October 27 - Zoo Boo

If you are thinking about visiting Houston, may I make a suggestion? Late October! It is simply beautiful out. We're experiencing highs in the 70s/low 80s and it cools down at night to the high 50s/low 60s. It is simply marvelous for all outdoor activities, including bike rides, walks and just running around being silly. 

The weather was also perfect this weekend for our second time going to Zoo Boo. We met up with Kristen, Evey and Lauri and the kids had a blast seeing the animals, coloring, trick-or-treating, decorating pumpkins and doing various other activities. 

Julia decided to change her costume (last minute) from vampire to ninja and she rocked it!

Love these guys

Pumpkins in the trees

Decorating mini-pumpkins

Cheeta

No trip is complete without a train ride

October 22 - Pumpkin Patch

Enjoy these photos of the pumpkin patch last week. The kids had fun picking out pumpkins. 

My little loves

Strong man insisting on carrying the pumpkin by himself

And insisting that he pull the wagon

Pose!

Jumping on hay stacks

October 20 - Party Time!

Wow-last week was a fun and crazy week:

Monday: 5:30-6:30 soccer
Wednesday: 3:15-4:15 after-school science, 4:30-5:15 dance, 5:30-6:30 soccer
Thursday: 4:30-5:15 dance, 6:30-8pm girl scouts
Friday: cupcakes at Luke's school, pumpkin patch fun (I"ll post pics later this week) and BAKING 
Saturday: 9-11 gymnastics, 11:30-1pm soccer, 2pm birthday party

Wowsa! I think it's safe to say we are definitely not a sedentary family. I'll post pics of our girl scout meeting (tour of the grocery store, it was amazing) and our pumpkin patch visit later this week. 

On Friday, JD, Julia and I went to Luke's school to do a little birthday celebration. We brought cupcakes and juice for his class. At one point the teacher had all the kids go around in a circle and say something about Luke and 2 of the little girls told him "Luke, I love you." So cute! 

Friday night the kids and I baked Luke's birthday cake (4 layer chocolate cake) and 2 dozen vanilla cupcakes. The bounce house was delivered and set up Saturday morning around 9:30am, so when Luke came home from gymnastics (he didn't want to watch Julia's soccer game) he bounced until the party started at 2pm.

And then the kids bounced pretty much all afternoon. We had a good turnout and the weather was beautiful. Sunny, low 80s with a nice breeze. Much better than 2 years ago (extreme heat) and last year (rain). We had the bounce house, snow cone machine and light snacks-it was a blast! The part was supposed to end at 4pm but several kids were having so much fun they decided to stay for a movie, pizza and then late night bouncing. Luke had an absolute blast!


To cap off a great (and exhausting day), Luke decided to sleep in his new Thomas the Train tent Saturday night and amazingly, he stayed in it all night!

Classroom celebration

Cake

Bounce House

Happy Birthday to you

No, I don't want a picture right now

Movie break

Pizza

Late night bouncing

the new tent (he was trying to set it up on the couch)

What a fabulous day-time to came out in the train tent

October 17 - Birthday Boy

Thank you to all the friends and family who helped make Luke's 4th birthday special on Tuesday. We opened family presents at home and then went out to his favorite place to eat, the 'fancy restaurant' (also known as McAlister's Deli). We are having cupcakes at school with his class today and his home party is tomorrow. He is very excited!

Birthday morning snuggle

Thanks!

October 13 - Super Luke

Saturday morning I took the kids to gymnastics and then Julia and I headed out to her soccer game. It started sprinkling when we got to the field and by the end of the first quarter, it was pouring. POURING. There was no lightening though so the game went on. It was muddy, it was wet and the girls LOVE every minute. Of course, right after the game ended the rain stopped but it was definitely a fun afternoon.

When we got home, I was unloading the car when I saw our neighbors walking up the driveway with a present. They were apologizing for being late to the party and I said the party is next weekend. After we all chuckled (I remember showing up to a baby shower in Florida once a day early) they came in and played for awhile. Luke opened his present and was thrilled to find a super hero outfit. In fact, he wore it all day Saturday and Sunday. Super Luke! The cutest little man ever!

October 6 - Can We Drive to Disney?

Happy Monday everyone. We had an absolutely wonderful long weekend with perfect weather. The kids had a day off Friday (teacher in-service) so I took a vacation day and we went to Kemah Boardwalk. It's the first time we've been back in almost a year and had the place practically to ourselves. There were several new rides and the kids rode their favorite ride (we call it the monkey ride) for 40min straight. We also did the train several times (Luke's fave). When I finally dragged them home for dinner, Luke asked if we could drive to Disney World. I said "Oh, you want to be in the car for the next 2 days?" They both responded "Yes!" 

Saturday was a perfect day for soccer-it was around 70 with a nice breeze. A few of our best girls missed the game and Julia really shined. She had her best game so far this season scoring 7 goals.  She was really proud of her performance and the team worked well passing the ball. 

Yesterday we spent the day at the Houston, rode the train around Memorial Park and then went out for cupcakes. A fabulous weekend!

Pizza Chef's

Tea Party!

Monkey Ride

Julia

He's blocking her shot!

Carousel

Lisa made it to the zoo as well

Mmmm...chocolate cupcakes

Puppets