Happy Halloween!

 

We have another HUGE Harry Potter fan with Addison, so she chose to dress up like Hermione Granger.

 

Practicing her levitating spell by levitating the pumpkin (with a little help from her big brother).

 

Luke wanted to be a hot dog.

I do not know why.

 

 

Pre-trick or treating party with the neighbors :)

 

About to head out with all the neighborhood kids to get some CANDY!!!

 

This is how our kids trick or treat!  

Riding in golf carts and ATV's around the neighborhood!

Man, I remember running for miles and miles and miles when I was little to get all the candy I could in those three hours.

 

Parker as the cutest Where's Waldo and Luke...as a hot dog.

 

Addison and Alden riding in style from house to house. 

(Amelia was hanging out with other high schoolers at a friend's house)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Parties

 

Look at cute Mckenzie and Amelia all dressed up for Halloween camping!

They used to dress up to go trick or treating at the campsite, now they decorate and hand out candy to the little ones.  

 

Stephen and I had a couple Halloween parties to attend but it was kind of a last minute decision if we could go based on his work schedule.  So, he texted me about a half hour before we would need to leave, that we could make it!  Yay, but now we needed to find a costume.  So we both headed to our costume bins, this is what I came up with, a witch's hat and stockings...boring!  Look at what Stephen came up with and made in 10 minutes in our shed!   Elliot with ET even with bike handles!   He's so creative!

 

Neighborhood witches!  Ha!

 

My fall cuties :)

 

Addison wanted to bring back her ghost costume for her 4th grade school Halloween dance.

 

Church Summit bonfire on the beach!

 

Pumpkin patch

 

Addison carved her own pumpkin this year (well, with just a little help from Daddy).

Fall Fun!

 

This is the best time of year to play on the beach before heading out to dinner!

 

Little Miss just got the best surprise!  

It is our family tradition to take each kid on a solo trip when they turn 10 years old!  Addison had an owl deliver her invitation to Hogwarts at Universal Studios  and a day at Disney for her 10th birthday!  She is so excited!!!

 

Open house at Addison's school and she got to show off her artwork and Greek project :)

 

Our church supports a bunch of missions in Belize and we recently gathered tons (literally) of personal items, school supplies and toys to send to our Belize friends for Christmas.  We decorate the boxes for Christmas to make it even more fun and special!  

 

And look, we won 1st place!  Yay us!

 

I recently got to join Addison's class at the Gulf Coast Research Lab for a field trip.

 

Future scientists ready to dissect their perch.

 

Oh happy day!

Our three kids are old enough to ride their bikes downtown BY THEMSELVES!

They sent us this picture on a Saturday morning while we were still enjoying coffee in our jammies!

Glorious!  Look they do love each other!

Happy Birthday to Me!

 

Stephen and the kids made my birthday special :)  

 

Tennis Time!

 

The kids played in another tournament this fall and they all racked up lots of wins!

 

First place doubles!

 

Way to go kiddos!

Girls Trip!

 

These are my dear friends, Sheryl and Stacey.  We were roomates in college as well as sorority sisters.  Sheryl lives in Minnesota with her family and Stacey lives in Michigan with her family, so it is not often we get to see each other.  

I have been lucky to spend time over the years with each of them and their families separately but the last time the three of us were together, was when we all had just had our first babies.  And those "babies" are now all 15 years old!

So we decided we were due for a girls trip!

We ended up picking Savannah, Georgia and it was the perfect spot for us.

We shopped, and ate, and laughed and shopped and ate.

 

The much anticipated Wilkes House was definitely worth the wait (almost two hours in the heat and humidity).  The restaurant has been serving family style true southern food forever.  It was delicious, over 22 sides!  We practically rolled out of there.  It was hands down the best fried chicken I have ever eaten.  

  

Being in Savannah, we had to do a ghost tour.  It was fun to walk around and hear all the creepy stories about certain mansions and town squares and cemeteries.   I was not scared the whole time except for when a drunk guy jumped out and grabbed me in the middle of a ghost story about "someone screaming."  The person screaming was me.  The drunk guy had no idea how spot on his timing was. 

 

Stacey and I got up early and walked three or four miles every morning and we loved all the beautiful architecture of the houses in the historic district as well as their gardens.   This is the fountain in Forsythe Park.

 

This restaurant was called Gryphon and the atmosphere was awesome.  It was a pharmacy in 1926 and still had all of the original mahogany shelves and drawers along with all the original stained glass windows and lamps.  And the food was delicious too :)

 

Probably one of the most famous restaurants in Savannah and  it did not disappoint.  We again loved the atmosphere and the cuisine.  It was a lovely dinner with girlfriends.

Love these girls and the time we got to spend together.

 

  

We spent some time on River Street as well.

 

Here we are at a dueling piano bar called Savannah Smiles which also happens to be my favorite movie of all time.  

The bar was SO fun and everyone sang along to every single song.

 

Our last day in Savannah.  

We ate and shopped more.  Ha!

What a fabulous weekend catching up with fabulous friends.

Luke's 13th Birthday Party!

 

Luke turned 13 years old and he is back to inviting girls to his birthday party! Ha!

That has not happened since he was about 6 years old.  

He has a great group of friends and Stephen and I enjoyed watching them all interact.  What a fun age!

 

We set up a selfie scavenger hunt for teams of three kids.  They had a list of about 50 tasks they had to complete as a team, while taking a selfie!

I highly recommend this for a party, the kids all really enjoyed it and were running as fast as they could all over our property to complete their lists.  

It was so entertaining to watch them.

 

And go!!!

 

Luke took the pictures for his team so I got to scroll through them all...

his team doing the leapfrog.

 

Selfie with a fire hydrant. 

 

Selfie while all jumping.

Other tasks included, pose like a tree, under a tree.  Team all perform your favorite dance, selfie with the birthday boy, selfie with a dog, etc.

 

Time to cool down inside with some food and drinks!

 

This group is super active though and they ended up right back outside to play volleyball, kickball and football.

 

Happy Birthday Luke Michael!!

We love you so much!