Pumpkin Carving and Halloween

We carved our pumpkins a few days before Halloween. 

Here are the finished products!

Andy's

Going forward, these are all Clash Royale characters. I have no idea who any of them are.

Kaycee's

Graydon's

Curtis's

Afterward, we watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It never quite feels like Halloween to me without this movie and I'm thankful that everyone is still willing to watch it with me (and that Graydon still cracks up each time Charlie Brown gets a rock)!

Our office staff dressed up as Pac-Man characters for Halloween. I think every teacher across the country celebrated that Halloween was on a Friday this year! 

October Highlights

Here are a few random moments from October.

Tim and Laura were in Indy watching one of Tyler's bowling competition. Laura and I decided to meet up at a Panera and ended up chatting for four hours! I'm thankful to have a sister-in-law who I enjoy hanging out with. 

Tennis season wrapped up for the boys. Here they are after their sectional game. 

Curtis finished driver's ed and got his learner's permit! 

I wanted some quality time with the boys, so I treated them to Starbucks. I was still competing with their phones, but after their game of Clash Royale, they put them away. 

Proud mom of two great boys who I love spending time with.

I was leaving Aldi one night and spotted the brightest rainbow I've ever seen. Of course, photos never do justice to nature's beauty, but there is no filter applied here. Each band of color was so distinct! 

We had a pumpkin decorating contest at school. This was my submission. 

Donkey Basketball

As a school tennis coach (Andy) and a school employee (me), Andy and I participated in a Donkey Basketball game to raise funds for our school's athletic program. Andy was one of the starters. Here he is with his donkey before the games began. 

You didn't have to stay on the donkey for the entire time, but you did have to be on a donkey if you had the ball or were shooting the ball. 

Andy same SO close to making a basket (not too many were made during these games), but the ball bounced off the rim.

I was pretty strategic about the donkey I picked. I had a chance to watch them in action and other rides recommended this one, Squid. 

He was a pretty gentle donkey (other people were riding at fast speeds or getting thrown off their donkeys), so a docile donkey was something I was keeping an eye out for. 

Sometimes he needed a little encouragement to get moving, but I didn't mind that. 

However, there came a moment in the game when Squid and I were turning to head to the opposite side of the court. The wrangler (the owner of the donkeys and our referee) thought my donkey wasn't moving fast enough, so he tapped Squid on the bottom as we were turning. This caused Squid to take off running and me to fall off and land right on my tail bone. I was sore for a solid two weeks! I enjoyed participating in this event and I will never do it again!

Pumpkin and Apple Picking

We were so busy with moving last fall that we didn't really get to enjoy the season. I didn't decorate the house for fall (the goal was to empty the house, not put out more stuff). We never went to the pumpkin farm (pumpkins would just be another thing to move!) and the majority of our free time was spent packing/transporting boxes/unpacking. Fall is my very favorite season and this year I was determined to make the most of it. Bella was home for Fall Break and the weather was beautiful, so we went apple and pumpkin picking. I'm so happy we got to do some fun fall things this year. And Graydon's girlfriend, Kaycee, was able to join us!

Aren't they cute!

This is the standard boys' basketball pose, Curtis just subbed in his pumpkin. 

Looking up some carving ideas on Pinterest.

I made two apple crisps, had an apples and caramel dipping station, and still had enough to bring an apple a day to school for at least a week. 

One of my favorite things when looking at Life 360 is seeing all of us in the same place. 

Fall Break Fun

We didn't do anything exciting as a family during Fall Break, but both Curtis and Graydon got to go on some adventures with friends recently.

Curtis went to King's Island with his friend Aiden. They left early in the morning and arrived at the park when it opened. 

They had fast passes for all the rides, so they didn't have to wait in any lines. After going on 5 roller coasters back-to-back-to-back. . . Curtis ended up getting sick! I guess the lines come in handy sometimes. Thankfully he was able to perk up for the remainder of the day. 

Graydon got invited to Cedar Point. They stayed for a few nights and got to do multiple days of theme park, escape rooms, shopping, eating out, etc. He had a fun time. 

I'm thankful for the boys' friends, their families for including our boys, and the great times they shared together.