Spooktacular

Halloween festivities were in full swing this week. First stop, pumpkin carving! It began like this... Avery hates the smell and God-forbid she be forced to touch the guts!

But after some not-so-subtle coaxing she did eventually help pick out the seeds for roasting.

 

As a kid, Matt spent many an October carving lots of pumpkins for his Aunt & Uncle's annual Halloween Pumpkin House. He basically describes it as child labor. 

So clearly he was elected to do the knife-wielding.

Avery decided her best role in this whole situation would be Pumpkin-Carver-Cheerleader. Naturally.

After Miss A firmly decided on being a ladybug, we ran with the bug theme. A little felt, hot glue and time at my sewing machine later...

Lears outfit was a leeeetle tight. Ok, who am I kidding. It was a full on MMA-style wrestling match to get him in it and I actually anticipated having to cut it off when we were done. Poor kid even had to take his second nap in it. Trust me, this was a much more humane option than a re-dress.

Our neighborhood is THE PLACE for trick or treating. As is tradition, the Goodnight gals joined us for the evening. Cheyenne was Pirate Izzy and Josie was the Parrot Skully from the Disney Show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates."

Crazy that these two have already done 4 Halloweens together!

 

Let's do this!

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Birthday Bash(es)

Apparently, 4 was an extra special number for Avery last week. Not only did she gain another year in age, but she also got FOUR birthday celebrations! 

Party 1: Matt knew he would be working out of town for Avery's special week, so we first celebrated as a family with an ice cream cake a couple of days before her actual birthday.

Party 2: Because Avery attends preschool MWF (and her actual birthday fell on a Tuesday), we brought cupcakes to class on Monday. They sang to her and she got to wear a lovely glitter Birthday Girl tiara. She came home skipping and singing "Happy Birthday to Me!"

Party 3: Tuesday. Her actual 4th birthday. Woke up to a room full of balloons, chose a chicken nugget Happy Meal for lunch, spent the afternoon at her favorite playground, and rounded out the day with a cup of delicious berry frozen yogurt. Her little bestie, Cheyenne, stopped by with a bouquet of balloons, too! She opened gifts she'd received in the mail and enjoyed playing with them the rest of the night.

Party 4: The official bash with little buddies! Awhile back, when I asked Avery what type of birthday party she wanted her response was, "Hello Kitty Ballerina." Um, Ok...  Since I prefer creative, crafty, original decor this took some extra effort. But with a little fabric, paper, balloons and time I think we pulled it off. My secret weapon was our friend Jen who whipped up some seriously adorable themed cake pops!

The beautiful birthday girl.

Oma & Opa came to celebrate!

No "Hello Kitty Ballerina" party would be complete without big bows and tutus.

 

Little Kitties

And Big Kitties

We played a few games, the most popular of which was Charades. Everyone loved Opa's version of 'swimming'.

Kitty cake pops were a huge hit and WAAAAY less messy than traditional cake.

Lots of presents, sweet treats and laughter later... this kid is officially 4! 

And I am officially partied out.

"Thanks for coming!"

Patching Things Up

Avery's preschool class recently took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch. When the flyer sent home said, "Wear long pants and sneakers... it's a real, working farm," I was excitedly thinking this place was gonna be LEGIT. All Matt and I heard from her the entire car ride there was, "This is my FIRST FIELD TRIP!!!"

While it did have goats, a real corn maze, and some small-ish fields, I think "real, working farm" was a bit of a stretch. Who cares... Avery had a blast. Mostly.

 

No family outing is complete without oversized swine.

Trying to keep Lear from nom-ing the hay.

Avery and her adorable neighborhood friend, Kenzie, listen intently to their pumpkin presentation.

Then after a so-called hay ride, they hit the field to pick their own gourd.

At this point Avery got confused and thought her pumpkin (gourd) was too bumpy. She didn't realize the gourd and pumpkin patches were two different areas.

 

Oh, crocodile tears... nothing a romp through the corn maze couldn't solve.

Until she hit a "dead end" and freaked out.

At least this little guy had fun.

No Smore's?!

When Matt told me that he and his buddy Tyrone wanted to take Avery on an overnight camping trip, I was like, "Ok, yeah. Awesome." Then he casually mentioned it was wilderness camping. As in - hike in 3 miles, no bathrooms, carry all your gear in a pack, one man tent, no campfires allowed, in the woods, hike out 3 miles - kind of camping. With a 3 year old. Whoa... that's brave.

The entire week before, Avery was PUMPED. She helped me pack her backpack full of the necessities: cheddar goldfish, fruit snacks, her magnifying glass, pjs, jacket, change of clothes, and of course one dolly.

And according to both her and Matt, the trip was a complete success! She hiked about a mile herself - lucky to have a strapping Dad to carry her otherwise. They hunted for insects, learning that red ants bite and black ones don't. She stole Tyrone's apple for dinner, was a champ about the chilly night (35 degrees!), and generally had a super attitude about the entire adventure. Only slightly disappointed that they weren't allowed to have a campfire (and thus no smore's), Avery was easily consoled by dehydrated astronaut ice-cream. Good call on that one, Tyrone! She was also especially proud to come home and tell me, "I peed in the woods!"

 


   

 Lear also had a special moment with Daddy this week:

Man Band from The McNeils on Vimeo.