Halloween 2011

I wasn't really feeling creative this year for Halloween and I had a hard time getting "in the spirit."  We didn't want to spend any money so we wanted to use what we had or could borrow.  I usually like to make the kids' costumes and have them coordinating but I just wasn't feeling it.  Finally a week before Halloween I decided I had to make some decisions.  The girls would tell me something different every day, so they really weren't much help.  My friend and neighbor Ginny offered her princess costumes to us so we took a look and we had a winner.  Madylin loved the Cinderella costume she offered so I got out a Princess Aurora costume I had bought at a garage sale and was saving for Christmas and Morgan decided she loved it.  We were set for the girls and we already had a Batman costume in the dress-up bin that was just Nathan's size. 

We tried to make everything very authentic for the girls to make it more fun and I think they looked just like there princess counterparts, if I do say so myself.

Beware: these princesses have some attitude.

I know I am biased but I though Nathan was the cutest Batman I ever saw.

Our Pathetic Oak Glen Trip

So there is this cute little town about 15 minutes away from us called Oak Glen known for their you-pick apple orchards.  I've heard so many great things about it ever since I moved to the IE for college 8 years ago because everyone in this area seems to go there at least once a year.  Somehow I had never gone.  Until last week, that is.  We met my cousin Justus and his wife and 2 kids up there on a Monday afternoon and planned to look around at the orchards and petting zoos and kids trails and little shops.  We met up at 4:30pm.  Apparently everything closes at 5pm.  We drove around the mountain and could not find anything open- not even for dinner!  The pumpkin patch appeared to be open so we drove up and started to walk around and it was like a ghost town.  No one was in sight- not even the owners. We just wandered around the land on our own which was a little eerie.  And apparently there aren't many you-pick orchards this year because the trees didn't fair so well this winter.  So anyways I may have to wait until next Fall to understand why everyone loves this place so much, but I did get a couple of cute pictures of my brood anyhow . . .   

So when IS the best time to go?

Pumpkin Patch 2011

We took our preschool field trip to the Live Oak Pumpkin Patch and enjoyed looking around there.  It was so HOT though the week before Halloween!  It didn't feel like we should be doing Fall activities.

 Madylin

 Morgan

"The boy"

 Here are some of the kids looking at a friendly pony

The giant haystack is always a favorite of the kids.

 And before leaving we carted the kids out to the field to roam around the pumpkin field and see how they grow.  Yay for Fall!

Preschool Pictures!

We started our new preschool co-op in September and, lucky us, one of the moms does photography on the side!  She took some great pictures of the kids on the first day of preschool.

Here's the whole class being silly.

 One of my favorite pictures ever of Madylin!

Thank you Darcy!  Love the pictures

L.A. County Fair

 Okay if I want to post about Halloween (which I do) then I told myself I have to catch up first!

In September we were able to go to the L.A. County Fair on a weekday for free thanks to my friend Katrina and the unofficial preschool field trips she frequently puts together.  My mom came too, and we packed lunches and had a fun day without spending a dime.

Of course the kids loved the animals, especially Nathan.  He liked the chickens and roosters and kept saying "cock-a-doodle-doo"

They spent a lot of time playing on this crocodile

I think this one of Nathan is my favorite picture from the day.  He seems like he is sacrificing himself or something.

They had this really great area for kids to dress up as princesses and knights and just play pretend.

The girls of course LOVED it.

There was a lot to see there and the kids really enjoyed seeing animals they've never seen before (they've never been to a zoo or The Wild Animal Park, poor deprived kids).  I love this picture of them trying to act like scary lions.

We didn't get a picture of the whole group but here we are without Russell.  I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do something like this without spending money.  We were so grateful.