Happy Halloween!

Buzz and Butterfly were the first ones to hit the houses in our neighborhood! It was really our first Halloween with kids because Nick has refused to put on his costume the past two years. He was an old pro by the end of the night though. We kept telling Nick all day that he had to say "Trick-o-Treat" when he went to people's houses, but after he said it and got his candy he'd stare up at the people not really knowing what to do and we'd say, "ok, now what do you say?" (meaning thank you) and he'd say either, "it's Halloween!" or "Trick-o-Treat" again. It was a riot. He was also telling everyone, "My bucket is not filled to the top yet." It was a great way to get them to give him an extra piece! Worked like a charm every time. It's not like he knew he was manipulating them but Mommy and Daddy were loving it every time an extra Snickers or Reese's Peanut Butter Cup went into the Elmo Easter Basket because those are the ones we get to eat since Nick is allergic to peanuts!!!! Chelsea also had her first piece of candy tonight...a pink Laffy Taffy...she loved every last sticky suck!

(Sorry, this video is super short and not so great but Ryan was getting antsy because Chelsea was a little fussy and he wanted to get going and cut me off from taping!!)

Children vs. Wild

This was another actual fall day...we were lucky enough to get one on Tuesday and Thursday last week, the two days that I work from home. So again, taking full advantage, we headed out into the wilds of Easton. Nick actually thinks that we might see lions in the woods! That is the first animal he always mentions when he talks about what we might see. Too cute.

And we're off!

An actual fall day

After the snow on Sunday, I figured we'd better take advantage of any nice weather that comes our way, so when the thermometer topped 50 today we headed to the playground. It was a little more chilly than I was expecting because the play structure was totally covered by trees and we weren't getting any sun but the kids had a ball anyways.

This is what happens when the three year-old's arms give out after Mommy makes him hold the (chubby) 11-month old for too long...the 11-month old does a face plant into the wood chips!

This is the pony that lives next door to the playground. He/She walks over to the fence as soon as he/she sees anyone approaching. I think we spend as much time feeding the pony grass as we do playing on the equipment when we go to this playground! The pony shares the fenced in area with a chicken coop and the chickens were very vocal today. I asked Nick what he thought they were saying and he said, "Where's my popcorn? I want to eat my popcorn!"

Motoring!!!

This past weekend we headed to the mountains of Pennsylvania for the annual Wagner Day-Before-Columbus-Day Spaghetti Dinner (aka family reunion)...and we went in an RV!!! Grampy rented it as a gift to us because it was the only way we would go down with the kids. The RV had some technical difficulties before we even got it off the lot (and then a few during the trip) but all in all it went MUCH better than I anticipated. The kids were absolute champs during the rides down and home and also did great sleeping on the RV (not an easy feat with 2 women and 3 kids, 3years old and under in a confined 30 foot space - we made the 3 guys sleep in the cabin!) We had tons of fun seeing Ryan's family who we haven't seen in a few years and will definitely do it again next year.

Chestnut Flat Hunting Cabin

Coco - this dog did not bark ONCE the entire weekend. Nick LOVED her even though she knocked him down three or four times. Nick wanted to be outside every second but an adult didn't always want to be since it was kind of cold out...he didn't understand why Coco didn't count as a suitable chaperone!

Nick and Avery

Chelsea and Krin

Nick, Owen & Gavin

Nick catching handoffs. Surprisingly he had about a 90% catch rate despite closing his eyes every single time!

The Wagner Boys (minus Brian)

Ryan's beautiful Aunts, Chris and Lori

Chelsea playing with Auntie Dee Dee (she didn't want me to leave her for one moment but Dee Dee stole her away and she was perfectly fine...as long as I stayed out of sight.)

Joey & Grampy, too much spaghetti

Cousins! Blake, Owen, Chelsea & Nick. Gavin wouldn't sit for the pictures but we got these 4 to sit for about 10 minutes during one shoot and then for another 5 minutes during the second shoot...we were very proud of them (and ourselves!) Chelsea is the only girl so far...Ryan, his brother and his 3 cousins who have had kids, all have one child and they are all boys. We started the second round with a girl so maybe everyone will follow and Chelsea won't always be the only girl everywhere she goes (she is the only girl at Linda's too)!!!

The sweet sounds of laughter

Nick was watching "A Bug's Life" last week and was laughing so hard that he had tears rolling down his face. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I didn't think to get it on video but tonight when he started cracking up at Ryan throwing an oven mitt at himself I started taping. Tears didn't quite roll but it was close enough!