160th Passage

We had the awesome opportunity to do a homeschool field trip to the Nampa airport where a fellow homeschooling dad works. He offered to explain all about the little airplane and how it works and show the kids all the parts, and for $50 three of us got to fly! I decided that was so cool that I signed up for two flights for our family so all the kids could get to do it. But when I told them the exciting news William and Owen were close to tears with terror. What?! We couldn't talk them into trying, so I cancelled the second flight. But Morgan, Lydia, and I got to go. 

 Lydia's favorite part was probably the headsets. She liked making noise in them so she could hear herself.

 Morgan got to take the pilots seat! He even got to take the wheel and steer us. The pilot said he was nice and cautious, which was good because there weren't any wild turns.

 Lisa kindly came with to sit with Allison while we flew.

 We flew to South Nampa and over by Lake Lowell. This happens to be the area where I grew up and my parents currently live, so I mentioned this and the pilot took us right over their neighborhood and house. Theirs is the one right in the center to the right of the house lined with evergreens.

It was a really cool experience. I think I enjoyed it more than the kids, but that's okay.

159th Passage

Morgan and William shared a birthday party at the end of October. We had lots of family and grandparents over.

The eight year old birthday tradition is to get their own set of scriptures, so we did that.

 All the pictures of them opening presents are very blurry. They don't hold still very much. Here are a couple of the best.

David made their cakes this year. The orange one is William's cake. Apparently it's Burpie from Slugterra. The blue one is a pokemon called Snorlax. 

158th Passage

Last year I signed up for the homeschool zoo field trip. When the day of the trip arrived it was pretty cold. But not horrible. We got in the car, picked up David from work to join us, and went to the zoo. It started raining on the way and din't stop for quite awhile. We weren't really prepared for rain. Luckily the kids had left some jackets in the car previously, in addition to the ones they brought, so we had some of them doubled up in jackets.

The colors were really pretty.

 There were hardly any other people there, so we didn't have to worry about crowds or anything.
We went in the discovery building or whatever it's called. They kids all dressed as an animal.I think Lydia was a lemur or raccoon, William was a porcupine, Owen the turtle, and Morgan a parrot.

 Allison enjoyed a little time out to the stroller to crawl around and explore.

 Because of the glare it is very difficult to tell, but each gopher hole had one of our children.

It was cold and wet, but it ended up being pretty nice to have the zoo almost to ourselves. We had a good time. 

157th Passage

We didn't have all of the kids for Halloween last year, but we got them all for a Fall Harvest party at the church, so we did an awesome theme for our costumes.
The Wizard of Oz!

Owen was Toto.

 Lydia was our Dorothy.

 William the Tin Man

 Cute Cowardly Allison

 Scarecrow Morgan

 The best looking Wizard of Oz I've ever seen.

 And the most awkward Wicked Witch I've ever seen.

 The whole gang.

 They kids played lots of games and did this donut eating on a string without using hands thing. It was extremely messy and ended up meaning most of their face paint had to get wiped off to take care of the glaze all over their faces.

 William had a difficult time doing some pretty normal things, like sitting down.

 We had a dinner and then Trunk-or-Treat where Allison got her very first sucker.

156th Passage

The kids got to paint the pumpkins they grew for Halloween. Fun times.

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Owen lost a front tooth in October. It was fairly traumatic for him at fist, since there was a little bit of blood, but he cheered up pretty quick.

155th Passage

In October we went to the Pumpkin Palooza with David's parents. It was a very nice day outside. Last year we went and didn't get to paint the kids' faces because of how long the line was, so this year we got right in the face painting line.

 Lydia the kitty.

 William got a spider.

 Owen, while very reluctant to participate, got a pumpkin. I think he really liked it when it was done.

Morgan was a scruffy pirate.

There was a petting zoo, bounce house, rope making station, coloring contest, and more.
They did the apple cider press again.

And they had the same flower picture place as last year. So we had to take a photo with it. We had an additional child this year though. They need to make another flower. :)

2013

2014

Nana Sugar helped the kids all grow pumpkins again this year, so they entered into the contest. Lydia won first prize for Prettiest Pumpkin. 

 The boys all posed with the pumpkins they entered as well.

 And because I wanted a picture with David at the festivities, we selfied it up with a pumpkin. :)