Halloween Party #3

Wednesday marked our third Halloween party! I can't even explain how tired of Halloween parties I am - but I was oh-so-grateful that this one did not include a pot luck! I used to look for things for Jack to do in his costume, it seemed like such a waste to just wear it one day. But now that I'm home, the opportunities are abundant and there are ridiculous amounts of candy. What are we supposed to do with all of this stuff? I can't even eat it all! On Wednesdays we go to Mommy&Me which both of the kids love. Miss Lisa is our teacher and there are lots of fun kids in their class. Usually Milan (Jack's bff) is in the class, but she has been sick all week and missed all of the festivities. Jack is a little lost without her, but still managed to have fun. The kids made Halloween shakers for their parade and then paraded around the school, into different classrooms (Jack thought they were all different schools). It was funny to see how the kids reacted, they really did not like everyone looking at them. All of the big kids kept saying how cute they were and Jack was really offended that they were treating him like a baby. Luckily, he got a lot of compliments on his "scary" costume that made him feel better. Here are some pics... Isn't she adorable! She's holding the shaker that they made. I didn't get a pic of Jack's, but he cut out the Jack-o-lantern pieces on his own. It's really cool that he can do some of this stuff on his own. Here's the whole group. Jack was pouting because he wanted to sit somewhere else. I love this picture - I love how they're friends and they're looking at each other like "what the heck are we doing here?"He makes this silly face every time I take a picture these days... So now it's documented for posterity... After all the fun that they had, their favorite part was the popcorn balls! They both loved them. The last thing they did was make this cute snack! Jack loved it!

MOMS Club Halloween Party

Monday marked our second Halloween party! The kids had a chance to get their face painted, bowl, eat tons of yummy food and of course there was a parade! Grace fell asleep on the way there: But ended up having a great time with all the girls... Jack had a great time with his buddies too - though, boys don't stop for pictures! Happy Halloween!!!

Pretend City

Have you been thinking of visiting Pretend City in Irvine? You totally should! Two Papas took us there today and the kids absolutely loved it! It's the newest children's museum and it's really big, really clean and really fun! There were tons of little areas for the kids to play and they took off right away! First stop for Grace was a tractor, she loves the ride on toys.... Then the grocery store, they both could have stayed there forever... And there's an indoor sand box... I think it was that "moon sand" so the kids could make castles and everything! There was a spot for building with tools and PVC pipes, Jack really liked being the foreman... The arts and crafts room was so cute! They could paint, draw and make a craft... This is Grace's favorite spot, but Jack didn't want to sit down. Here's another riding toy, look at Gracie laugh with Papa... Then a water area - another favorite spot! There are aprons for the kids to wear, but we didn't find them until after she was all wet! The play house was adorable... two rooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room! And a garden area... they planted and picked! There are apples, tomatoes, oranges and lettuce to pick and cucumbers to plant. There are even little farmer outfits to wear... Each spot has a time clock where you stamp your time card, then they take it to the bank and get paid for their work! They can choose to spend, save or donate their "money." When Papa told Jack it was time to go - he ran off. He doesn't usually do this... after looking everywhere, Papa found him... in the oven! After Pretend city Grandma and Grandpa treated us to Chuck E. Cheese and we went back to the house. Jack has been dying to see uncle Rob's Halloween decorations... but they scared Grace! Thanks for a wonderful time Grandma and Grandpa! The kids will remember this day for a long time!

Pumpkin Patch #2: Tom's Farms

Each year since Jack was one, we have visited Tom's Farms for Halloween... It's always fun and this year was no different! Though it is MUCH MUCH more difficult to get a good picture! And this year, we waited too long and there were hardly any pumpkins left! While there, we hit the pony rides and Jack loved it, but Grace she didn't stop smiling the entire time ~ I have no words to explain how much she enjoys horses. I have a million pictures of her grinning just like these... She was so happy on that pony ride! She also loves the carousel. Jack won't go on it at Disneyland because it's a baby ride, but when you have to buy tickets, he's ready to ride! I love my goofy kids! Anyway, they also have a train ride and Jack and Daddy were going to ride alone because I didn't really think that Grace would care. But we were taking pictures of the boys and she kept saying "choo-choo!" and the conductor decided to let her and I ride too! For free! and I was oh so wrong... she loved it too! And while we were riding Jack told Daddy "this is AMAZING!" I love how easy it is to make their day. Oh, and I forgot to mention that on top of letting us ride for free, he took pictures for us! What a cool guy! Their selection of pumpkins was so low that we had to hit the grocery store on the way home. But don't worry, it was great! The pumpkins were $.16 a pound and we got 3 gigantic pumpkins for half the price of one pumpkin at the pumpkin patch! Woohoo! I'm sure I'll post pictures later, but seriously, they're huge!

Halloween Party: Joy School

Thursday was the big Halloween party for Joy School. Jack's been looking forward to it for a while. They had to wait all the way until the end of Joy School and then they could wear their costumes - Jack was SO excited to show everyone his skeleton costume, but he decided to keep the mask off so that he wouldn't scare anyone (the mask makes Gracie cry).... This was a good idea. :) The siblings came too - and for Joy School that makes for a lot of kids! Jack decided to be a skeleton some time in August - I may be exaggerating, but it really feels like it has be that long! He loves all things scary, plus their first unit in school was on the body and we read a lot of books about bones and x-rays and finally with all of the doctor's appointments that we've been to it we talked about it even more. He's had his mind made up for quite a while and it's all very interesting to him. I think that makes his costume choice really cool ~ even if it is a little scary. Starting on the top left: Nicholas, Jack, Joey, Daniel, Nathan Olivia, Ana Pamela and Lila Jack and Joey making their silly faces... Jack and Daniel after singing their songs... Gracie had a great time too... She fell asleep in the car on the way there, so she wasn't all that happy to wake up in a costume and slowly stripped the entire time... Beginning... And this is her at the end... No costume and all ready for photos... :) Here comes a big week of Halloween! Let's hope the costumes make it all the way until Saturday!