Halloween

The farm where we get our pumpkins every year always has an elaborate corn maze.  The kids really wanted to try it this year, so we had a family outing one evening.  It was a lot of fun, and we found our way through twice!

Micah's school had a pumpkin-decorating contest.  After seeing some of the amazing entries, neither he nor I thought he stood a chance.  But he got third place in the "original" category!

getting his prize

Hannah's pumpkin is a  Shopkin donut

this is a shopkin donut

Micah did his entirely on his own

Matthew's

 Micah has really enjoyed reading the first four Harry Potter books this year and jumped on the suggestion to be Harry Potter for Halloween.  We had no idea that our next door neighbor was going to be Harry as well.  :)  The two boys had a great time running through the neighborhood together (and I'm thankful to Henri's dad for keeping up with them!).

a wizarding duel

Matthew wanted to be a dinosaur....and then a police officer...and then a football player.  I told him he could change his mind as many times as he wanted...as long as they were all things he could find in our dress-up box.  :)  

And Hannah wanted to be...a panda??  Not really, but we thought it was hilarious. 

The problem was that Hannah couldn't make a decision.  And when she did finally make a decision, she had very definite opinions about what a "rainbow unicorn" should look like.  I tried my best to help her (and give her realistic expectations), and here's what we ended up with: 

She and the "tie-dye kitty" complimented each other nicely.

All the cul-de-sac families sat out together to pass out candy.

Over the weekend we drove to Indiana.  Papa, Scott, and Micah got to see a fantastic Notre Dame game.  Nana, me, and the littles did a marathon trip to the children's museum.

And lastly, Matthew had his class party on Halloween morning. 

Fall

Matthew had his first field trip to a pumpkin farm today.

with one of his favorite buddies

Micah is continuing to enjoy cross-country, and he had his last regular-season soccer game on Saturday.  The championship tournament is this weekend.

Hannah had Columbus Day off, so we went to pick out pumpkins

Running and Balloons

This fall Micah is participating in a cross-country club through school.  They had their first meet last week, and Micah got second place!  It was a 2K race, and his time was 8:31.  We think that means he ran under a 7-minute-mile.

Sunday afternoon we went to Ravenna's Balloon Festival.  Five years ago we went for the first time and loved it.  Since then we have struck out.  For two years in a row it was too windy for the balloons to take off.  One year we didn't even go.  But this was our year!  No wind! Clear skies!  We got a great spot and rode some rides.  

They didn't get started at the scheduled time, but all the vehicles carrying balloons were out on the field.  Just when we thought we were out of luck, they started setting up the balloons!  But alas, that was all they did.  Apparently you can't fly a hot air balloon when there is NO wind.  But they set up all the balloons and let us come look at them.  So now the kids can say they've been in a hot air balloon. :) 

picture from Micah's teacher of a group project

Hannah's Birthday

Here is Hannah on her actual birthday.  She generally refuses to let me take a good picture: 

 But she was so excited for her birthday, she couldn't help but smile.  At school you don't have to wear a uniform on your birthday.  She chose her Africa dress from Nana and Papa.

putting together new legos while wearing her new ski goggles

Her request for that night was to go to a playground, but we had a thunderstorm.  We went for ice cream instead.

We had her party at the gym where she took gymnastics this summer.  It was amazing.  The coach did a fantastic job with the girls, and they had a great time.  I hope she chooses to do this every year. :) 

learning the rules

they even provided the cake!

I had her take a picture with each friend after she opened their present.  They were so wound up and happy that Hannah had no trouble smiling.  Their poses cracked me up!

Taylor (school friend)

Lea (school)

Gwen (church)

Maia (neighbor)

Ella (school)

Ainsley (church)

And sweet Ally, even though she's in 4th grade, is so kind to everyone that she did not mind at all coming to a 1st grader's party.