Trick or Treat

The boys were ready for what would be their 3rd trick or treating venture.  Needless to say, they were ready to go and fill their pumpkin with candy again.

There was a planned meeting with friends on Brandon for a group picture. Along the way, we ran into Addison, Lilly and William.

Lilly moved in over the Summer in Anna's house.  She is so sweet to both boys.  The boys and I are noticing more and more a shift in the play of the girls and that they do not want anything to do with the boys but Lilly is the opposite of this.  She will happily talk to both of them.

Upon arriving on Brandon, Wyatt found Jackson and proved that he is definitely part of his fan club screaming his name and running toward him.

They can see candy but have been told that they have to wait for a group picture faces, ha!

The boys.  Conor, Connor, Jackson, Aidon, Luke and Chase

The 1st grade girls. Mary, Joanna, Claire and Sydney

Several of the Brandon Road neighbors had candy out and the trick or treating had begun.

Kat, the butterfly, has seriously transformed in the couple of months. She went from looking away from people in favor of her sitter or parents to actually talking to people and removing her leg lock from whomever is in charge.  It's so nice to see her blossom and be HAPPY!

And, they are off.  We started and it was a mad dash.  And, I do mean, MAD DASH.  There were kids falling down small hills and tripping over uneven concrete and the pace was fast.  We started off at the top of Stanmore and had a certain number of kids. We were CONSTANTLY having to do a head count to confirm we were still with our group.

Jackson was so happy to see Ms. Osgood, his teacher.  And, we were greeted by Nils, the Swedish dracula, her next door neighbor and the boys' good friend.

This is just a slight insight into the frenzy.  We were joined by Addision, Lilly and William but lost Joanna and her sister around Stanmore Court.  Also with us but moving a lot slower were Ruthie, Jane and Sullivan, who always moves at her own pace.  Eventually, we lost Lilly and William. It was INSANE!

This was the only picture that I was able to get of Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo.

Always have to get a picture of the Connors.

Michael doing one of the many head counts.  Aidon and Conor's dad was constantly in a panic over where they were.  Because their buckets/bags were full, we were able to head in before it got really dark and checking in with Connor's teacher, Mrs. Kleinsasser.  My boys were declining candy because their pumpkins were full.  It was another great night in the Forge and confirmed our reason to stay.

Trunk or Treat at Grace Fellowship with the Appleby's and Belt's

We had a lot of fun last year at the Trunk or Treat, that we decided to go again.

Wyatt walked around with Jackson almost the entire time.  They were so cute. Wyatt has confirmed several times that Jackson is his best friend. Jackson has mutual feelings for Wyatt.  Every day after school, Jackson finds the van and makes sure to say hello to Wyatt and the Morgans.  His main focus is Wyatt.

Syd was working her Harley Quinn costume despite the fact that neither me or the boys knew who she was.  We definitely have to work on our Marvel characters.

There were a lot of creative trunks but the Charlie Brown and Finding Dory were our favorites.

After filling their pumpkins full of candy, the kids were  off to explore the inflated bounce house.  It was another fun night with good friends.

West Ham v. Man City

We had been looking forward to this game all season as we knew some of the Man City players and they were definitely on the more competitive side.  Even though we had just returned very late the night before on our flight back from Orlando, there was no way that we were going to miss this game.

The Hammers played hard and pulled out a victory.  We talked to a Manchester City's dad after the game and he remarked how great Henry and Will were on the defensive end. It was clear as the season went on that some of the coaches took a hands off approach and/or didn't focus on defense or putting a goalie in place that could actually stop the ball.  Coach Jason did a great job moving the kids around and making sure that they understood the different positions.

As the season progressed and the boys were more interested in the game and playing, they spent their time on the sidelines next to Coach Jason so he knew that they were available and ready to go when he needed a substitute.  I'm not sure if words were exchanged but I'll never tire of these images of the boys and their coach.

Jamie, Thomas (getting a rare break) and Jackson.

ALWAYS willing to cheer on his fellow Hammers.

Halftime chat about how things were going.

Hammers, Hammers, Hammers. Bang, Bang, Bang.  This win guaranteed that we would meet Manchester City again the following week.

Brandon Road Block Party

After having to be rescheduled several weeks due to torrential downpours, the weather was finally on the organizers side.  We ventured over around mid-day and had so much fun.

The moms usually set up face paint and some crafts, which the boys love to take part in. We encouraged Connor to not let them do too much black paint on his face.  At the last block party, we really struggled to get it off of his face and he was itchy all over because of it.

Sullivan and her pink dog face was having lots of fun.

There was a lot of jumping and fun.  They eventually had to set up a schedule since the girls are getting to the point of not wanting to be in the bounce house with the boys and for the safety of the little ones that were jumping.   

Wyatt and Rowan

It really just shows amazing the Forge is and that all of these kids live in one block right around the corner. We are thankful to be friends with these great families.

Zoo trip with Beck and Remy

The boys had their first of many days off in the month of October besides our upcoming Disney trip at the end of the month.  We invited Beck and Remy to join us for some fun at one of the boys' favorite places.

We entered and checked on the flamingos.  Remy was very happy to see the flamingos and it was great to see how excited she was.

It reminds me of how excited that the boys were every time we would go to the zoo at that age.  At that age, we would make almost weekly zoo trips.  As they got older, we probably were about 2 times a month.  Our first trip to the zoo after the boys started Kindergarten was sad because the staff asked where they had been. The lady who scans membership cards remarked that every year, she looses kids and gains some new ones.

After the flamingos, we moved on to the chimps who were incredibly active. There was some displaying too.  The chimps are Connor's favorite so we spent a lot of time catching up with them. Animal Planet hasn't been running episodes of Chimp Eden or Orangutan Island and I know the boys are waiting for it to return.

We were lucky to spot the lions.  Depending on the day, the lions are often hiding behind the trees and very hard to spot.  Remy got out of the stroller and Jackson couldn't help himself.  He's designated himself to be the ambassador to all of the younger siblings. Wyatt is a more willing recipient of Jackson's excitement. He's definitely met his match with Remy. She is not a big fan of the body covering hugs.  One day, he'll get his wish or realize she's not super in to body smothering..

The giraffes were very active.  The kids enjoyed a snack while watching them move back and forth.

More snacking was had as we observed the elephants, zebras and friends before we moved on to the kudu and we were able to see the baby, which may have been my favorite of the morning.

We had lots of fun with Beck and Remy and look forward to more trips to the zoo before the weather gets too cold.