Halloween!

Brooke got to wear her Halloween costume to school.  She was Ariel :) During the day the kids got to parade around the school so all the "big kids" got to see their costumes. They also had a party with games in class.

Ryan (aka Superman) also got to wear his costume to school and have a party with his class.

 

 After school we ventured out for some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Brooke still in her Ariel costume, but Ryan had transformed into a different superhero!

 

The kids actually bore of trick-or-treating pretty quickly.  They prefer to give vs. receive.

 

At the end of the night, each kid counted their stash and chose one treat to eat.  

Sunday She Said / He Said

Mom:  Ryan!  Did you slam that door?  We do not slam doors!

Ryan: You get what you get and you don't get upset.

Halloween Birthday

We celebrated both kids birthdays in conjunction with our neighborhood Halloween parade and trick-or-treating. Our little super heros marched down the street in style.

They went store to store and gathered lots of candy.

After trick-or-treating we had cake - two of them actually! Ryan chose a Batman cake and Brooke chose a Sophia the First cake. Unfortunately we veered from the norm and got them from a different bakery, and both kids thought the cakes were yucky :) There was lots of cake left over!

Apple Picking

We set off to one of our favorite places to pick fruit - Jollay Orchard

The fall season offered up some nice photo ops :)

Race to find the best fruit!

Brooke picks high ...

Ryan picks low...

Time for the taste test.

 

Note the careful inspection. Cant have bugs. Cant have dirt. Cant actually be a vegetable in disguise.

 

All the eating slows down the picking :)

All the farms are so different, and each has its own pros and cons. The big con of Jollay is the touristy feeling. They have a whole area set up with a ferris wheel and rides that they charge a hefty fee to get into. Each year we've told the kids that area is closed and they've bought our story. This year they knew something was suspicious, but still didnt argue. Next year it wont work. On the other hand, there are many positive aspects. Jollay is really big - it has tons of varieties of apples and peaches. It also has tractors that take you out into the fields - which is really one of the best sellers for the kids. Smaller orchards dont need tractors. There are other orchards that have tractors but are less efficient (we've waited over 30 minutes on a hot day waiting for a tractor in a different orchard) and make the whole trip quite stressful. Jollay has well run, timely tractors that pull us around and put nice, big smiles on everyone faces :) That's the seller.