Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We had a fun going out in the pumpkin patch and hunting down our pumpkins at Ben's Giant Pumpkin Patch in Sugar Grove. We each got a pumpkin, even Spunt. Megan found a "princess" pumpkin. Steve picked out a huge pumpkin, but not a ginormous one like in the past (the prices were a little high this year).  We worked hard carving and decorating our pumpkins. They turned out scary, pretty or funny. Megan's princess pumpkin looked beautiful with lots of colors and fancy feathers. Trick-or-Treating was exciting for Megan who dressed as a princess. Matthew, a spider, could have cared less. He had no interest going up to a strangers door and talking. This was the first year Megan really understood that she could go up to a house and get lots of candy. She tired out easier than I thought she would. Maybe she wasn't tired, maybe she just wanted to go home and eat her candy before Mommy did. Unfortunately some of the houses with creepy decorations scared her a little. It also didn't help that some older kids had some monster costumes on and tried to freak her out. I think that was part of the reason she quit early and didn't want to go out again after dinner. Poor Megs. When we got home she enjoyed giving out our old, crappy, parade candy to the kids that came to our door.  All in all it was a really nice Halloween. The weather was perfect, there were no tears, the kids had fun, our pumpkins didn't get smashed and I got lots of chocolate that might last me a week!

Siesta Key, Florida October 2008

We enjoyed our first vacation with Matthew in Siesta Key, FL from 9-25-08 through 10-4-08. Grandma Schindler joined us for the first half of the trip and Babi joined us for the last half. We stayed at a beautiful condo called Peppertree Bay on Siesta Key beach. The kids had so much fun swimming and running on the beach. Unfortunately for Matthew, he developed a fever the second day we where there and he wasn't back to his normal self until the second to last day. At least he wasn't SO sick that we couldn't take him to the beach, out to dinner or to Jungle Gardens. Matthew LOVED Jungle Gardens-they had all types of parrots that were squawking like crazy. We were even able to touch and feed flamingos right from our hands. That was an awesome experience! Another day Steve went on a chartered 18' fishing boat for 6 hours in the intercostal. All he caught was 1 small catfish. He did get to see a large manatee swim right next to the boat. The manatee gave the boat a little nudge, almost knocking Steve on his butt. Megan loved playing in the sand, getting all the extra attention from Grandma and Babi and swimming in the pool. She would swim like a fish, not using any floaties or life jacket. Most of the time she didn't want to get out of the pool. Megan also found a new pet in Florida, lizards and crabs. Everyday I would catch a lizard for her and she would let it crawl all over her. She took some great pictures with the lizards! Crabs, on the other hand, she hated! She would scream and cry if she saw one. I'm not sure why she was so afraid of them, but it was pretty funny watching her reaction when i would yell "CRAB!!!!!!"  I immensely enjoyed walking the beach, looking for shells and sand dollars, watching the kids play and (when I had free time) relaxing in the sun. It was great having our moms there to help us with the kids and enjoy spending time with us!  We are so glad they had the opportunity to join us.

Siesta Key has the most beautiful white sand beach. The sunsets are absolutely gorgeous. It was very hard to leave. We can't wait to go back and are already planning next years trip.