Happy Halloween

Somehow we have reached the point where only Cameron is dressing up for Halloween!

At first he really wanted to be yet another Pokemon character, but I couldn't find a costume under $70 so I steered him towards being Link from Zelda.  It was Parker's old costume, but once Cameron actually tried it on he was pretty happy!  He especially thought the "boots" were neat.

The elementary school had a Halloween parade again this year, but they held it outside instead of through the gym and cafeteria.  It was far easier to watch that way, and at least the weather was decent.  Cameron was happy to wave as he went by.

Saturday morning the kiddos finally got around to carving pumpkins before Kenzie had to leave for marching band.  

Kenzers made a Cheshire Cat.

Parker followed a pattern he'd gotten on Tuesday at mutual.  They had carved pumpkins with all the Young Men and Young Women in large groups, so he didn't get to do much but he liked the design and saved the paper to do on his own.

Cameron's design was something funky where he'd made stab marks all over the face!

We had a friendly front porch after that!

Daddy was a good sport this year about trick or treating.  Usually we just go up and down our street and don't stay out long, but this year Cameron wanted to go with his friend Ethan.  Ethan's dad is pretty gung-ho about trick-or-treating, we've learned!  They traversed the entire ward plus a few streets in the next ward over.  (Parker handed out candy over at his friend Justin's house a few blocks away, so both boys thought it was funny when Cameron came to trick-or-treat there!)  Cameron's bucket was overflowing, plus Chris had both his jacket pockets stuffed full, and Cameron even had the entire sheath to his sword stuffed full of candy!  He was beyond thrilled to add it to the candy he'd already acquired from his grandparents.  It was quite the successful Halloween for Cameron!

Frozen

Friday night Kenzie and Dad finally got to go see the Broadway Musical, Frozen, that we'd bought tickets to for her birthday clear back in June.  I teased them that they happened to dress quite matchy-matchy!  Kenzie was delighted, though.  Chris said she had a big smile on her face the whole time. Even though the seats were up quite high, they were well centered and felt they could see everything, so that was good.  

The boys didn't seem to care they were left at home.  We had ice cream after Parker got home from his friend's house and that was good enough for them!

Pocatello Temple Open House

Cameron always tells people we're going to "Ohio" when we're going to Idaho, so we jokingly decided to take a picture with this sign at the rest area we stopped at Sunday afternoon.  We took a quick one night jaunt up to Pocatello to go through the Temple Open House.

Of course we had to spend some time in the pool when we first arrived.

Then it was snacks and movie time.  There was a Harry Potter marathon on, so that kept the kids occupied.

In the morning, Cameron used his stuffed panda and told us, "Prudence pushed the elevator button for us!"  I also got a kick out of his packing skills -- I had told him he could bring some of his Halloween candy from his grandparents in a bag.  He just brought the entire bag with him!  Good to have options, I guess!

Of course, the temple is very pretty.  Even though we had to wear a mask going through, it still felt like a nice step towards back to normal to have Open Houses starting up again.  I love to go through those and watch the kids look around and whisper the occasional question.

Daddy with the kiddos.

I think Cameron is trying to wink?  There was a Jack in the Box on our way to the freeway, so we had to stop and get our traditional tacos for the way home!

Cameron asked, "How much longer?"  We were almost home at that point, so I told him, "About 15 or 20 minutes."  He said, "Oh, good, I can take a nap."  He wasn't joking, either.  He laid down and konked out for those 15 minutes until we got home!  He is growing up, but it's cute sometimes to see he's just a little kid who gets worn out having fun.  It was only about 26 hours total, but it was still nice to have a small change of scenery!

Random Pictures, but Mostly Jingo

Jingo is the first cat to sit on Cameron's lap, and he couldn't be more thrilled about that.  He tells me all the time, "I always waited and waited for a cat to sit on my lap!"  To be fair, when Duchess met Cameron he was a rambunctious preschooler and he hasn't really slowed down since.  Jingo is just as zany, though, so it doesn't bother him any!

Kenzie is still loving being in Marching Band, which has taken up most of her evenings and Saturdays lately.  We went to the Pancake Preview a while back where we ate pancakes as a fundraiser and watched the band.  A family member got to join on the field and try to keep up at one point.  We all nominated Parker, but he was a good sport about it.  

Jingo likes to be in the way, and has no qualms about sitting on your shoulder or arm.  The kids thought this was pretty funny.

He likes to help me when I'm working, too!  He has walked across my keyboard several times, so hopefully I've managed to edit out all the "swdk8ljfjskl[ps;'' messages he's left!

Parker had to help make a balanced meal for his health class, so here's the picture proof of that!

He's a very busy kitty, but when he snuggles you tend to forgive him for attacking your socks and literally climbing up the bath towels!