Monkeying Around

Yep - we've been monkeying around - and in the middle of the week no less. We decided to check out the open play hours at Monkey Bizness a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately as they host birthday parties on the weekend that meant taking an afternoon off and going during the middle of the week. Where we had the place entirely to ourself. Which was probably a good thing. :)

The boys favorite thing was the GIANT slide. I think it was the big kids favorite, too. Unfortunately the boys couldn't quite climb up by themselves so of course we had to carry them up and once you are up the only way down is the slide right? We had to zoom down in it to get back to the bottom with the kids. Uh, huh. That's our story and we are sticking to it.

From one holiday to the next

Those holidays can sneak right up on you at the end of the year. Don't blink or they might just pass you by all together.

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but just before Halloween I went shopping in Canton for First Monday. I determinedly set out to see all I wanted to see in just one day. Clearly an aggressive goal if there ever was one, but I was optimistic that I would succeed. And I almost did - a map might have helped because even despite my uncanny sense of direction I missed a whole barn. In my defence I was clearly distracted by all the goodies and trying to figure out how much room I might have left in the car to fit just one more little thing. Little did I know when I came up with the plan just how many things I would see that I had to take home with me. Like this turkey, because who doesn't need a 4 foot tall turkey at their front door to welcome guests from Halloween to Thanksgiving? And in case it's hard to read his sign reads "Gobble till ya Wobble." Sooo cute!!

So after Halloween as the ghosts, goblins and monsters were put back in their place to await next year out came the turkey to liven up the fall decor.

You have mail

And then there was mail, a little late but thrilling none the less. If only I was as overjoyed as the boys when I got mail (then again my mail tends to be bills and junk mail not cards and goodies.)

Happy Birthday, Miss Amy!

Life did go on after Halloween just in case you were wondering. :) We have just been so busy I haven't had a moment to sit down and sort thing out. And then there were the cooties, but I get ahead of myself.

Life went on after Halloween. The very next day in fact. At a birthday party for Miss Amy. It's always fun to watch the bigger kids and realize with a mix of delight and sadness that someday the boys too, will be that old. That they will be able to talk in complete sentences, and do all the big kid things without me having to worry quite so much or at least have a whole different set of worries I suspect.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed Miss Amy's party - getting to play with the big kids, not to mention a whole host of new toys for them to try out.

And did I mention the cake? And I cream?? The boys happily devoured theirs. :)

Halloween: Trick or Treat!

Halloween continued (Part II):

In anticipation of the sun starting its final descent we headed indoors to grab a quick hotdog and get the boys changed into their costumes. They were….

Race car drivers!

The boys were far more cooperative than I anticipated. I wasn't sure they were going to wear the hats as the first time we pulled them out a few days ago they wouldn't leave them on long enough for me to get a single picture with them on. With the slightly chilly night expected I was afraid their shirts would be covered with their coats and aside from their cars there would be no evidence of their costume in sight. Thankfully they let me put the hats on and even flip them around once or twice as they were knocked off or sitting askew.

With costumes on the boys grabbed their buckets and headed around to the front door to trick or treat. Ryan got a 3 musketeers which he immediately pulled out of his bucket and tried to get everyone including complete strangers to open for him. Too bad he didn’t eat his dinner…

With the sun sinking below the trees and headed for the roof tops and other trick or treaters starting to arrive we pulled out the boys’ rides and headed off down the street. The boys held their buckets as they were wheeled up to door after door. I don’t think they really knew what to make of it as door after door people came out, looked, and talked to them before depositing goodies in their baskets. The boys were pretty shy and quiet despite our prompting to at least get them to say treat or please or really anything at all. They had a deer in the headlights pose as they took it all in including the other trick or treaters in costume rushing from door to door all around them. But as the doors would close and we would head back down the walkway they would start babbling excitedly. Probably talking about how it cool it was that they got more and more candy and they didn’t have to do anything other than sit there and look cute. And wondering if every day was like this. They were probably plotting how they should run up and ring all the neighbors’ door bells on a regular basis with their hands outstretched to hold all the inevitable candy, right?

We eventually completed the circuit around the block and back to Kevin’s parents’ house. Getting the boys and their treats out of the cars was a bit more difficult that we imagined. They were a little attached to their baskets to say the least. Kevin let Ryan try to carry his. It was so heavy and unwieldy I am amazed he didn’t just topple right over. We eventually managed to get them set them down in the floor long enough to get their jackets off. I asked the boys to pick out a piece to eat and after rummaging for a minute Ryan pulled out a box of Milk Duds which was vetoed and Connor found a popcorn ball.

We cracked open the popcorn ball and let them both share. While Connor was busy eating and waiting for another piece Ryan was helping himself to Connor’s treats and picking out all the Milk Dud boxes and relocating them to his own basket. It was just too funny. We eventually loaded the boys back into the car and carefully repacked the traveling house as the boys began to drift off. The traffic on the way out was a madhouse as usual. There was still a line of people from the front door all the way to the street along with a big contingent of people across the road taking pictures, and waiting on their children. Parked cars littered the streets and traffic moved slowly out of the neighborhood.

We got home just before 10 and there were more lights on in our neighborhood than I think I have ever seen along with the remnants of proof that folks gathered here and there outside to watch the trick or treaters pass by. A single group of adults remained on the street behind ours sitting in chairs circled around a large fire pit in someone’s driveway. The kids had probably long since returned home with tired feet and full baskets and were already dreaming of doing it all over again next year.

We put the boys to bed then pulled my carved pumpkin out of the car, stuffied it with far more tea lights than necessary and lit it. I was sure the more light the better to compensate for my less than perfect carving. I sat on the couch watching the flickering glow emenating from the pumpkins for a while before finally blowing them out and calling it a good Halloween night.

Halloween

Halloween was BIG. So big in fact that I am going to have to break it into "fun size" pieces. Which appear to be about 2 1/2 times "mini" size just in case you are wondering. Not that I have been hitting the kids candy stash or anything. Though I might have had that bigger than a kids mouth size lemon head if I could have managed to get it out of the package without having to get up and get the scissors. :)

So, Halloween Day - we spent the morning packing up our traveling house (mini high chairs, pack n plays, etc.) and headed to Kevin's parents for the day. We got there just in time to feed the boys lunch and put them down for a nap. Kevin helped his parents with the Halloween decorations while I took advantage of the kid free time to enjoy the beautiful weather and carve a pumpkin out on the back porch. I don't even remember the last time I carved a pumpkin. It was far less messy than I remembered, but it also required far more hand stamina that than I recalled, too. The boys, afraid to miss a moments' excitement, were up far too early. I had just finished the rough design, but didn't have time to really clean it up. But I don't think they noticed. It got the same delighted "Pumpkin" and pointing fingers that it got before I carved it. :) Though I used a pattern I am fairly certain the final product bears only a passing resemblance to the original. :)

And it clearly looks better lit up at night with some tea lights than it did by the light of day. :)

Speaking of daylight - with the boys up and ready to prowl we headed towards the park by way of the wooded paths with the boys' cousin Kendall along for the excitement. All 3 kids took turns running in circles up the stairs, across the bridge, and down the big swirly slide. And the more times they went the more static they amassed. As evidenced best by Ryan's hair.

He certainly looked like a monster this Halloween! Though it was funny that the second his feet touched the ground his hair would take up it's former position laying tamely on his head. But should you happen to get your hand anywhere near him static would arc amidst a shocking blue flash of light to give you a real zap. Ouch!

After we had visited all our old friends - the slides, the swings, the mulch, the squirrels and of course played keep away from mom in the forest amongst the spider web clad yaupons we headed back. And with the laughable idea of getting a few cute pictures a la last year ....

managed this one. It was as good as it got before the fraidy cats bolted. Chased off by a cacophony of moving, talking, racket making monstrosities stirred up by Kevin's dad.

(to be continued...)