Halloween Festivites

We had so much fun celebrating the arrival of fall! As I spent the entire summer longing for the nice weather and wishing we could be outside, I was determine to spend every minute of fall outside! Being the procrastinator that I am, I've waited until now to post, so beware, it's a super long one...

First stop, local pumpkin patch! Cute small patch in front of a church right around the corner from us... We actually went there several times when we needed to get out of the house... By Halloween we were overloaded with little pumpkins!

Sidney

Luke

Ivy & Her Purple Scarecrow

Mitchell

Briellen --

Demanded to wear her brother's shoes - 3 sizes too big!

Ivy, Sidney, Mitchell, Luke, & Brie

Wagon Rides

Brie & Sidney

Next, Zoo Boo.... It was okay, but kind of a waste of time for us... Way too crowded to let the babies freely roam around and the only things really Halloween-y were trick or treat stands (babies not into that yet really) and a pumpkin patch (didn't really need another one of those!) We hit the large animals then left early and had a picnic lunch in the park in the front of the zoo. It was nice to sit there semi-relaxed and watch them feed the ducks as opposed to having to count to 5 every 10 seconds. The babies were so tired and worn out by the time we got back to my sisters that I decided to try to put them down without their pack n plays! The boys went right to sleep, but the girls were playing and talking and giggling... Just like a slumber party!! Hilarious and annoying at the same time. Amy realized it was her 2 year old, Brynne instigating and took her out of the room. Two seconds later all was quiet.

Me, Girlfriend Sooze & Sister Amy

My Mom & The Girls

Aim & Aiden

Amy & Sooze

Kids would jump from stroller to stroller at will.

You never knew who you'd get!

Luke & Eli with Baby Jaguar's Mama

First time sleeping not in a pack n play!

Love the Oil Ranch in Hockley, TX because there is SO much space for everyone to run around! Tons to do... Train ride, tractor ride, milk the cow, lots of animals to see, slide in the barn, etc...

With all of the space, this was the most unlikely place for me to lose a child for the first time. We were leaving the barn and trying to corral the kids to the hay bale maze... Mitchell was right there, but I turned around and he was gone! He couldn't have been gone for more than 5 minutes, but the panic inside me was awful! Then he just moseys out of the barn like "What's the big deal!" Argh!

Briellen

Mitchell

Ivy

Luke

Sidney's New Smile

Forget trying to get a pic of all 5... Wasn't happening this day!

Only attempt at getting a group shot and it just was too much work.

Train Ride

Girlfriend Dana w/ Chris & Cole

Luke & Ivers Riding Like Big Kids

Sidney went up to the donkey and said "Hello Donkey, I'm Sidney Alun!"

Luke would NOT touch the teats of this dairy cow.

We carved a basic jack-o-lantern... Next year I am going to make more of an effort to do a fun pumpkin...

Stephen & the Babies

We cut off the legs of our old table and made it an activity table for in the garage.

Stephen added wheels so I could move it outside when the weather is nice.

Brie, Sidney, Mitchell, Ivy & Luke

We used finger paint for their pumpkins...

Brie

Mitchell

When I told Ivy not to eat the paint, she said "It's not Ketchup!"

She must have said it a million times.

Luke

(I swear he does know how to smile!)

Sidney

The finale, Halloween day! We all went as Star Trek... Nerdy, I know... I wonder how long we will be able to force them to wear what we want!

I do know that this will be the last year that I make the costumes... Many moons ago, we dressed up as Star Trek for a girlfriends Halloween birthday in New York, so I had seen her whip up the shirts. I thought it was no biggie for me to copy what she had done. It wasn't really hard, but by the 3rd one, I was like "Are you kidding me?? Four to go??"

We had our toddler party at my sister Amy's house this year... It was more of an excuse to get our friends together that it was to have a party for the toddlers. We trick or treated at a few houses, then came home to get the little ones to bed! I thought because they were up an hour and a half after their bed time I would be able to sleep in, but no such luck. Someone is ALWAYS up at 6!

Stephen & Me

Mitchell, Ivy, Brie, Sidney & Luke

Ivy, Luke, Sidney, Mitchell & Brie

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

Sisters

My Boys & Me

Stephen & Ivy

The Farleys went as Star Wars... There is a big rivalry b/t

Star Trek and Star Wars...

So as I am re-reading this, I realize that I still refer to my babies as babies... But they are not really babies anymore... What do I call them? "Quints" sounds so generic and "Children" sounds so adult-like and "Kids" just doesn't sound right either. Hmmmmm.....