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!
That's one good thing about Braden going to school in another neighborhood. It gives us an excuse to visit places along the way that we wouldn't usually stop at. You can see from the pictures it wasn't the sunniest of days, but it was so cool and breezy that we had to take advantage. One of Madeline's favorite things to do is take a bath. And in the bathtub she loves to play with her ducks. So you can imagine how she felt about seeing these little guys:
At first, she was a little confused. After all, they aren't pink and polka-dotted! But after Braden got them to quack, she was beside herself.
Again, it was hazy, so excuse the fuzzy look of the pictures. Braden loves the beach in any weather, though.
From the minute she heard the water and felt the wind, Madeline was all smiles. (Maybe in her eyes it was just one huge bathtub!) She was pulling to get out of the stroller to get into the sand, so I walked her around for a little while. She squished the sand between her toes and laughed at Braden running around, waging war on the seagulls.
And Braden's footprints:
Soon, it was time to head back to the car. Of course, we passed an ice cream vendor on the way, and Braden said he was so hungry from all that running around on the beach that he NEEDED some Spiderman ice cream.
Madeline on her computer. She prefers the family laptop, but she'll settle for most anything with a keyboard and screen.
Braden listening to my iPod, no help required:
Madeline is pretty quick when it comes to problem solving, too. See below? It didn't take her long to figure out that if she dumps the whole bin of toys over, she can reach all of them!
We spent most of Friday settling into the condo and going shopping for groceries, etc. But Friday morning, we woke up to sunny skies and headed to the beach! 
Then we made our way to the Flora-Bama.
That picture does not accurately represent my feelings for the place, but it's the only one I've got. I will admit that it's great fun to people-watch there. Never a dull moment!
The kids - okay, the kids AND the adults - did lots of sliding and bouncing...
There was even a rock wall!
After play time we enjoyed pizza and cake. (Braden chose a Spiderman and Friends-themed cake.)
We were so excited to have Nana and Pickle and Taylor and Marileigh in from Tennessee for the weekend! Thank you to everyone who was able to celebrate with us! 
Also, Roger took Braden to the Cubs/Pirates series at Wrigley the weekend before his party. It was the first Cubs experience for both of them, and they plan to have many more. 
Here are some of the activities Braden enjoyed at Wonderworks:
In the picture above, the shadow of the Mona Lisa on the wall comes from the "jumble" of metal on the right. There were several examples of this type of art. I thought it was pretty interesting. Some other fun things that we got to experience at Wonderworks: what it feels like to be in an earthquake, what hurricane winds feel like, and what the water temperature felt like during the sinking of the Titanic.
Mur and Maddie
Seth and Braden picked blackberries. It was braden's first time picking blackberries, and his first experience with chigger bites!
Braden and Seth being silly
Braden with his favorite cousins, Taylor (r.) and Marileigh (l.)
When we are at my mom and dad's, we also like to just spend time outside, enjoying the views. Two pretty photos of views from their house to leave you with:
