October fun - Happy Halloween!

I love October! The leaves change color, Starbucks brings out the pumpkin spice latte, and all I want to do is bake and enjoy the crisp fall weather.

We spent one lovely Saturday at Eckherts farm because Gogo had gotten some free passes from work. Hurray for a free outing!  The farm was so much fun.  There were carnival rides, a hayride, a playground, swings, miniature golf, and lots more. It reminded me quite a bit of Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Pennsylvania.

Another fun activity in October was just for me!  I spent a fun overnight trip in Ohio for a friend's birthday party and I got to reconnect with these fun folks.  Next time, I'll bring the kids. Maybe.

And how I love Halloween! We carved cool pumpkins.  Avery carved a cool Angry Birds pumpkin thanks to auntie Mel (he got to visit her in Fayetteville, AK!), and Caleb and I made a zombie pumpkin, complete with Mr. Potato Head arms sticking out like the walking dead.  Spooky stuff!  We had a party at Caleb's school, a class party at both Caleb's school and one at Avery's school, plus our very first Trunk or Treat event, so by the time Halloween came, the boys had had plenty of tricks and treats already.  Caleb and I did a little trick or treating in the neighborhood, and Avery preferred to stay home and pass out candy.  Then we went to Dan and Victoria's house for cocktails and for the boys to play with Colin.  That was the best part of the holiday!  Caleb loved being Spiderman (the costume was a birthday gift from cousin Zoey!) and Avery wore his AveryPhone shirt once again.

Happy 4th Birthday, Caleb!

Our little redhead is 4 years old! He is our social butterfly who loves Spiderman, zombies, Frozen, Miranda Lambert, and playing "egg and bad guy" with me.  He makes friends wherever he goes, and he is tons of fun.

We had a party for him at Grant's Farm.  Unfortunately, it was a bit of a cold, drizzly day.  But the rain stopped long enough for us to have plenty of fun.  We first took the tram ride through the grounds and saw some animals.  Then we headed to our gazebo where we got tickets for the carousel and goat feeding and food to feed the camels:

Feeding the very hungry goats! They drink milk from bottles:

 We also got to hold and feed parakeets!

 Cousin fun!

 The cake was beautiful!

Carolyn and I went to Caleb's preschool and brought a snack (Pirate's Booty!) to share with the class. I read the book "10 Apples Up on Top," because they had just done a unit on apples.

More cupcakes at home! This time they were decorated with zombies coming out of them!

Cool playground!

We stumbled upon this cool playground near Gogo's house.  It is a playground designed for kids with different abilities "where limitations are forgotten and differences are celebrated" (according to the sign).  Plus, it is close to a cool duck pond and bridge.  Caleb went right up to a man who was feeding the ducks bread with his daughter and scored some bread to tear up and toss to the ducks.  Both boys loved the "relaxing swings"

Sunny Sunday at Turtle Park

"Meanwhile, Back at Mama's" part two

More photos as I try to play catch up! We went to the hot air balloon festival last weekend for both the Friday night balloon glow and the Saturday afternoon balloon launch.

St. Louis is known for barbecue, and the food here has inspired me to start a new blog (we'll see if I keep up with it or not).  Carolyn and I enjoyed barbecue at Smoking Barrels BBQ - I also had some tasty ribs and pulled pork at last weekend's Taste of St. Louis festival, although I don't recall what restaurant it was from.  Soon, I am determined to make a trip to Pappy's, which is supposed to have the best BBQ in St. Louis.


Here are some photos from a recent trip to the Magic House.  They had a special exhibit on theater, and Caleb put on his "Elsa cape" to belt out "Let it Go" on stage.

Finally, Avery got to visit me at work one day.  He said I work in a castle! The university is certainly impressive.