Alabama and Halloween!

The last weekend of October brought much excitement in our lives! We decided to head to Alabama to see Josh's brother and his family. It was a fast visit, but we knew if we were going to make it down there within the next 6 months, we'd better just go...and we did! But first, Emily and I worked on a new boppy (burp cloth) for my niece! Maybe Emily will be a true seamstress, but for now, I can show her how to sew a (sorta) straight line!

Then off to Alabama we went! Our nieces and nephew have such busy sports schedules, but we were able to see some neat things on the grounds of the space museum after watching Grace at her swim meet! It was neat to see those things up close. Maybe when the kids get bigger, we'll tour the whole place.

The little boy in Aaron continues to develop...in some ways, it's adorable...in other ways, I find myself wondering if I'll ever understand the male species!

He and Charlie couldn't have cared less about the space history surrounding them, but rather found joy and camaraderie in climbing and running anywhere they could. I'm perfectly fine with that...they bonded some more!

Of course, our new furry family member joined us for the trip...we even prepped her by letting her know that there were a LOT of very experienced great dane hands waiting to love on her! It was really weird seeing Max and appreciating how big he is! We were so used to having a giant dog as well, but I was still shocked at how big Max looked. Duke had only been gone 6 weeks, but already I had forgotten about how big they really get!

Bailey and Max got along well for awhile, but she quickly wore out her welcome with him. He is the same age Duke was so he quickly wearied of her puppy shenanigans! I do want to publicly thank him for teaching her a few things about being a well-behaved great dane.

While the rest of us enjoyed a fire and s'mores, Aaron and Gracie worked to rake the yard...and yes, Aaron managed to step in dog poo in the process.

Sweet boy

Somehow, he managed to convince Grace that there was more raking to be done the next day...and she is so sweet to lovingly oblige him!

And when they finally had all of the leaves from the yard in a pile...he managed to convince her that they still needed more! SO, lovingly she helped him to knock more leaves out of the tree! It was too funny:)

Taking a moment to enjoy the fruits of their labor...we really need to work on a different word other than "cheese" for pictures...

Don't worry...Emily was having a great time as well and had her fair share of time with her cousins!

And with her daddy...

Back home, Monday morning brought Aaron's preschool fall party. I volunteered to help out and was happy to witness all the adorable kids in their costumes. Here they play a musical chairs-esque game.

And then they made their snack--a spider out of bread, peanut butter, pretzels and m&ms. Aaron gave his candy to me because he still doesn't like it!

That evening, he helped clean and carve pumpkins before heading out to trick-or-treat!

Our trick-or-treaters! Aaron had a bag full of mail (thank you cards for the neighbors) so he was able to deliver mail as he gathered candy (that he wasn't going to eat)! It was a hit...everyone (all 8 houses) LOVED his costume and the fact that they got mail from him...very sweet. Sweet Emily had her own fun as well. I made her costume and after I put it all on her, she walked past our mirror and squealed "I'm Minnie Mouse!" It made every effort more than worthwhile! She kept the gloves and ears on all night and followed Aaron's example at each house. Love these kids!