Halloween 2019

There are a lot of pictures here, so I think I will let the captions do the talking for our Halloween this year!

Joey wanted to be a praying mantis this year and they don't sell those costumes.
I did a makeshift costume and it worked out well! I convinced Eli to be a bee
and I bought Eden's costume at a second-hand store.

Went to Sea World for their Trick-or-Treating event. This is the hay maze.

My heart!

We decided to check out the Haunted Section of Sea World as a date.
It was too busy to see the Haunted Houses but it was fun to be there with just us.

We decided to decorate cookies. Sadly, we were in the middle of stomach bugs when we started this activity.

 Joey had a character book parade. To keep his costume,
we found this cute book from the library, My Fun Summer, by P. Mantis.

We also enjoyed Story Time and Trick-or-Treating at the library.

Joey's school had a Trunk-or-Treat and Dance.
Forgot to take a pic of our Trunk, but here is the costume contest.

Trick or Treating at Target.

The church where Eli goes to MDO had a Fall Festival. It had a bouncy castle!

Joey and Eli going on a hay ride with me. Forgot to get a pic of the horse! 

Face painting!

There was also carnival games, a dunking booth,
and a guy that came with a lot of wild local animals.

At our ward Trunk-or-Treat. We made our trunk a garden and you can't tell, but I have butterfly wings to match our kids.

Pumpkin decorating time!

Eli wanted a silly face.

Sam made an eye.

"Eden" had a pretty face. Her pumpkin was tricky to carve. 

Joey wanted-you guessed it-a praying mantis.
I free-handed the drawing on the pumpkin and Sam carved it.

Halloween night I started getting the kids in their costumes. I dressed Eli first, and when I was helping the others the doorbell rang. Thinking it was Trick-or-Treaters, I opened the door to find our neighbor with Eli. Yep, Eli was too excited and left without us noticing to go trick-or-treating. Luckily our neighbors were kind to bring him back. That kid!

Start of the 2019 School Year

A little behind, but we are full swing in the 2019 school year for Joey. I even got Eli into a Mother's Day Out program two days a week.

Joey has been in school for over 50 days and still seems to like it! His reading skills spiked and he is doing well in math according to the last progress report. Compared to last year, he hasn't once pretended to be sick or fight me in going, so we're happy about that.

It was iffy whether I could get Eli into MDO, as he had to be potty-trained. I told them to hold off this summer and then he miraculously potty-trained after a failed first attempt. It all worked out. Eli seems to like his school as well, except for the napping part!

Pic 1: The crown Joey made first day of school

Pic 2: In front of his classroom- that smile!

Pic 3: His first library book he chose- love of sharks is still strong

Pic 4: His desk first day

Pic 5: Blurry picture of his school picture

Pic 6: Sunglasses Joey picked out of the goody basket at school

Eli on the first day of his school.

 Now for random things!

My sister and BIL came for a visit when his brother was getting married in San Antonio and stayed with us. We enjoyed having our cousins over for a visit!

I made this wreath above our TV. It took a while to figure out what I wanted but I'm glad I figured this out! 

If you search certain animals on Google you can create a
3D image of their life size. Joey loooves emperor penguins
so we had to show that it is roughly the size of a 6 year old child.

Albuquerque Vacay Part Two

We had a great time in Chicago this summer. Our parents really made that possible, though. Here are the pictures they sent us while we were away:

Eli and my mom built an ocean.

A praying mantis was found on Jessica's trampoline. Joey ended up with his first pet who he lovingly called "Green". Sadly we could only keep her (him?) alive for a month.

Joey enjoying the penguins at the zoo with the Dunlap crew.

Joey's fav at parks.

Not sure the occasion, but it's safe to say Joey loves cousins.

We arrived safely back in Albuquerque and got to spend another week there before going back to Texas. Here are some of the things we got to enjoy:

We heard so much about Sam's parents' kayaking adventures and wanting in on the action. 

Alas it is very low in July. The Rio Grande not so grand.

Enjoying the theater before more people arrive.

Sam found a kayaking panda on the chocolate Costco snacks.

We had to go back to the Bugarium so Joey could show Sam the Hercules Beetle.

Then the Butterfly Pavilion:

....and the Aquarium...

We found a wobbegong! The aquarium is behind on actually listing what sharks they have but we know our sharks 😉

And lastly the zoo:

Had to check out the new penguins and it is a very well-done exhibit
(better have been since it was in construction for years).

King Penguin.

One of the highlights was definitely seeing our best friends, the Boyacks and their new twins!

We had a BBQ with the Hobbs side to originally celebrate birthdays, but it ended up being just a BBQ. A really good and fun one!

Grandpa knows how to bring the party!

Eden bonding with her cousin Sofie.

Ryker found another Praying Mantis! Sadly it can't live with Green
 or one of them will get eaten by the other!

We had a birthday celebration at my parents' home and Kristy made Eden a beautiful smash cake.

Had enough and sat on her cake, ha!

My parents with most of the grandkids.

On the last full day before we had to leave, we went to see the Natural History Museum before having lunch at the park with Jacob and Shauna's family. (Sadly I didn't get pictures of that!)

We had a lot of fun! Although this vacation ended up being 2 1/2 weeks total for me and the kids, it ended up being perfect. We got a week mostly with my family, a vacation with each other, and a week mostly with Sam's family. And the kids love their grandparents and cousins! Alas we had to leave. Consequently Sam's parents are moving by the next time we come back, so we'll have a new place to visit.

Boys the morning of departure.