So much Fall FUN - Part 2

Aunt Amy and Christy came up in late October to join us & Grandma in some Fall fun.  We'd never been to the Coney Island Fall-O-Ween festival (I had been with ABC years ago but my kids hadn't been). What fun!

Aunt Amy & Christy played a water target game with the kids and helped them each win a prize. Max chose the zebra from Madagascar as his prize and I told him his name was Marty.  Maxy couldn't quite remember 'Marty' and ultimately changed his name to Dale which cracked all of us up.

Lucy had ridden this spinning ride before - and actually persuaded Grandma to ride with her (and me) the previous summer. This time, Grandma was out (and so was Daddy of course!) but Mom, Aunt Amy & Christy were all up for joining in - and Max was now tall enough to ride, too. I waited in line with them but as we got closer, we realized we couldn't all fit together so I graciously bowed out. They loved it and I was able to snap some pics!

Max was so brave and wanted to ride everything - he was my partner on "The Flying Bobs" while Lucy rode with Aunt Amy - both kids had tons of fun.

Our Fall-fun-lovin' crew!
Yes, my eyes are closed - I guess I fell asleep while some random kid
Dave handed his phone to took our photo... 

Hal-ZOO-Ween - more costumes...Lucy decided to wear a Little Mermaid costume we had in the dress-up bin (another yard sale find by our yard-saler extroidoinaire, Amy Thompson!) and Max wore his fireman dress-up.

Touching a lizard

There are many treat stations set up at Hal-ZOO-ween but my kids were still successful in sweet-talking me into buying them ice cream - offering to share a bit with mom never hurts!

I remembered one time at Hal-Zoo-ween when we went down behind the carousel and there was a little pumpkin patch (where each kid got to take a teeny-tiny pumpkin) so we headed back there to check it out. There was no patch but what we found was even better. PNC had a sponsored area for kids - lots of activities including inter-active games, making a mask and posing in front of the green-screen as what they wanted to be when they grew up. Lucy said she wants to be a pop star and Max took inspiration from his costume and said fireman. They emailed me photos of them which turned out pretty cool.

 My little artists colored for so long that I had to urge them out of their seats so other kids could sit to color, too.

Their finished products

They got cookies from Kroger, Laffy Taffys, free admission to Totter's Otterville, lots of ads and coupons and plenty of other candy. 


In October, we also went to an event with NKY Hidden Rocks - we had to submit some painted rocks in advance to participate in a rock find. It was at a park in Independence and the kids got to find 3 rocks each and enter in some raffles.
We've hidden lots of rocks but haven't found too many so it was a nice chance to guarantee finding some to take home! And hunting with friends - Luke, Ellie & Charlie - was fun, too!

Anywhere the Kona Ice truck shows up is right where Lucy & Max want to be!

Cold Spring had a fall festival in front of Max's school - lots of fun and the kids even hid a few painted rocks while there. We got free cowboy (and cowgirl!) hats when we arrived and free tickets for Kona Ice - both kids got two!

Sporting their Myrtle Beach souvenir shirts from GranJan & Grandpa

Another NKY Hidden Rocks-inspired outing - the Cold Spring Nature Trail - we explored and hid a few rocks:

Little hikers - always needing to choose the perfect hiking stick first! 

 

Spotting a turtle!

Movie night! I took the kids to see the My Little Pony Movie in Wilder one night. The kids usually get to watch a little TV before bed and when it's Lucy's turn, she often chooses My Little Pony on Netflix - sometimes Max chooses it when it's his turn, too!

They were excited when went to McDonald's the next night after soccer pictures and they got My Little Pony prizes in their happy meals!

Another not-so-fun October memory - 
Remember when Lucy got a shiner at school by bumping heads with a classmate at Abby's? 

Max followed in her footsteps and got one of his own at school one day. It was bad enough that the director called me at work to warn me and sent me a pic of him at nap time. Apparently, he got whacked in the face with a giant playground ball in the gym - and the director said he was super-tough and didn't even really cry but she wanted to prepare me for what I'd see that evening at pick-up.

Definitely a shiner! He looked like he was wearing eye shadow for at least a week!