this past weekend, necessitating many "last" trips. In memorial of many delicious summer evening trips, I am sharing my favorite Spanky's moment from last week:

Trip One:

Beemer: Mom, I want chocolate ice cream in a cup.

Me (ordering): I'd like a scoop of chocolate in a cup, kiddie size please.

Later...

Beemer (staring quizzically at her icecream): Dad, look at my ice cream, its supposed to look like a kitty. (Neither Ahenobarbus or I clued into what she was talking about at the time.)

Trip Two (two days later):

Beemer: Can I have chocolate again please?

Ahenobarbus (ordering): One scoop of chocolate in a cup...

Beemer (interupting): Wait, wait, this time I want a doggie one, not a kitty one!

It's all so clear now!

First Ponytails

Yes, she really is that cute in real life too!