Keith and I traded off taking the kids around our neighborhood. He took them to Grandma and Grandpa's street while I sat out front awaiting ghosts and goblins. Then I took them around our little circle, while Keith rested in front of our house.
The temperature was perfect, but we did have a few raindrops. The kids didn't really seem to mind. 
Megan and Daniel had a great time dressing up. Joshua was a bit on the grumpy side, but he quickly got into a fun mood.
The kids had a blast! The carnival workers were so patient allowing the kids to keep trying at the games. 
The kids also rode a ton of rides. Joshua, Megan, Grandpa and I rode the ferris wheel. Megan, Joshua, Daniel and I rode the mini-roller coaster. Daniel was not happy. The gigantic slide was a huge hit, and the kids managed to talk Grandpa into taking a ride down it. We were the only family on just about every ride. It really wasn't very busy at all, which was surprising because the weather was nice and cool. 
It was a great time.
The little two belong to Daniel and Joshua, and the big one is Keith's. They boys all worked really hard drawing out how they wanted their pumpkins to look.
Megan's pumpkin only has one eye, but a big smile. If you look closely, you can see that she drew all over her pumpkin, but she gave me strict orders which shapes I was supposed to cut. My pumpkin is the big one in this picture.
Our entry way looks very inviting for little trick-or-treaters! 
Somehow none of the pictures of the boys came out very good. But everyone was so funny. Daniel absolutely would not touch any of the pumpkin guts. I had a whole hand full of seeds and was trying to touch his hand with them and he got very upset. Megan loved the way the pumpkins smelled. She walked around the table smelling all of the pumpkins. Joshua was very helpful with his own pumpkin, but the magic of the activity quickly turned to boredom for him once his pumpkin was done. Maybe next year, I'll let him do the actual carving with the carving tool.
I woke up earlier this week to these menacing transformers demanding breakfast. Joshua likes to get up early and "decorate" the house. 
We also seem to have had a little bit of a growth spurt around here. This means that clothes get swapped out. Joshua's jeans go over to Megan's closet. Megan's jeans go over to Daniel's closet. I also unpacked more of the kids' clothes, finding some things that the kids need now that it's fall. 
And I've been spending lots of time with my funny little guy. He is really growing into his personality. 
The weather was great with just a slight breeze. 
Aren't they cute together? They were competing to see who could get their plane to fly the farthest.
The planes have provided hours of entertainment.
There were so many great activities going on. Fortunately for us, we have a family pass to the zoo, so we are frequent visitors. I didn't feel the anxiety that I saw from more than a few other families - that need to squeeze every last craft/exhibit/ride to make the most of the day. We leisurely strolled through the animals, enjoying the slight breeze and the mid-70 degree temperature.
I did make the kids stop for another cute cut-out picture. How adorable are they?
Upon entering the zoo, each child was given a slip of paper with the different trick-or-treat stations listed. At the different stations, the child hands over the paper to get hole-punched. Out of the 10 or so stations, we were satisfied stopping at about 5 of them.
Joshua really enjoyed the insect exhibit. He also commented that he wants to visit the zoo again when we are dressed to play in the splash park.
Daniel had a great time. He walked all over the zoo and never once complained that he was tired. I've been trying to go stroller-less for some of our outings and it really is so much easier.
Near the elephants, there was a big bounce-house set up. Megan and Joshua had a great time. Daniel would not go inside. He doesn't like unstable things.
The kids loved the little "scary" haunted house. Megan and Joshua ran right through it. Daniel held my hand and wouldn't go near it because it howled.
We took a hay ride around the back of the zoo. Joshua got out his pirate spying scope to check for spooky things ahead.
Megan insisted that we walk through the butterfly garden. She saw quite a few butterflies. She said, "Mom, I'll bet the butterflies think I'm really Snow White and that's why they are coming out to look at me.". She's such a silly little girlie-girl.
In the insect exhibit, Joshua told us all about butterflies, spiders and other bug-types. His classroom is doing a big unit on insects right now. I enjoyed listening to him "teaching" Megan and Daniel. 
Joshua loved the spinning plate guy. As the different plates would slow down, all the kids would yell out which number plate needed spinning. Eventually, one of the plates fell and shattered.
Daniel was very concerned about the man that did the balancing on chairs. Daniel kept saying, "he's not safe, mom". 
Our waiter was calling Daniel Mr. Hollywood, and Daniel got a big kick out of the extra attention. After enjoying our yummy dinner, we were off to the pumpkin patch.
As soon as we entered the pumpkin patch, we were greeted by a couple of extremely helpful young ladies. They gave each of the kids stickers and gave me a handout about their church (Methodist), as well as what other community resources benefit from this sale.
Daniel was very cautious walking through the pumpkin patch. He was a little unsure about the hay on the ground.
The guys of the house were working together to pick out a good big family pumpkin. Daddy picked out a great pumpkin.
While picking out pumpkins, we saw some suspicious pilgrims and Indians checking us out.
My darling pumpkin resting in the pumpkins. She was watching some other kids doing the hula-hoop.
There was a silly looking farmer that was watching over the sheep, cows, pigs and chickens.
Megan was watching the sheep.
Daniel was thrilled with the pumpkin he picked out.
Joshua was also pretty pleased with his pumpkin.
With the temperature in the early 80's it was a perfect morning for playing in the shade.
After eating breakfast and a few games of tag on the grass, we set our sights on shopping at the farmer's market.
The kids loved eating breakfast outside. 
There are so many interesting details around this park. The kids had a great time pointing out fun carvings on the walls and in the sidewalks.