Halloween 2017

This year we had a baseball player and a queen. We already had a Molina shirt, but he wanted to be Tony Pham. And when Ima said she could make a Queen Elizabeth skirt suit, Elizabeth was already picking out her accessories. Yes that is a Queen Elizabeth Queen and a Corgi dog that she was given when we were in London last summer. I happened to have the purse and my mom found the shoes at a second hand store for $3! We also discovered that Grandma Briggs shoes are too small for EB, however they actually did fit Grant! 

We participated in the Boo Bash at the high school. A nice indoor, warm trick or treating experience! My mom and I tried to take them to Farm Park for the Witches Walk the weekend before but it was so crowded that we told them if they wanted to pass on this we would go home and have ice cream sundaes. They were sold. 

Halloween Parade at school. I am trying hard not to think about this being Elizabeth's last Central Halloween Parade :(

We visited Aunt Martha and Uncle George right after school and they had a whole Halloween spread for us! Complete with ice cream and orange soda! We went over and saw Grandma and Grandpa Schoch too but I guess we were in such a hurry that I forgot to take a picture!

Last stop was pizza at a friend's house before heading out to Trick or Treat the 'hood. As you can see from the extra layers, it was a little chilly.

Daddy had to head to Chicago for a meeting the next day so I took our sugar monsters home and put them to bed! 

Wisconsin Dells 2017

We took advantage of a long weekend (which seems like happens quite often with our school schedule) and headed north to The Dells. The first night we were there it started snowing. It was the first snow of the season so we were all pretty excited - OK 3/4 of us were excited! I tried to take pictures that I know I have taken before to compare from year to year. It is safe to say that they didn't need Daddy to go down the water slide with them this time. But we had such a good time on the family slides or on the slides that accommodate a big tube full of people! 

This was at a new restaurant we tried - wish I could remember the name! We passed on Moose Jaw and Buffaol Phil's this time around (don't worry we still hit the outlet mall on the way out of town!)

 The only real drama we had was with the redemption of the arcade tickets. Apparently we didn't put enough emphasis on "playing the game is the fun - not the tickets that you get for playing the game!" The kids each had credits loaded onto a credit card and at the end of the night Grant really wanted to play this baseball game, but didn't have enough credit left and Elizabeth voluntarily, unprompted (proud parent moment) offered Grant the last of her credits. Unfortunately at the end the dat we had 986 tokens to redeem for a very special prize. Yes, just shy of the 1000 mark. And to divide it evenly was equating to really junky items. But you could get a really cool football for 900. So in our smart credit redemption minds we tell the kids we are getting the football! Our very generous daughter who has just done a very nice act of kindness is a bit disappointed in our decision. After a big hoopla, and a family powwow back in the room, Brandon took Grant back to get the football and he ordered Elizabeth 2 stuffed animals on Amazon to even the playing field. Goodness - our love for arcades runs deep!

Yes this is the KenDucky Derby and sadly we had no winners this time :(

Elizabeth's Art

Elizabeth has been taking art classes from a dear friend who has recently opened an art studio. She absolutely loves her time there and the work she brings home is pretty amazing. (it might just be a mom using her rose colored glasses!)

You Very Sleepy

When I look through pictures I consistently find all of these pictures of Grant sleeping! This kid will pretty much fall asleep anywhere! And Auggie is very partial to a pillow under her head or a blanket over her!

Fall Campbell Visit

Right after the homecoming parade was over we came home and the Campbell's were there! I mean does it get any better?!

Art lessons with Aunt Sandy

Making an apple pie!

I got to have breakfast with them before they took off - it was so windy!!

I mean, what can I say - "This is Us"

Poor Stella was missing her Johnny Appleseed play at school, so like any supportive family we did the play with her. She casted our roles, Uncle Brandon had the starring role as Johnny himself!