Halloween & Mud Fun

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Gma Juju & Gpa Mike came to visit and the kids loved their time with their grandparents.

We had a great time with pumpkin carving. J & F both loved scooping the goop this year. And F didn't stick his finger in the candle like he did last year so at least we know he learned from it!





The finale:


Then Halloween night we went to one of J's friends to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood. It was cold but luckily the kids were able to bundle up and still show off their outfits. All F wanted to be was McQueen (the race car from the movie Cars). So here is the dude in his 'queen' outfit:

And J wouldn't go for anything else but a princess. So here is our layered princess as we headed out:


And here is the full crew, minus the littlest in the group who got too cold to stay out:


And J and her friend stopping for a rest after tromping from door to door for a good hour.



Now these are just some silly pics of the bean when he and J were playing dressup. The wig just gets me every time. When you look at these pictures think about Harpo Marx of the Marx brothers and see if there is a resemblance.



And this was uncanny. Earlier in November we had a really warm day - well, in the low 60s/high 50s. And the kids wanted to play outside. Then the idea of making mud came about. And then the idea blossomed and became reality. My neighbor told J that her mom was really cool to let them have a mud bath. And mom didn't realize how much washing it takes to get caked, dried mud off of little wriggly bodies. But oh what fun!

Here is the mud prep:


Then the first trial:


Then mud pies:


Then the full monty:

Summer/Fall Catchup

OK, doing some catchup on photos and stories.

Shortly after our trip to Wales we went to Michigan to surprise G's dad for his 70th bday. Boy, was he surprised. We all had a blast and Gpa was happy to have the whole family together. Here's a pic of our family with the Gparents:


We also had a sad passing of G's grandmother Geri. She was his last living grandparent. She always loves to watch the great grandkids play whenever we visited in Michigan. She really loved being around her family. She lived to be almost 93 and we actually got to see her in the summer a few months before she passed. Here is a pic of G & the kids and Great Gma Geri:


We went on an early Fall hike up near Devil's Lake, one of the prettiest areas near Madison to go hiking. The hike was called Palfrey's Glen. The kids were side by side almost the entire time. They were really cute:







The hike used to go up to a waterfall, but the last year's flooding completely wiped out the boardwalk that used to be there so it was a bit difficult for the little ones to finish off the hike. Instead we ate a picnic lunch by the stream leading from the waterfall. Both kids were glad to take a rest:





But on the way back, J was perky and enjoyed walking next to her Papa:


This Fall was also F's first haircut - yes he's over 2 and he finally had enough hair to get it tangled enough that I thought he should get a haircut. I wanted to keep the curls, because I love them, so he just had a trim. Here is the funny boy himself.
Pre haircut:


During haircut:

Post haircut:


We visited a dairy farm with J & F's school earlier this month and we had such a great time...learned a lot about cows and even got to sit in a tractor!

Here's a cute pic of F as we got ready to leave for the farm:


When we got to the farm the kids discovered tractor wheels are good as a cozy seat too:



F in the tractor:


Animal time:




And we even got to take a hay ride and pick our pumpkins:



Onto another topic: Pretend Play. The kids are starting to really play together now. Their 2 favorite games are dressup and mommy/baby. They make up a story and act it out - most of the time F's the baby and J's the mom, of course, though I think J's learned what it's like to have a mouthy 'baby' when she tells him what to do and he says "no!". I think G's and my favorite story recently is 'campout'. That's where they tell us to lay on the couch, they put a blanket over us, then they tell us to go to sleep because we're in a tent and it's nightime and it's time for sleep. Every once in a while one or the other of them comes over to give us a kiss and to tell us to shut our eyes. The hardest thing is trying not to fall asleep during the game!

Here is some dressup fun they had a couple weeks ago, F's outfit is quite the statement:




J is still taking her ballet class, and here are some recent pics from the day they read Aladdin.




And just today we finally had a mostly sunny day. It's been raining for many days and it's our break before the next storm blows in tomorrow. So we raked the leaves from our one tree in our yard and had some fun in the leave pile. Enjoy!

Wales - 2nd Week - St. Davids, Folly Farm, and Eating Our Way Through Pembrokeshire

St. David's is a bit larger town and is a 'busy' place compared to our sleepy town of Trefin. To get there you have to drive down these almost one-lane roads with pull outs that allow for someone to pause while the other car [or bus] scoots by. We wondered when we rented the car why the side mirrors flipped inward, and we discovered why on these small roads. We were always happy when we made it safely to our destination.



St. David's has an amazing cathedral that is in a gorgeous setting of rolling green hills. Some of the cathedral buildings were built in the 14th century and the cathedral itself is still used for mass today.






Nearby the cathedral are the ruins of the Bishop's Palace, dating from around 1300.




St. David's the town makes you feel like you're in a bit more trendy place. Loads of cafes and restaurants, bustling cars, gourmet food stores with really good beer. Here are a couple pics of times in St. David's:





One of the days we were on the coast, my friend J and I took the kids to Folly Farm, a farm/amusement park. G got a 1/2 day to himself to hike and explore. At Folly Farm the kids got to go in their first go kart (yes, the two Js lapped F and I). There were animals to see and touch, a variety of playgrounds to run around in and climb, and of course F was drawn to the little tractors because they were all over and he could try out each one. It was like a tractor corral.


There were also merry-go-rounds galore so the kids chose one with horses (J's choice) and one with vehicles (F's choice).









And since J ate a good lunch she got to enjoy Wales's best treat: ice cream.


And to close these blogs from Wales, here are some pics from the various pubs we ate in. The fish and chips were always amazing, the beer even better, and the kids could enjoy their bangers and chips. The pubs were so family friendly, it was just great. Here's the eating tour of Pembrokeshire.

Our last dinner at our cottage with our friends (with reading afterwards of course):






And the pub crawl:









We enjoyed our trip so much and Wales is a truly special place. It's a bit off the beaten path and really beautiful. It's on our list to go back and visit northern Wales someday so let us know if you want to join us :-)