trick or treat

After missing out on most of the Halloween activities last year, we were excited to get back in the spirit this year! Mae chose to be a witch (no, I did not make the costume) and Colin is her spooky-cute black cat (yes, I made the hat and tail). They had lots of opportunities to wear their costumes this weekend: Mae's school parade, trunk-or-treat at my office, our street parade, Kathy and Jason's party, and trick-or-treating tonight!

We had fun carving our pumpkin on Sunday. Dan cleaned out the goop (with a little help from Colin... and even less from Mae. Too yucky!) Mae designed the face and drew it on the pumpkin. I carved. It was a real team effort!

This was our first year attending a "trunk-or-treat." I was very impressed with all the creative trunk decorations! We brought our skeletons to help us hand out candy, and Dan and I wore our skeleton costumes.

Colin was surprisingly patient having his cat makeup done, and declared himself "beautiful" every time.

Mae mostly trick-or-treated by herself this year. Colin and I just couldn't keep up! She filled her little bucket and then came home to enjoy the treats before heading back out again to meet up with friends. So grown up!

Happy Halloween!

cousin camp

Mae's summer day care program ended in July, 2.5 weeks before school started. We filled one week of the gap with our vacation to New York, one week with gymnastics camp, and still had a half a week to figure out! So, Mae and Colin spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Mae especially liked going to the Children's Museum. They spent a lot of time in the Scooby Doo exhibit. Mae knew all about Scooby Doo from watching old episodes with Uncle Tim during our visit to the beach last year.

Everyone enjoyed the trip to the zoo. I heard a lot about lions from Colin afterwards! I'm not sure what he liked more though, the lion or the popsicle.

And they had a play date/tea party at Ollie and Archie's house, complete with cookies and popcorn. Colin was dressed very appropriately.

Mae and Colin had a fun time with all the activities, but both kids said their favorite part was spending time with their cousins (or maybe just with their cousins' toys.) Colin was repeating "I wanna go Ollie Archie house" for at least two weeks after he got home!

Dan and I enjoyed having a couple days to ourselves. We went to a Reds game and had a dinner (and brunch!) dates. I don't think we cooked the entire time the kids were gone!

a fairly good time

I'm still not done sharing photos from the summer, even though we're a few days into fall now! At the end of Mae's summer break, we visited the Indiana State Fair with Grandma, Grandpa, and Kevin.

Mae's favorite part was the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit. The kids each picked up an apron and a basket and wandered through the exhibit where they gathered beans, corn, milk, etc from different parts of a farm. Then they exchanged all their items for a ride on a little pedal tractor and a snack! It was fun, interactive, and educational. (Did you know that pork fat is used to make crayons??) Plus, they each got to sit on a big tractor.

Mae really wanted to ride a pony. I offered to walk next to her, but she saw that the next pony was being led by a teenage girl and said, "No, I just want to go with her!" Doesn't she looks so proud riding all by herself?!

Colin was a little nervous at the beginning and he reached out his little hand for mine. We held hands around the whole path and talked about how the pony ride is kind of bumpy.

Next we tried out some tasty fair foods. Dan had bison lettuce wraps, the kids had quesadillas from the dairy barn, and Colin helped me finish off a giant pork tenderloin sandwich. We cooled off in the afternoon with soft serve and Dole Whip and satisfied our remaining fair food cravings with a charcuterie board made from caramel corn, corn dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, jelly beans, funnel cakes, and taffy. Yum!

We spent a bit of time wandering through the animal barns. Mae and Colin loved looking at the cows. They got to pet a little calf and even got to sit next to a big cow resting in the straw! Colin had a big smile when the cow lifted her head to get a better look!

We also got to see the poultry, including some hatching chicks and ducks. They were just so cute! We even saw some tiny baby bunnies that were adorable. The animals are always my favorite part of the fair!