Halloween 2012: Peter Pan and Tinkerbell (revisited)

Even though they wore the same costumes last year, they still seemed to fit and the kids seemed excited.  I decided they looked cuter than ever!

 I adore the feather in his cap.

 Tinkerbell waving her magic wand.

Can you say pixie dust?!

 We invited several other families to join us for our annual dinner of Halloweenies and spiderweb cupcakes, followed by trick-or-treating!

 Nothing cuter than kids in costumes! Such a fun group!

 Off we go...

 Will made it around the entire mile loop of our neighborhood, Meredith was happy riding in the wagon, and we had just enough candy to pass out at at the house.  I'll say the holidays are obviously hard when you can't share it with your spouse, but I'm going to vote Halloween as logistically the most difficult...you just need a lot of hands.  But we not only made it happen, we had tons of fun!  Big thanks to all the friends that joined us.  Successful Halloween in my book!

Mimi's Pumpkin Patch

We love pumpkins!  So we went with Mimi to visit her local pumpkin patch.  

Will was more interested in climbing all around than having his picture taken, so this is about all I got of him.

 Little Miss not as mobile, was a little more cooperative.

 Happy Fall, y'all!

Dentist

Celebrating our first tear-free trip to the dentist!  Yippeeee!!!

Utah!

One of the first things I did when I found out Aaron's deployment would be longer was purchase plane tickets to Utah!  Our dear friends from our assignment in Mississippi are stationed at Hill, AFB and when we realized the guys' deployment schedule overlapped in October, we decided it was a perfect way for us ladies to help pass the time.  So I braved the long flight with two kids and arrived in the Beehive State!

 It was just wonderful to unite these two.  They were each other's first friends and they wasted no time getting back to being buddies.

 Can you see those gorgeous mountains in the background?! Will kept calling them volcanoes! hehe!

 And these little ones were as cute as can be.

 We tagged along on a squadron play date to the pumpkin patch...although "patch" implies a much smaller piece of real estate than this vast valley of farmland provided.

  Ready to go pumpkin pickin'!

 We found one!

 Will immediately named him Spookley, after the movie Spookley the Square Pumpkin, of course.  Spookley even wound up flying back to NC with us in our carry-on.  Quite the well-traveled gourd!

 Spectacular view from the wagon!

 The boys helped out with a little yard work.

 Our well-rested little nappers.

 On Sunday, we ventured into downtown Salt Lake City for church, and afterwards visited the beautiful grounds of the Mormon temple.

 We visited a terrific Children's Museum in Ogden.

 We enjoyed lunch at a pizzeria before stopping by this adorable bakery.

 Our trip came to a close with our first visit to In-N-Out Burger.  It was pretty tasty! And who doesn't love a fun hat?!

By the end of our stay, and red-eye flight we were all pretty exhausted, but in the best way.  So many fun things to see and do, great conversation until the wee hours of the morning, delicious food from one of the best cooks I know, and quality time with one of my favorites!  Thanks for having us!  It's about time to start planning our next visit!

Our little Panthers fans!

Day Out with Thomas the Train

All aboard!  Knowing how much Will loves trains, Gigi had the great idea to take the kids to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC for a Day Out with Thomas the Train!  

Will was so excited to see "Big" Thomas and was even more thrilled to take a ride!  

 Our freight car was filled with Gigi, Grandpa, John, Aiden, and Grandpa Agre.

 One happy little passenger.

 The kids loved looking out the big window and we even got to see a couple of trains pass by on the other set of tracks.

 Will with his namesake.

 Three hours from home and we ran into our neighbors from down the street, the Caywood family and their three boys.

 Chase and Will enjoyed each other in the hay maze, while Meredith and Jacob watched from their strollers.

 We spent some time waving to Thomas,

and taking a little spin in the Roundhouse.

 Such a fun experience!