Happy Halloween!!

It has been one crazy week around here with WAY too much candy involved.  Carson was sick last weekend which caused us to be seriously sleep deprived all week, combined with numerous sugar rushes in preparation for Halloween led to some fun times.  Like this for example; yes, three can fit on a plasma car:

Ryan though this would be a better costume for baby Carson.  Could you imagine if they walked up to someone's house like that?  
And here we are today, at Halloween.  We started the day off with some spooky spider pancakes:
And after breakfast, we had to clear a few leaves so trick or treaters knew that we actually had a sidewalk.  I realize Carson looks like some creepy character in a wacked out Dr. Seuss book but hey - we were going for warmth while he was still in his pajamas! 

Yes, it is true.  There really is a sidewalk under there.  Michael doing his part with his leaf blower too.....
Carson is officially crawling now and pulling up on everything.  He's happiest when he's standing.....and yes, he's still in his pajamas.
Since Michael was going to be a pirate for Halloween, we decided we needed a pirate pumpkin.  How awesome is this pumpkin?!?  Ryan did an awesome job!  

After naps, it was time to get dressed up and go to the neighbors for a pre-trick-or-treating BBQ.  Carson was happy to be a Spider.  He loved it actually.  Lots of giggling ensued with that boy.

Then there's Pirate Michael.  Anyone who is familiar with my son knows that for the past several months, he's obsessed over pirates.  Apparently, that all came to a screeching halt when the costume arrived.  We've tried 3 times in the past week to get him dressed up for school or parties or what not and he FLIPPED out.  So what happened today?  He FLIPPED out.  I had a premonition we'd need a back up idea so we came up with a Cowboy outfit in about 5 minutes. He was SOOOO excited and beyond thrilled and the tantrum came to an immediate halt.  He was cute and he knew it.  He worked it all up and down the streets and came home with more candy than we could ever eat.  His pirate costume was cute but this little Marlboro Man stole the show.  Seriously - cutest cowboy ever.

Two pumpkin patches in one week. That's enough. :)

We've had a busy week so far...being that it's only Wednesday and we went to our second pumpkin patch of the week today.  So, we'll start of with something funny Carson has been doing lately.  We call it his "stink face".  He most often makes it when he's eating or super happy.  He scrunches up his lips and nose and snorts as best he can.  We think it's pretty hysterical.

So on Sunday, we met some friends as Sonny Acres Pumpkin Patch.  It's more of a farm / amusement park but the kids loved it.  Here's Michael on his first ride of the day:
He and Leah did the spinny bear / tea cup ride and loved that too:

Then, the flying thingy:

And what's a pumpkin patch in the midwest without a pony ride.  Always a hit:

Here's Michael being silly with Ryan:

Oh and the face painted.  They HAD to have their faces painted (this was a new thing for Michael).  When the lady put the mirror up to him when she was done, he stared at himself for a VERY long time.  I don't think he understood why there was all of this stuff on his face!

Back to mid week.  Does this hat make Carson's head look fat?:

And onto today.  We went with playgroup to another pumpkin patch in Bolingbrook.  Clearly in this picture, we see that Carson does not like goats.  Or maybe he doesn't like the fact that Michael kept feeding the goats all of his Cheerios!

The boys in a corn maze:

Carson was MORE THAN READY to be home by the time the morning ended.  This boy is on the move and does not like to be strapped down for long.  He'd much rather be rolling, gliding, and pulling up on everything in sight.  He's a handful these days. 

On a final note, it's really pretty here right now.  Fall is definitely one of the best things about living in the Chicago area.  Everytime you step outside, there's a yellow glow on everything.  Here's a view down my street.  It never gets old.  

It's getting colder.....

So the temperature is dropping and the winter clothes are starting to come out.  Carson looked too cute the other day so I took a few pictures.  He's eight and a half months old and is very eager to crawl, but I think he'll be like Michael and crawl for about a week and then start walking.  Running soon to follow.

Naked baby!!!  Carson LOVES bathtime.  He starts wiggling his body uncontrollably with excitement when the water starts running.  

Michael made a "tower of power" (for you Backyardigan fans) out of play-doh:

It's getting awfully pretty around here with the leaves turning.  At the same time, it makes my stomach churn knowing that we have to rake up 70+ bags of leaves from our yard in the coming months.
Here are the boys at Elm Fest.  Gotta love the small town feel.

Michael rode every possible thing there was to ride:

And his favorite was the pony ride....which was his favorite last year too.

Daddy and little C:

Mommy & little C:

Michael loved painting his pumpkin.  We have a lasting yellow paint stain on his shirt to remind us how much fun he had.  :)

We took a little break....

I know it's been a while since I updated the blog....we've been a little busy!  Michael had his official 3rd birthday party way back on Labor Day weekend.  It was a bowling party and he talked about it for MONTHS before it ever happened.  Here are a few pictures from the party.  Oh, and we had special guests!  Grandmommy and Grand-daddy stopped through Chicago for a few days on their way home from a cruise in the Northeast so they were able to attend the party!

How fun that Michael's first bowl at his party was a STRIKE!  He was SOOO excited!

The bowling ball cupcakes:  (The bakery said black icing would have tasted funny so they turned out a ghoulish green!  But they were still good)
Michael and a few of his girlfriends at the party:

Grand-daddy and Michael on his slide:

Then, after the birthday festivities were over, we packed up and headed to St. Augustine Florida to our family beach house.  Technically, it's not ours anymore as we sold it to our longtime neighbors and he gave the old beach house the ROYAL treatment and fixed it up.  It is now super nice and a beach palace!  I grew up going to the beach house, every summer of my childhood...and as often as I could into my adult years.  Being there made me miss my grandfather, but it was nice to go back and take my boys to the same beach I grew up on.  

Here's Michael making his way down the path to the beach:

Carson with the new, and improved Beach House in the background.  We have this same picture of me when I was Carson's age, somewhere in a photo album back in Texas:

(Michael took that dang sword EVERYWHERE on this vacation)

We flew kites quite a bit...it was so much fun!

Michael playing on the little beach by our favorite restaurant in the world, Caps on the Water. (not lying, it really is our favorite place on earth).

Michael went on his first helicopter ride.  They flew right over all of us down below at the beach house!

What trip to the beach would be complete without burying your toddler....Michael wasn't so sure about it but he was a good sport.  

Can't wait to go back!