Halloween fun

We had a lot of fun with Halloween this year. The boys were pretty excited about it and couldn't wait to get dressed up and get some candy. 

 As always we like to do a themed meal with the holidays and I think Halloween can be pretty fun. This year I had the boys help me make some of the food and they both seemed anxious to help.

 Sup really wanted to make these deviled eggs with the "spiders" on top. After getting our eggs all assembled it was time to do the spiders. They were black olives cut up and made to look like the black spider on top.

 He did really well with them and was sure that each spider had his eight legs. After the eggs were done  it was time to to get Thomas from the bus. 

 We left the next snack for Thomas to help out with. We did chocolate covered pretzels with some fun Halloween sprinkles. 

 Thomas did a nice job decorating all the pretzels and was a perfect dessert for our meal. 

 We had a rather easy meal, but it was nice a something fun and a little different. Along with the eggs and pretzels we had the traditional mummy hot dogs and a pepperoni pull apart bread. 

 After we ate it was time to get into their costumes and go trick or treating. The boys wanted to be wizards this year. It was something that I was able to make and was a pretty simple pattern. They came out really nice even though I didn't get to them until the weekend before Halloween. But I was able to get them done 2 days before and the boys really liked them. 

It was kinda a rainy/wet year so we went to a few indoor places, which worked out okay for us. We were able to stay dry and they were still able to get some good candy. 

Angry Bird Pumpkins

The last few years we have gotten pumpkins with the intention to carve them but never really have gotten around to it. Eric is not a big one on carving them and I seemed to forget about them until it is too late. 

 This year we decided to something different. Now they have all these different faces and characters you can make your pumpkin into and it is just inserting the different face pieces. 

 I came across these Angry Bird ones and thought it would be perfect for our boys. This way  they could create their own bird or pig. After picking up the pieces and the paint we were all set to try our new craft. 

 Thomas chose to do the pig and Sup went with red bird. Although one might think with the paint it would be a little messy, the boys did great with it. We didn't get any their clothes or the house. It was a lot simpler then carving and cleaning up the guts to the pumpkin, and really this was an activity they could to all on their own. 

It was pretty funny to see the difference in painting style. Sup did his in big strokes and was done in like 5 minutes. Thomas on the other hand much more detailed (even though it was just one color) doing small slow strokes making sure that his paint was perfect and not a spot was missed. He took probably a good 30-40 mins to make sure his was exactly the way he wanted it. They really turned out really nice and lasted a long time :)

Posing with Vader

This year at fall feast I forgot my camera each day that we went down. But thankfully my dad remembered his so I was able to get this picture. We had a good time this year and the weather was beautiful so it was an enjoyable week. 

We tried some new things and were able to get some of our favorites that we have acquired over the years we have gone now. On the last day of the Fest they had some guys all dressed up in some pretty good Star Wars costumes. It was a dollar to pose with them and all the money went to charity, I believe it was for St. Jude's Children and the boys were pretty excited at the chance to meet them. I think it was the highlight of the week for them :) 

More of Family Day

We were able tp spend a good part of the day at Toyota with all the things to do. It was a nice sunny day and not too warm or cold so it was pretty enjoyable. 

 New this year they had a little magic show they held a few times throughout the day. The boys have never seen a live show before so they were rather interested in the show. We got there just in time to see the first one so it worked out nice. 

 They had a couple of little games for the kids to play and if you participated you got a little trinket out of the green hat. 

 Both of the boys did well at throwing the colored bean bag balls, but Sup has a pretty good arm...both with accuracy and strength. 

 The little "petting zoo" was very popular as well. They were mostly reptiles but the biggest interest was the baby alligator. I can't remember what type it was but the boys thought it was pretty cool and were able to touch it as well. 

The last thing they wanted to do was visit the clown so they could get a ballon animal. They actually had a whole list of things they could make, but they both chose the T-rex. Thomas got a green one and Sup had him make a blue one for him. I was pretty amazed that we were able to make it home without them getting popped. 

Toyota family day

There was quite a bit if things to do this year, that I think i break it into a couple of post. Besides the pinewood derby they had a lot of fun activities for the kids to do. 

 The last couple of years that we have gone the boys have always loved playing in the bouncy houses. There was no drama this year with missing socks so the boys really had a fun time with them. It was nice that they are getting a little bigger and I don't have to be as concerned about them. 

 Both of the boys did the kid dash, Sup was pretty happy about getting his medal and was happy with his success. Thomas is still having a hard time that its ok not to get first was not so happy or excited about his medal. So Thomas missed the picture because he was having a talk with Daddy. 

 New this year were these little kiddy rides they had for the kids. Both of the boys were big enough to go on the rides. It was nice that there were no real long lines so we didn't have to wait which was nice for both boy and parent ;) 

Pinewood durby cars

For Toyota family day Eric and the boys entered the pinewood derby car competition. This was their first experience with the cars and they were pretty excited about the whole experience. 

 Eric work hard to get the cars ready and the boys helped pick out what kind of car they wanted and the painting. Eric has had a lot of experience making them and I was pretty impressed on how they turned out. 

 Sup's was probably the most challenging as he wanted an alligator, and Thomas wanted a semi-truck. Sup wanted his blue so we got him some blue paint and let him have his blue alligator. Thomas wanted Angry Birds on his truck, so after looking at several stores was able to find some. 

 Eric had ambitions to make his look like a Highlander. There was a category for the car that looked most like a Toyota. He didn't have time so ended up just wood burning a picture of the boys on the block of wood with the Toyota symbol on the front. 

The boys were pretty excited to see their cars race down the track. They both received a ribbon and Eric actually did win a trophy..... for looking most like a Toyota. We both got a pretty good laugh but he now has a pinewood derby trophy so we were all happy and had a fun experience with it :)

Soccer games

For the month of September Thomas had a soccer game on Saturday mornings. His game times varied but they were always in the morning so the schedule was pretty nice.

 Thomas was always excited to go and I never had to wake him up or had a hard time getting him ready . 

 It was nice that at this age in the league he was in there was no keeping track of score or ranking of teams. It was just to go out and play, have a good time and learn a little bit about the game. 

His coach did a pretty good job of rotating the kids and Thomas was able to play both offense and defense, as well as goalie. It was a good experience for him and was glad he had an opportunity to play :)