arboretum

At the end of October, Beverly's brother Tom came to visit with his friend Carol. They planned to go to the arboretum, and since I have been wanting to go for the last few years, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to meet up with them. It was still so hot, but we had a good time in the pumpkin village.  The straw was awful for Colby's poor little cheeks, but he loved making piles, so I let him have at it.

We had a picnic lunch together...

And I took Brooke and Colby through the children's gardens. Several school groups were there at the same time, which made for a really crowded and loud experience.  One teacher kept screaming at a particular student, which made Brooke nervous.  She really didn't leave my side, which worked out in my favor. 

Although we had a fun time, I don't think I will add this to our Fall traditions.  Maybe once every few years :)  I love my little munchkins, and it was nice to get to know Tom a little better.

dream fest 2016

On October 29th, Brooke participated in Dream Fest for her dance studio.  Each class performed at least one dance, and it was all really quite adorable.  When we arrived at the park (with an outdoor amphitheater), I rushed Brooke over to meet up with her class.  They were all sitting in lines, and I wasn't sure if Brooke would hesitate to leave my side, but she didn't.  I was hesitant to leave her though, haha.  They had asked for a few parents from each class to stay with the girls, and the spots were already full when I saw the sign-up.  Thankfully, one of the moms I know well was one of the volunteers, so I asked her to text me if Brooke needed me.  I could mostly see her from where our group was sitting, but I felt better knowing that she had my phone number and would keep an eye on Brooke.  Being a parent and letting go of some control is so hard!

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The two classes of 3-4 year olds were combined, and they performed "If You're Happy and you Know It", mariachi style.  It wasn't my favorite song, but the girls were cute, nonetheless.  

Our support team :

Brooke was so excited to have her cousins there to watch her, especially after we watched Kinley's dance recital in the Spring.

The girls were so super sweet to Brooke after her performance!

Colby loves his Uncle Jeff, and sat with him for the majority of the performance.

Earlier in the week, the studio held a "Fun Bun" contest, where the girls wore crazy buns to dance.  They were told that the winners would be announced at Dream Fest, and guess who won fifth place???

She was so in love with her hairstyle, and assumed that she would be a winner, haha.  I kept telling her that it was all for fun, and that she might not win.  I was trying to not get her hopes up too high, but she was over the moon when they announced her name. (The owner had told me right before the show started that we should stick around because Brooke was one of the winners, and then I was super excited for her.)

She was nervous to go receive her award in front of everybody, so I went with her. 

And of course her cousins were there to congratulate her when she returned to the group. 

Grandma and Papa even brought this little dancer some flowers, which made her feel extra special!

We're grateful that everyone took time to come to her show, and we all went to our house afterwards for pizza.

This was our first dance event, and I would say that it was a success.  Brooke wasn't hesitant to perform, which showed me that she is growing up and becoming more confident in herself.

trunk or treat

For months, Brooke talked about being Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween.  The Hawkins gave her the cutest dress-up for her birthday, and it was going to be perfect!  I ordered her some red shoes to go with it, and debated ordering a red wig, but chickened out at the last minute.  I wasn't convinced that she would wear it, and I didn't want to waste money. I'm glad I listened to my gut, because she decided that she wanted to be Cinderella instead!  She made this decision probably a week before our Ward Trunk-or-Treat, and since she already had the whole costume, I couldn't say no.  I had been looking for a dog costume for Colby so that he could be Pupcake (Strawberry's dog), but could only find a brown dog costume.  It worked out in my favor since Brooke changed her mind.  He was then "Bruno" from the classic Cinderella movie. 

He didn't want to sit still for a picture though, hahaha.  This picture seriously cracks me up! That kid was determined to just scoot down the driveway, and when Brooke grabbed his tail to keep him in place, I snapped a picture. 

As part of our "family costume", Brooke wanted me to be the fairy godmother, and Kevin to be her prince.  (At first, she wanted him to be Lucifer the car, which is hilarious on so many levels!)  I didn't want to spend a ton on our costumes, but I loved that she was excited about dressing up together.  I had a long purple dress that I wore to wedding, so I bought matching fabric to make my cloak, and pink ribbon for the front.  I found several patterns online, but it took WAY longer than I expected.  I felt like people didn't know who I was supposed to be, but Brooke was happy, so that's all that really mattered to me.

Again, to avoid spending a ton on costumes, we did a makeshift prince costume for Daddy.  He was supposed to make riding boots out of black garbage bags (it actually looked really good during our trial run), but he opted out at the last minute.

Brooke and Brooks are the cutest little friends.  They have kind of a love/hate relationship, hahaha.  Both kids are pretty headstrong, so I laugh at their disagreements.  Like, when they were fighting over whose name started with a B, hahaha!

This picture is not from the ward party, but Grandma and Papa came over on the actual Halloween evening, so I wanted to document it :)  I made a big pot of soup and Rhodes rolls, which we enjoyed together.  They helped pass out candy while we took the kids trick or treating down a few streets.  Overall, it was a great Halloween, and we had lots of trick or treaters, just like last year!

green meadows petting zoo

Every year, Green Meadows petting zoo comes to Lynn Creek Park, which is 5 minutes from our house!  They also have a tiny pumpkin patch, but you really go for the animals, hay ride, and pig races.  The first year we took Brooke (as a 4.5 month old), we didn't end up going in because it was $12 per adult, and all we wanted was a picture of Brooke by the pumpkins.  We have gone back the last few years with our play group, and have absolutely loved it.

Brooks Taggart, Whitaker and Elias Smith, and Brooke.

Brooke loved that baby cow.

I was surprised at how fearless she was with the goats!  When she was given her first handful of feed, she went right over to the fence (without me), but as soon as the goat's tongue got her hand, she kind of dropped the handful.  She kept going back for more feed, and eventually just held her hand there while the goat licked her hand clean.  I just tried to ignore the fact that her hands were going to be disgusting!!  She was loving life, and those little goats.

Her second favorite was the little chicks.  The year before, she had been equally obsessed with them. They don't allow kids to pick them up, so I would hold them and she would kiss them and nestle her head next to them.  

Colby wanted in on the action as well, haha.  It's hard with him in the stroller because I couldn't hold him and the animals, but I tried to take him in and out so that he could get closer to the animals.

Both kids were pretty happy with the pumpkins they picked out, and Brooke insisted that she could carry her pumpkin to the car by herself.  She is a determined girl, but she must have given up at some point as evidenced by the last picture!

Thanks for another great year, Green Meadows!

carving pumpkins

We had never carved pumpkins with the kids, so we figured that this was the year to do it. We had a few small pumpkins from our pumpkin patch outings, and I think I purchased the big one at Costco.

Brooke was intrigued at the whole process, but wasn't too keen on the slippery insides. I let her help with the carving tools, but it wasn't super kid-friendly.  Colby just wanted to hold the gigantic spoons!

The kids lost interest and just played in the garage while Kevin and I finished the carving.  I attempted to do a giant sun (from Tangled), but it didn't turn out that great (hence the lack of pictures).  Kevin was pretty proud of his pumpkin though :)

celebrating grandma

We had plans to picnic at the pumpkin patch as part of Grandma's birthday celebration, but the pumpkin patch decided to open late that day, so we picnicked at the park instead.  We enjoyed our food, opened gifts, had cupcakes, played a bit, then headed over to the pumpkin patch.

Brooke had another cute Halloween outfit courtesy of my Mom, and she was excited to wear it!

She wasn't excited about taking pictures though (surprise), so I just went for candid shots as to not ruin the experience:)  Colby, on the other hand, is oblivious to my picture taking, haha.

Brooke was smitten with the cute cinderella carriage, and really didn't want to leave that area.

The girls remembered these wagons from last year, and they pulled them all over the big field.

Colby was content to scoot himself all over the hay-strewn field from pumpkin to pumpkin.  I knew this would not bode well for his eczema, and I was right.  His poor cheeks looked awful by the end of the afternoon.

He loved the bounce house and slide with Auntie Mel Mel.

Coming to the Flower Mound pumpkin patch is another one of our Fall traditions, so I did make Brooke take one family picture. And of course the group shot!