Monday, November 17, 2008

Fall Fun

Sorry these pictures took me so long to share. October was such a busy month for us, and when it was over, I let the ball drop. Now that it's almost Thanksgiving, I thought I had better get this post out!

The Saturday before Halloween is when we got started with the fall festivities. Here we are at the Gethsemane Gardens fall event. I'm sure it had a catchier name than that, but I don't remember:It was lots of fun, and they really went all out with their seasonal displays. I couldn't get a picture with both kids looking at the camera at the same time, and Braden was upset about the sun in his eyes. Here's one of the better ones:Madeline loved it that there were pumpkins that she could pick up by herself, and chose this one to take home with her:Braden enjoyed the "petting zoo", a pony ride, and an animal presentation where he got to hold baby chicks, pet chinchillas and even hold a tarantula!And he had his face painted to look like he had a scar. (Though he said he would be too embarassed to keep it on with his knight costume for Fall Fest later that day)Braden and Madeline debuted their costumes at Lakeview's Fall Fest. (For the last few years, our congregation has gotten together to have a chili supper, play some games, and let the kids have an extra excuse to parade around in their costumes on the Saturday evening before Halloween.) Braden, again, was a knight, and Maddie was Snow White.On Halloween Day, there was a carnival at Braden's school. He didn't want to wear the knight costume to school, so he pulled Spiderman out of his closet. Here he is lining up to go back to class after playing games:These were his favorite carnival prize:That evening we went to the Andrea's house for trick-or-treating. Here are Braden, Madeline, and Maggie just before going house-to-house:And yes, Braden is wearing yet another costume - this time, a pirate, minus the accessories that actually make it resemble a pirate costume. (He said they made him look "absolutely ridiculous!")

It was a beautiful evening. We didn't even have to wear jackets! Here are Braden and Maggie making their way around the neighborhood, with Maggie's dad Joe in the lead: Braden is already in the planning stages for the perfect costume for next year. But for now, we are just going to enjoy the rest of his Halloween candy (yes, there's still a ton of it in our kitchen), and look forward to spending Thanksgiving in Tennessee. I'm trying to take it one holiday at a time!