the weather was on our side

After spending the entire month of October waiting for a pretty weekend day, my family gave up and decided that our annual Kings Island trip just wasn't going to happen this year. We wanted to have a family gathering anyways, so we planned an indoor day of arcade fun for the last, dreary Sunday of the month. Everyone came to our house for lunch first. Even Kelsey flew in for the weekend from her current assignment in Delaware! As we were finishing lunch, we decided to check the weather forecast one more time... and it looked like the rain might hold off juuuust long enough to get some roller coaster rides in!

We bundled up and rushed to the park. The chilly, breezy weather kept the lines at a minimum, and we walked on to most of our favorite rides! We split our time between rides for the grown-ups and kids rides in Planet Snoopy.

Mae and Oliver loved driving the little cars, riding the space buggies, and going in circles on the bumper cars.

Half of us rode the train while the other half went off to ride another coaster. We took turns watching kids and riding, which wasn't a problem since the lines were so short! No one had to wait for long for their turn to ride.

It didn't rain until early evening. We rushed inside Festhaus and caught the end of a Halloween-themed musical revue. Mae and Oliver were completely mesmerized by the singing, dancing, lights, and costumes.

I'm so glad we were able to make this trip happen. We had a fun fall weekend and got to enjoy time together and lots of fun rides!

pua at the zoo-a

I actually gave myself a reasonable amount of time to work on Halloween costumes this year (though I still had some last minute scrambling on the 30th). Our theme this year is... *drumroll*... minor characters from the movie Moana. Mae is Pua (Moana's pig sidekick), Dan is Heihei (the derpy rooster stowaway), and I am a Kakamora (one of the coconut pirates).

Mae costume consists of a pair of fleece pants and a fleece hoodie. When I was a kid, mom usually steered me towards outfits that would keep me warm and cozy on a chilly Halloween, and I am trying to pass this wisdom along to my own kid. The pants are a lengthened version of the Puperita sprinkle shorts with modified cuffs and waistband, and the hoodie is the Be Rad pattern by Ellie and Mac in size 2T. I made the hood quite a bit bigger than the pattern to give more space for the ears and appliqué face.

Dan's Heihei head is basically a hooded fleece dickie. (Do dickies still exist??) I traced the hood from one of his sweatshirts to make the pattern. The eyes are fleece stretched over styrofoam with felt pupils, and the feather collar is felt. He borrowed some ridiculous yellow feet from our friend Raul to complete the ensemble.

My Kakamora face is made from felt pieces stitched to a brown t-shirt (I saved the easiest costume for myself).

I finished Mae's costume two weeks ago, just in time for her to wear it to the zoo. We arrived before the official trick-or-treating time, but we still got to see lots of animals (and other costumes).

We even caught the end of the barnyard show and got a chance to take Mae's picture with a real version of Pua!

And of course we had to brush the goats... which usually is about 90% trying to select a brush and 10% actually brushing goats. The concept of goats vs. ghosts has been a difficult one for Mae this Halloween. Whenever we see a ghost decoration and I ask Mae what a ghost says, she responds "Maa-aa-a-a." I say, "No silly... that's goats! Ghosts say 'Boo!'"

Happy Halloween!

granE's mae-cation

I'm a bit belated sharing photos from GranE's visit at the end of September! She arrived on a Wednesday evening and stayed with Mae on Thursday and Friday while Dan and I went to work. Their days started with snuggles in "GranE's bed." (Our guest bedroom has been called this since GranE's last visit, even when other people come to stay.)

Mae enjoyed trying on all her new outfits from GranE. She deemed each one "so booootiful." After getting dressed for the day, they walked to the coffee shop and playground. Mae loves getting little treats for breakfast!

They got lots of fun playtime outside, since the weather was really pretty. Mae could spend hours tracing and being traced in chalk. (Our sidewalk usually looks like a crime scene littered with chalk outlines.)

On Saturday, we had lots of fun at the zoo. Thanks for a great visit, GranE!