Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat was a success! We hit most of the houses in our neighborhood and ended up with a lot of candy! Seth was Darth Vader, Isabelle was a witch (which she called a princess witch since she was a pretty one) and Parker was a Panda bear (Isabelle wore the same Panda outfit when she was 7 months old).


Before Trick or Treat:

During Trick or Treat:

Here's a photo of Isabelle's first Halloween in the Panda costume. I think she and Parker look a lot alike at this age:

And for more fun, here's a photo with Seth during his first Halloween as a Lion. My how they've grown!

Fun for Parker

One of Parker's favorite activities during the summer was swinging! We were able to get outside a few days ago and get some cute photos.

He also likes to play with Isabelle's rock collection.

Putting small toys on the window sill and playing with them keeps him occupied. Usually he plays with Weeble Wobbles and cars.

This is my view of Parker as I am using the computer. This means he wants to sit on my lap, bang on the keyboard and throw the mouse on the ground!

Halloween Party

Seth and Isabelle went to a Halloween party with our next door neighbors and had a ton of fun! Isabelle was a witch and Seth was Jerry (from Tom & Jerry).

And here's a picture of Seth with some Halloween goodies the kids got from my friend Ursula.

Columbus Zoo

On Sunday we went to the Columbus Zoo. We have a membership there that expires at the end of this month, and as far as we can remember, we've only gone once, maybe twice, during this past year. That was mostly because of having to time everything around Parker's nap times, but also because, truthfully, the adults in this household are not huge fans of the zoo. This visit, however, started to turn our thoughts around about the zoo. Shane and I both thought that this visit was better than most we've had in the past. The animals were active, the crowd was light and the weather was good.

First we wanted to see the new polar bear exhibit. On the way to that area, we stopped at the petting zoo to see the goats. Our animal-lover Isabelle has always loved this area where they get to brush the goats. Seth got in on the action and Parker seemed to enjoy watching the animals.

Playing with the goat's ear

We took a train ride. Isabelle and Seth sat in the last seat which faces backwards.

We discovered a new polar play area...

Parker always laughs on slides

Parker crawled up the steps on his own

Saw a very large brown bear...

Compared our heights to several different kinds of bears...

And finally saw the polar bears. There are 2 polar bears that swim and play with each other and a floating toy. There is an underwater viewing area that's really neat, but we didn't get any pictures of that :(

Our last area was Jungle Jack's Landing. Here they have rides designed for kids, and "big kids" can enjoy them too :) This was perfect because there were no lines this day!

Me, Seth and Isabelle getting squished

This ride went straight up high, then bounced up and down

Isabelle and I rode in the seat closest to the end of the ship (too dark to see us here, but we're in there!)

Seth and Isabelle on the swings

Parker had some snacks while Brother and Sister rode the rides...

And showed of his "shake, shake, shake" moves...

Seth and Shane braved the log ride. They used their jackets for coverage, but still got soaked!

Hopefully we'll get back to the zoo in the Spring!

Birthday Visit

We had two special visitors for my birthday - my Mom and Dad (Grandma Barb and Grandpa Steve)! I didn't tell the kids they were coming, so they were quite surprised! We spent some time at our house and went out to Ruby Tuesday for dinner. Mom entertained Parker during dinner which left me with two free hands to eat which almost never happens at restaurants! Isabelle was proud of herself for giving her order to the waiter by herself for the first time. She normally tells us what she wants but won't tell the waiter herself. She's growing up! And it wouldn't be my birthday without a giant cookie to celebrate. Thank you, Mom & Dad!

Circle S Farms

We've been going to Circle S Farms each October for a few years now. It's about 11 miles from our house and it's a great place to go to have some Fall fun! This night was J.C. Sommer Elementary School's group night so we saw a few schoolmates there, Isabelle's second grade teacher (Mrs. Stage), another second grade teacher (Mrs. Roberts) and the school principal (Mrs. McLaughlin).

They have a big old tractor kids can play on...

A corn maze and a sunflower maze...



Huge piles of hay to climb on (this area also had 2 slides but it was too dark in this barn to take photos of the slides)...

Several spots to stop and take photos...

...And a small petting zoo. We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin field. On the ride, Isabelle sat by Mrs. Stage. Boy, does she love her teachers! Shane picked up two large pumpkins, Seth found a medium sized one and Isabelle found a really big one. Shane also picked a mini pumpkin for Parker, which he liked to put in his mouth and prop on the edge of the wagon we rode in.

At the end of the evening we enjoyed donuts and apple juice.

We'll be back to Circle S next year!