Pumpkins

The annual Halloween boxes from Grandma Susan arrived yesterday, and the kiddos were so happy!  Cameron loved his stuffed spider and cuddled it many times.

Parker couldn't even hold still for a picture!  He had everything dumped out in record time and sorted and inspected each piece of candy.

Kenzie was much happier to receive a stuffed owl instead of a spider.  

After dinner we carved our pumpkins.  Kenzie and Parker both did theirs with only a little help on Parker's part with the disemboweling.  I had told them how much it helps when I don't have to clean out every single pumpkin, and Parker said, "I don't know if I can do that..." but he still tried!

I had cleaned out Cameron's pumpkin and wondered where he'd gone off to. I found him in the living room completely asleep.  Too much excitement!  (The other day he did tell me, "I like first grade, but it makes me tired!")

When he woke up, he was delighted to learn he could carve the pumpkin by himself if he was careful.  He drew the face he wanted, and Mom and Dad only had to help him a few times after that!

Parker spent a long time cutting out some elaborate teeth for this face he came up with!

 I forgot to get a picture with Kenzers holding her pumpkin, but here they all are in age order, with Cameron's on the left.  Kenzie did an owl, I did a bat, and Chris made a yokel with his funny hat, buck teeth, wonky eyes, and cob pipe.  His pumpkins always make me laugh each year.  Now we're all set for Halloween!

Random Update

Here are some random goings-on that didn't really warrant their own post.  Here is the "before" picture of the living room.  Right before we went to Yellowstone I traded in my piano for a slightly nicer one, which motivated me to paint and move some things around - 

Here is the "after" picture for now.  We had to temporarily move the TV up into the front room to avoid drywall dust as we work on the basement, so we'll consider this more of a "midway" instead of "after" but at least I filled in all the dents in the walls and covered up the scuff marks!  It's a little brighter. 

Kenzie's first band concert of her 8th grade year was last Wednesday.  She is way too grown up there in the front row, right next to the director's head.

They're making progress - no more Hot Cross Buns! 

Finally, this just made me laugh - using the banana chair as a fortress instead of a chair so they can play on the Wii.  It's always cute when the boys get along well.  

Cornbelly's

Some goofy kids enjoying their annual trip to Cornbelly's on Tuesday.  

Cameron's reaction when he discovered I'd packed him a baggie of mini donuts!

Kenzie still has fun, but there are a few places where she's feeling too big.  Case in point - the funny horse swings she used to like.  

Cameron still has a blast, however!  He enjoyed playing in this little pumpkin house.

 He really enjoyed when Parker found shields and swords in the castle!  (At first Cameron had thought the castle was a bouncy house and was disappointed, but then he changed his mind!)

 Parker really wanted to lasso the bull...

 ... and he eventually caught a different animal!

 As always, Parker made sure we stopped at the Duck Races.  

 

I thought the sky was looking pretty as we walked through the corn maze.  We lucked out and it didn't rain and it really wasn't too cold. 

Finishing up the evening with some tether-ball.  Another fun outing in the books!

Old Town

Our last morning!  Cameron was all ready to go with his backpack on and his car seat in hand.  He had a great time, but also was looking forward to going home (which I think means the vacation was the perfect length!).

Just up the street from our hotel was the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.  One of the sister missionaries who led us through was even from Riverton!  The tour was interesting, and Parker and Cameron were quite amused by it, so that was nice.

Parker checking out the weapons, including the saber at the bottom (which started the boys on a loud discussion about light sabers).

The real draw was panning for gold just outside.  

Here's Kenzie's face as I teased her, "I knew you couldn't resist a sparkly rock!"  At first she had stood to the side, not wanting to pan for "just pyrite."  Eventually she joined in, too, though!

Our souvenir photo - I had told Cameron he couldn't pan for gold unless we took the picture first, so he hopped right up on the step stool to get in the picture!

We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant (where Parker ordered fish sticks, and was completely baffled that we thought his choice was odd!  For the record, he said they were delicious). Then we spent some time wandering around Old Town San Diego State Park.  

The plants were certainly different from what we see back at home!

Cameron hanging out in front of the leather store.  Chris was shopping for a leather bag for his shaving supplies, and Cameron got bored waiting and wanted to sit outside.  It was getting warm out, and Old Town definitely had that authentic, dusty, hot feel to it, so he started to get tired.

We rested on some benches for a bit and had a drink, and Cameron told me, "My legs are just at 0% power!"

As we walked through the museums, I finally told the kids, "Show me your emotions in this photo!"  Parker hung his head, Kenzie tried to scowl but had a hard time holding the pose (which is good, I guess!) and Cameron wasn't even paying attention at that point.  He turned around and gave me a huge, goofy grin right after this picture, actually.  

We did a little shopping, and then took the hotel's shuttle back to the airport.  After settling in at our gate, Kenzie and I trekked across the airport to find some fast food.  The boys were very happy to have some chicken nuggets and french fries (in this photo Parker, the ever hungry one, was closing his eyes in satisfaction because he had started asking about dinner the second we arrived at the airport a little after 4:00!).

 It looked neater in person, but the sun was setting as our plane took off.  The kids were well behaved for the flight home, too, which was great because my sinuses were not enjoying the pressure of the flight.  Cameron charmed the flight attendant and received every single snack she had to offer, and he was delighted to be given two straws in his drink (it's the little things!).  When we landed, Cameron amused some ladies behind us in line for the shuttle to the parking lot.  He told them all about the zoo, and then he had them guessing the items on his Christmas wish list: "I'll give you a hint.  It starts with an S!"  (He wants a slinky, which they couldn't guess so he finally just told them). They were laughing, and I think after a long day they were enjoying his enthusiasm.  We arrived at home around 10:30 Friday night, and we said hi to the cat and unpacked only enough to find the special stuffed animals for bedtime before falling into our own beds at last!

La Jolla

 Kenzers checking out the baby sea lion on the rock below.  He sure was cute waddling all over!

Here's a better shot of the little guy.

 We took a short walk along the coastline in La Jolla to see the seals and sea lions.  The kids were mesmerized.  Cameron surprised us by saying, "Let's stop here," every few seconds.  He was perfectly content to just stand and watch the waves.  

 Enjoying the view.  The ocean is definitely not something we see every day!

 Cameron loved seeing the seals resting on the rocks!

We had thought about going to Sea World while in San Diego, but it was so expensive that we figured we'd just walk around and see the seals and sea lions instead.  Not quite the same, but cheaper, and I think the kids really enjoyed it!

 We thought this random house and yard were cute as we walked by.  We walked a few blocks to a pancake house for lunch before heading to the beach.

Parker was hungry on this trip - he was always snacking or asking about the next meal.  When we got to the pancake house, he asked, "Do I have to order off the kid's menu?"  He wanted this giant waffle with strawberries (he couldn't even finish it, for the record).

He had to have fuel for having fun, though!  We spent the next few hours just hanging out at La Jolla Shores beach and shooing the seagulls away from our stuff.  

The kids thought it was funny to help Dad build trenches and sand castles very close to the water and see how long they would last.

Kenzers enjoying the beach.

They were all pretty soaked!

 Awww... I thought this was cute.  My cold kept me from wanting to do much but just stand there and wade a little, but it was still nice to watch the kiddos having a good time.  They were totally exhausted after this, so we headed back to the hotel to give them baths and get take out!

San Diego Temple

 Getting ready to leave for the day on Thursday, I took a picture of the kids on the stairs.  There were several large sets of stairs we had to traverse to get to our hotel room, but at least they were pretty!

 There were a few fountains around the property, too.  The kiddos are good sports posing for pictures for Mom.

Another bucket list item crossed off for me - seeing the San Diego Temple!

 All temples are pretty, of course, but some are just neater than others.

 There was a wedding party taking pictures, so we tried to avoid getting in their way as we walked around.

The kiddos around the side of the temple.  

 Chris took this picture, which was neat with the sunlight in the windows.

After this it was on to check out the coast again!