Cub Scout swamp safari

The cub scouts took a field trip on a swamp safari tour. We didn't have enough people to get the discount rate so I had to talk Nolan and Jim into going. Nolan really liked it. It was called a swamp buggy tour but it was actually more of a empty school bus without the windows, and there really wasn't much swamp going on either, but I guess it's not the right time of year. Oh well the kids seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Our tour guide had a baby alligator and brought it onto the bus for all the kids to see and touch.
Nolan, checking out the scenery from the bus.

The wild pigs come right up onto the bus. (they are trained to know that the bus driver will give them food)

Jim and I.

I'm rockin it out in my scout shirt. Oh yeah, that's what they call high fashion!

Aliigator chillin in the sun.

he he, too funny

I cannot believe that I forgot to post these pics! They are from early October, we were getting ready for the Primary program so I asked the bishopric to dress up and be our judges for the songs. If any of you know Jim well , you know he does not dress up for anything, so I was fairly surprised he went along with it. The kids loved it (although Aidan was scared of Jim for a good thirty minutes after church ended, poor thing) and the bishopric got more than a few raised eyebrows from the adults in the hall who saw them. Some days I just love being in Primary, you get to do goofy stuff and I have fun being in on the jokes that outsiders just don't get.

Yosemite Sam?? Is that you?

Nolan's pirate report

Nolan's class had book reports due on Halloween, and they had to stand up in front of the class to tell about their book. They were also allowed to dress up if they wanted to. We did things a little backwards though because I tried to talk Nolan into doing a report on a book that we might already have a costume to match (like sleeping beauty since he was a knight last year for Halloween) but it wouldn't fly. So I went to the store and found mismatched pieces for 99 cents each and came up with a pirate costume for only $4. Then we had to find a book to go with it. Luckily Elaine happened to have a book on pirates so it all worked out. His report turned out really cute.

We happened to have this flag left over from Aidan's pirate birthday party 2 years ago.

(so its a good thing I am a pack rat and didn't get rid of it like I should have)

swarm of bees

At Aidan's school they had trick-or-treating from class to class. Each class dressed up as something different and Aidan's class were bumblebees. It was SOOO cute. It was a crazy morning because I had just come back from Nolan's school and I had to run home, get the camera, and head back to Aidan's school to get pics of him with his class. All the parents had to bring candy and hand it out so Jim did that while I followed Aidan around trying to get his picture.

Pumpkin patch field trip

As promised here are some more pictures from the Halloween festivities. Aidan's class took a field trip to the pumkin patch and they each were able to pick a small pumkin to take home.

Aidan's pumpkinThe class was taking a picture together so Aidan fell on the ground. Makes sense right?

Bad pumpkin, needs a spank. Ha!

The longest Halloween EVER! (not that I'm complaining)

So this year our Halloween celebrations started about two weeks before the big day and seemed to just keep going right up til Halloween night. We started at the "friendly forest" at the Calusa Nature Center. Every year they have trick or treating on the boardwalks and paths that wind through the preserve outside the nature center. All the people handing out candy were dressed up and the kids had a blast seeing all the people in costumes. Some of them even had animals in tow that the kids could pet. Zoie got the hang of it right away. It didn't take long for the open-your-bag and people will give you candy idea to catch on.

The next week we had our annual Fall Festival at the church which is always fun. Unfortunately my camera died right at the start of it so I only have a few pics. I am going to try to get some from friends though because I was involved in the entertainment portion of the night and I heard some people got funny pics of it.

The next week Aidan had a field trip to a pumkin patch for his class and trick or treating at his school, and Nolan had a book report and class party. Then finally came Halloween night. We went to Jim's parent's house for dinner to celebrate Bill's birthday and then it was off to trick-or-treat around their neighborhood. Our friends Abby and Jason Perkins met up with us and we took all the kids together.

So all in all it was a great Halloween for us this year. I'll say that even though we are always crazy busy, when you have kids there is something more fun about extending the festivities. (pics of the school fun to follow, I didn't want the slide show to be too long)

Cutest pumpkin

At the ward Halloween Fall Festival, Nolan's pumpkin won the award for cutest pumpkin. It got kind of cracked rolling around in the car on the way home though.Here are all three of the kids' pumpkins together. Can you tell which one is Aidan's? (hint: it's the one that looks like it got in a fight...)