Happy Halloween!!!

Well, since both boys crashed before 8 o'clock tonight I have a little time on my hands to get our Halloween pictures up! Landon is home from Germany (yay!!!) and fought his jet lag long enough to make a few trick or treat stops with me and our little lion cub.

I wasn't quite sure how Hale would react to being dressed in a suit of fur- but I needn't have worried. He was so excited about being a lion! When I tossed the costume to Landon so he could help Hale get it on, Hale pointed to the little furry pile on the floor and did a big lion roar. He'd never laid eyes on it before - so Landon and I were totally shocked that he recognized it. He practiced his roars into the mirror a few times after he got the costume on.

We were running out of daylight so I had to make my Halloween photo shoot super quick. Daddy and lion were anxious to hit the road. What a beautiful evening!

Hale heading backwards down the stairs to the car - not so fast Hale!



Hale modeling the front of his costume...



...and the back...



...and the top!




Roaring with Dad.



More dad! More!



Our first stop: Mim and Poppa's house!



Choosing a treat with Mim's help.



Arriving at Grandma Susan's door!



Grandpa Bud was still working in the field so Hale shot a few hoops in Grandpa and Grandma's living room to kill time until Grandpa got home. Unfortunately, he started to overheat a little bit so we had to turn him out onto the patio to cool down for a while. He was more than happy to play on his tractor in the dark, but came to the window to peek at us every once in a while to make sure he wasn't missing out on anything!



A big thanks to Gaard for lending us such a cool costume!

Beautiful (Fall???) Weather in Minnesota

Whenever Landon and I visit Minnesota together we get atypical weather. Landon first visited me in August of 2001 and it was the grossest (hot and humid) weather I had ever experienced. Almost every Christmas at home has been green and wet. This time, when I took him home to see the beautiful colors of fall, we saw WHITE instead.

Oh well, it was fun to be home for one of the earliest snowfalls ever in Minnesota - October 10th. This was just a light dusting - we got a more substantial snow during the next week. But even a light dusting was exciting for the Washington boys. Landon wasted no time getting Hale's shoes on to go play in the snow before breakfast.

Hale wasn't sure what to think - he was still kind of waking up.



He walked around a bit...



...and eventually got brave enough to touch it...



...and then the boys decided it was time for breakfast!

Minnesota!!! Minnesota!!! Minnesota!!!

One little cheer for every week that we were there. That's right, Hale and I spent three whole weeks in Minnesota. We saw sun, rain and snow - and enjoyed it all with my family!

When I walked back into our house in Washington I looked at our pile of mail and wondered "where do I start?" Then I turned the corner to the laundry room and wondered "hmm...where do I start?" Now I'm trying to catch up on my blogging and I'm wondering "where do I start?".

Here are some pictures from the beginning of our trip - during the 10 days that Landon was with us. We took a trip to my family's cabin. It was cold, but wonderfully relaxing!

Gaard helped Grandpa make the pancakes in the morning. He was initially very enthusiastic about "playing chef" but eventually lost interest. It was so cute when he turned to my dad and said "Hey Grandpa- how about you just be the one chef and I'll just be the one waiting for my pancakes?"





Grandpa was understanding and Gaard hurried off to play with Hale.



We took a pontoon ride in the morning and Hale got to drive!



Then we took the boys for a walk in the woods. The fall colors were just beginning so we had fun looking for colorful leaves.