Halloween Parties

October felt like one big party of fun! The first Halloween party we were invited to was at my friend Lauren's house. The kids painted mini pumpkins (a 5 minute activity at their attention span level haha), we ate pizza, had the most festive treats, and watched Monsters University. Such a fun night getting in the Halloween spirit with our friends! 

Then last week we had two parties in one weekend! The first one was at at our church ...

There was a chilli contest (my kids ate a plate full of corn bread as you can see below) and the side rooms were filled with games and activities. I was in charge of the little kid activity and we made witches' hands filled with popcorn and candy corns. It made the biggest mess but everyone loved it! They also had face painting, a spook alley, and other various games. Liam's poor costume was falling apart by the end of the fun. Where's my hot glue gun?! haha  

We got to bed super late that night so the kids were pretty tuckered out the next day too ... okay, let me rephrase that, this KID was super tuckered out. Lyla rocked 2 days in a row with no nap and still didn't fall asleep in the car on the way to our next party like her brother did. sigh

Our favorite Halloween party of the year ... Grams and Pa's!!

He sent us a couple of sneak peak pictures of his costume and we all guessed wrong ...  Beetlejuice and the bride, Lydia!

Lyla was terrified of them at first and didn't' recognize them but warmed up eventually. haha 

All the grandkids together ...

Jared and Nicole's kids were super heroes ... Abby as Wonder Woman, Maddox as Spider Man, and Ava as Captain Marvel!

Josh and Nicole dressed up Olivia as a kitty!

We were Peter Pan, the fierce crocodile, Tinkerbell, and Tiger Lily!

We had sloppy jo sliders, cheese and crackers, and salad for dinner, then moved out to the garage for party games!

My sister-in-laws on baby duty while the kids played games! 

My dad planned 4 games and I planned 4. The kids had a blast tossing candy corns into cauldrons and throwing ping pong eyeballs into buckets ...

They raced to see who could get the most spiders to attach to their web first. Olivia and Lyla were cracking me up because they both walked up one spider at a time and placed it on the web. haha Everyone else threw handfuls! 

They tossed water balloon bean bags through a ghost's mouth ...

I laughed until I cried watching the elephant hang, especially when it was my dad and Edie's turn! Hilarious watching them race each other! 

Lyla helping Uncle Jared knock down his cups ...

Peter Pan absolutely crushed me ... elephant hang was not my talent! haha

The adults played this golf one and got some amazing prizes! I came home with the cutest pumpkin and Nic got his favorite junior mints! The kids prizes were also the best ... they got to pop balloons with candy and toys inside hanging down from the ceiling!

Bobbing for apples and holding the hair back ...

Lyla watched Liam get one and picked one up from the bucket, stuck it in her mouth, and started cheering for herself. It was adorable!!

Jared getting dunked and the first apple bobbing winner ...

The annual piñata where every kid went home with enough candy to supply the candy bowl for Halloween night. ;) 

They were both waaaay more into their treats and new toys than taking a picture with me! 

Thank you to Grams and Pa for the party of the season! Can't wait for next year!

Liam turns five | a ninja party

I keep asking myself how my little Liam is FIVE ... the day he was born feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at the same time. His birthday landed on a Sunday this year so with church, we needed to think outside the box. We kept our birthday tradition of having him wake up to the "Happy Birthday" song and balloons. He smiled the whole time! We also had special breakfast that morning, his favorite donuts with a sparkler candle. Love his cute silly faces!! 

Being that it was a Sunday we extended the celebrating to the day before and he got to choose a friend to take to Wahooz to play for an afternoon. Bless Nic for taking the two of them, it would have sent my headache through the roof with all of the loud sounds and lights. He chose his best friend, Everett, and those boys were in heaven all afternoon playing laser tag, bumper cars, and arcade games! Nic took the cutest videos of them together and had the hardest time trying to get them to leave. 

We kept it to a family party on Sunday afternoon. Liam's only request was that it be ninja themed with a piñata. Ironic enough, that was the one thing I didn't get any pictures of. In the moment, I was trying to balance a camera while making sure no little kids were harmed by the medal high chair stick we were using to hit it with and I forgot to adjust my settings. All of the pictures were incredibly over exposed ... oops. I assure you, it was everyone's favorite part!

Besides cake, we had an assortment of snack foods for guests, my very first charcuterie board in fact! I think it turned out pretty great and Lyla must have too because I couldn't keep her fingers out of it ... ;)

The mini oreo ninjas turned out so cute!!

Liam's cake was adorable! I had a friend recommend someone locally who bakes custom cakes in her home and she did an incredible job! I'll have to take everyone else's word on how it tasted though. They said it was great!

Cute birthday boy with his ninja cake!

The cousins decorated ninja stars together and were so creative ...

They practiced their ninja star throwing skills by knocking down stacks of cups!

It was so fun having family there, especially those adorable twin nephews of ours!

Liam hid his face under the table while everyone sang to him. haha I don't know if it was nerves or if he was feeling silly! 

"It's my party and I'll hide if I want to!"

He requested the sword and ninja's face from the top of the cake. Wouldn't have expected anything less!

Present opening is always so entertaining to watch with kids. I love this serious of photos where you can see the expression on his face change from curiosity to sheer excitement! He got a fun kinetic sandbox ...

A bug detective kit and LOTS of Legos!!!

Abby is always the best helper with Lyla and keeps her entertained ... this time with tissue paper in her skirt. haha ;)

Happy Birthday to our big five year old!! We love you so much Liam and are so thankful you are a part of our family! Hope you had the most special day because we loved celebrating you!!

the zoo in the fall

Who knew the zoo would be so magical and feel like a whole new experience in the fall?! We bundled up in our hats, coats, and gloves and went first thing on a Saturday morning. Most of the animals were in their indoor enclosures because of the cold temperatures which was fun to see them in a different element than we usually do! We were so lucky, my mom got free tickets through work and took us!

The last time we went to the zoo, I was a rookie and saved all of the new exhibits for last. We hardly had any time left that day and not only rushed through them but didn't even get to see them all so that is where we went first this time. Liam's request ... the crocodile!!! When he saw it he goes, "Guys, he grew up!" haha Apparently he looked bigger since we saw him a year and a half ago. 

He was inside this time and didn't move a muscle the whole time we were there.

Can not believe zebra stripes are real! The lines are so perfect and absolutely beautiful in person! 

The penguins are always a hit and so were the bats this year. After being locked inside that stinky dark room for an eternity (haha!), Liam pretended he was a bat the rest of the time we were at the zoo. He's the cutest!

Even though it wasn't night time and none of the lights were turned on, the whole zoo was decorated for Halloween. We even caught this little guy snacking on a pumpkin! 

She was a trooper and did a lot of walking but looked so cute up on her daddy's shoulders whenever her legs got tired ...

Fascinated by the mechanics of how his zebra went up and down ...

I've always wanted to see the feeding time for the giraffes and we caught it this time! Eating big bites of lettuce over the fence ...

The prairie dogs were out too! Also one of my favorites ... I could have skipped the claustrophobic tunnel though, but anything for them ...

I'll never forget Lyla saying, "awww is sooo cuuute!" about every single animal she came across, including the snakes. haha

We just might have to try Boo at the Boise Zoo next year!