Trick-or-Treat!

The kids had a great Halloween.  Dorothy wore Malcolm's old lamb costume and Malcolm dressed up as "Red Blankie and Bubbles".  A month or two ago, that is what he said he wanted to be, and every time I would ask, he gave me the same answer.  "Red Blankie" is his little red security blanket that has tags all around the edges and he just really likes bubbles.

One of our neighbor's has a very elaborate set up that Malcolm said he was afraid of at first.  Once he saw the smoke filled bubbles though, he was hooked.  They haven't had the bubbles working the past year or two which was too bad.  He loved them as a baby his first Halloween and he and Dorothy both loved them again this year.  When you pop the bubble, a little puff of smoke comes out.


Ready for some trick-or-treating.




Dorothy spent most of the night wondering what was going on.


Red Blankie from the back, on our way to get some candy.


At the second house, our neighbor, Laura.  She just loves both kids

Malcolm did a great job saying, "Trick-or-treat" at each house and kept exclaiming that he was, "Just so excited!"  He preferred that I went up to the door with him, and I had to remind him to say thank you, but he did a great job.  We had lots of questions about his costume (understandably) and he very proudly told people what he was.  Of course, then they would look at me a little confused, and I would elaborate.  One guy chased Kevin down because he just had to know what Malcolm was dressed up as.  That guy's guess was some sort of molecule.


Of course, the best part is getting home and checking out all the candy.  Dorothy really got into that part.  She thought digging in the container and taking candy out was the best game ever.

First Word

I am pretty sure that Dorothy said her first word yesterday.  Twice, she looked right at Trip and said, "Ka!" (cat).

Pumpkin Farm

We headed out to the pumpkin farm for a little Fall fun.  Malcolm has been talking about the pumpkin eating dinosaur for weeks and everything he saw at the farm, he wanted to do.


First, we checked out the small pumpkins.


Then we checked out the slightly bigger ones.


Dorothy enjoyed the bigger pumpkins too.



She also checked out the fancy varieties.


Then it was time to play on the train and other wooden structures.

There was a new feature this year called the "Jumping Pillow" and as soon as Malcolm spotted it, he had to do it!  I have no idea what it was made out of or how it kept its shape, but it was a little like a thick rubber dome that the kids could jump on.  Luckily, they divided the kids by height so that the little ones were less likely to get hurt.

Malcolm's pants were a little big in the waist and we were sure he was going to bounce right out of his britches.  When they blew the whistle that is turn was over, there were some tears because, "I just want to do it some more."



After all his jumping, we took a little cider and doughnut break.

Dorothy was determined to steal daddy's doughnut.

Malcolm remembered Pumpkin Eating Dinosaur from our visit last year and was incredibly excited to see it again this year.  When we went to go see it, it was moving its head around, roaring, and blowing smoke a bit to attract a crowd.  He got within a few feet of the fence and stopped.  He didn't want to miss it, but he also didn't want to get any closer.  Even Dorothy was leaning back and trying to maneuver Kevin between her and the dinosaur.

The dinosaur is hard to describe.  It is so cheesy and tacky and over the top that it crosses into being interesting and entertaining.  We did get to see it eat a pumpkin, which was the highlight of Malcolm's day.  He wanted to see it eat more pumpkins, but we weren't able to time it right.

Here is the dinosaur in all its glory.

Finally, we head off to see the animals.  Being a farm, you would expect to see cows, pigs, goats, chickens, and other farm animals, which we did.  This place also has quite the exotic collection too which is great, but also feels a little strange.  Yay!  Let's have a nice family Fall day at the pumpkin farm, and see the giraffes, zebras, bears, and tiger cubs.  Yeah, it just doesn't go together, but it is really neat to see so many unusual animals up close.


Malcolm wanted to feed the animals, which he has only wanted to do on two other occasions.  The carrot sticks were much easier for him to feed than the little seeds.


Dorothy eyes a goat, and you can see the back half of the pumpkin eating dinosaur in the background.

Apple Picking

Last week we went to the apple orchard as part of a field trip with Malcolm's school.


Malcolm's first order of business was having cider and doughnuts.  I have to say that I don't even like cider, but this was really good.



They had a big kids' play area with a fire truck, play house, pirate ship, and tractors to "drive."  There was also an animal barn and pony rides, but he had no interest in those.




Malcolm was most excited by the prospect of picking his own apples, so we headed out to the orchard part.

He had a great time picking the apples that were down low.


Dorothy got to hang out and play with an apple while Malcolm & I did all of the work.


The kids check out the apple we picked.

I had Dorothy in the stroller and Malcolm was walking.  What I had not planned for how I was going to carry the basket of apples and push the stroller by myself.  Luckily, a staff member had come back to help an elderly couple with their baskets and offered to push Dorothy while Malcolm and walked back to the car.

It was a really nice outing and we plan to make it a new fall tradition.

Are Your Ready For Some Football?

We went to the NIU vs Temple game today.  We picked an early October weekend, thinking it would be cool, but not too cold for the kids.  Instead, it was about 90 degrees and we were all over-dressed.  Malcolm was up bright and early and upset that we were not leaving immediately after he finished breakfast.

I embroidered a shirt for Malcolm and made Dorothy a jumper to wear.  Malcolm's shirt turned out well and Dorothy's jumper was cute, but I made it a little too big and learned that a thinner fabric would lay better.  I used fleece so that it would be warm, and it would be quick to sew up.  I think it will still fit her next year since there isn't much shape to it, so maybe she will get a little more use out of it next Fall.


Dorothy went for a little walk while Malcolm spent some time bouncing in the inflatable bounce house they had set up for the kids.  He was very excited to bounce for a while after the car ride.


Dorothy checked out the Husky mascot.  Malcolm was a little apprehensive about the giant dog though.  We couldn't get him to even give the husky a high five.


Malcolm did great watching the game, but had lots of questions.  The guy sitting next to him kept cringing as I was trying to explain football to him in very simple terms.  Eating peanuts out of the shell and watching halftime seemed to be his favorite parts.

It was so hot that we ended up stripping Dorothy down to just a diaper and her hat and tried to keep her in the shade as much as possible.  Lots of people commented that they wished they could strip down to cool off too.


By the end of the game, Dorothy was very tired and ready for it to be over so that she could nap.  She was out cold within 5 minutes once we were int he car.

Both kids were very good despite the heat.  The only melt down was in the fourth quarter when I took Malcolm out to get an ice cream treat.  The vendor had just closed and sent us to another location and said they were still open; they weren't.  After promising him ice cream, there were some very big tears when I could not deliver.  Big time mommy guilt.

We promised him that if he kept being good, that we would go get ice cream after having a nap at home.  We walked down to Dairy Queen and by the time we were done there, it was dinner time.  We decided to walk up to The Village Squire and have some dinner.  It had cooled off, so we sat out on their patio and had a wonderful evening by the river.