happy halloween

I can't believe I'm actually posting on the same day of the event. Wow, I'm on top of things! Okay, so don't go in my kitchen....that's kinda scary.
One of the things I was super excited about moving to Arizona was for Halloween. I pictured walking around with the kids for hours in warm weather, nothing like we experienced in Alaska.  Alaska's halloweens were disappointing; Christmas was awesome, but Halloween...not so much. So Arizona's halloween met and exceeded my expectations. We walked around for a few hours around our neighborhood. We never even got cold and I was wearing a skirt and flip flops. There were tons of kids walking around with their parents. It reminded me of old times when I was a kid. What exceeded my expectation was that here, people pass out candy in their driveways. They set up a table and in many cases bonfires and have their candy and decorations out. Adults catch up with neighbors and enjoy seeing the kids dressed up. It was like a massive block party. The roads were even closed so we didn't have to worry about cars! I loved it. The kids got more candy than they need. I'm considering offering them a trip to the toy store in exchange for their candy.
They are now comatosed, or rather asleep, in their beds from utter excitement from one of their favorite days of the year.
Alright, here are some pictures of their costumes.

 So up until yesterday Levi was going to be a pirate but a friend stopped by with this costume she had and Levi dropped the the pirate costume like a bad habit. So here is BUZZ. Of course he took off the purple hat and glasses within seconds. When he was going up to people he would say, "I WANT CANDY." By the end of the night he finally was saying "Trick or Treat" and he always said "thank you;" he's good at that phrase.

 Jordyn is our scary witch. She loved the fake, long nails and witch nose, but once she realized the nails were cumbersome to her holding her trick-or-treat bags, she pulled those off quick. Every time she would get another piece of candy she would proudly show us how much candy she had in her back.

 The funny clown. We actually didn't see any other clowns walking around. The nose even honked when you squeezed it. She loved her costume too. Sydney was running house to house with her friend always ahead of us, but would still wait. Next year will probably be a different story.

 All our crazies together. I added paint to Jordyn's face before trick-or-treating.

 Other halloween fun. The kids made these faces on the pumpkins and then last night we carved them

 Witch hats for dessert one night.

 Carving pumpkins

 Our final products

Lots of fun and good times this month...for sure!

pumpkin patch

Yesterday we went to Dewitt Stables in Mesa for some festive fun. We haven't gone to a pumpkin patch since Sydney was 9 months so we were due for one. Thanks to Groupon we learned about this place and got a deal too. You gotta love groupon. They had all sorts of things for us to enjoy.

 Like the hay maze

 and the horse back rides. All 3 kids in this picture.

 This was a wagon we got pulled in to get us to the pumpkin patch and pet zoo.

 Jordyn holding a bunny and Sydney brushing the lamb or sheep.

 Jordyn had to brush it too.

 Finally a family picture. It's so hard getting us all together and getting the kids to stop moving for 5 seconds.

 And my favorite picture. Jordyn kissing her baby brother or sister :) We'll find out Nov. 9th what we're having. Jordyn kisses baby on a daily basis. I'm just glad I thought to get a shot from my perspective.

 Levi petting the pig. 

 The girls and Levi got to "drive" the wagon. They all agreed that this was their favorite part. I love living in a warmer climate so we can do these things that they just don't have in Alaska. 

Fall Break

We're not used to having a week off of school in October so we didn't plan something until last minute. We finally decided to surprise family in California and show up to Drew's 1st b-day party at the Rueckert's. We stayed G-ma Marianne's while they were in Oregon. It was fun to see Luisa's reaction when we showed up on her driveway. The next morning we surprised G-ma Karen and Uncle Tyler early in the morning. After we met G-pa Levin and Uncle Ryan and Danny for breakfast. Uncle Ryan and Alison were so nice to bring toys for the kids and buy them a treat after. Then we headed to Huntington beach for some surf and sand. The kids were in heaven playing in the water, chasing the waves and birds, throwing sand, finding sea shells, and walking on the pier. Jeff and I sat and watched as our kids were perfectly content playing on their own.

Then we headed to "drewlapalooza." We chatted with old friends and family while listening to Marc and Luisa's band. As if our day wasn't busy enough we hung out at the Juns after putting kids to bed.
We were suppose to leave Monday but just about as we were driving away Jeff got a phone call that allowed us to stay a few extra days. It was nice to really hang out with family and not have any major plans of amusement parks and such to keep us busy. A fun, relaxing, and fun little get-a-way.

                                            Jordyn getting some cuddle action with cousin Luke

Caught--sibling bonding over fudgesicles and for breakfast no less.