Both of the kids have mastered the pool this trip.

Mad is doing lengths while Baz spins circles around her with his water wings while his lips turn blue.

Good thing for Grampa and his pledge to “go swimming whenever they wanted”.

Poor guy.

Just whatever you do, don’t blink.

Everyone’s a winner… even when the Mad crab climbs out of its lane and waits for dinner.

He clearly owns this beach, baby.

How great it was to find out, albeit at the last minute, that there was going to be a shuttle lift off during our vacation?
When we found out, we spontaneously jumped in the car to make the coastal quest to experience this rare sight with our own eyes.

Standing along the side of the Challenger Memorial Coastal Highway, it nearly brought tears to my eyes to experience this fantastic show of human technology. Baz, on the other hand was a bit bummed, he thought we were going to be ON the “rocket”.

This is a Mad original. What could make a better party take-away?
Nothing says lovin’ like a homemade tape.

I LOVE her illustrations. She was so great. She made originals for each of her friends that attended the party. Each cover was varied, ghosts, mummies, witches, pumpkins, you name it. They got to choose when they left, the quite successful party I might add, along with their pumpkin-y loot bags.

Great time. Just now I’m ready for a vacation:)

I have to admit I was incredibly intimidated when I agreed to host a Halloween party this year for Mad. How could I resist though, really? She just started a new school and were going to be on vacation for the BIG day. Between old friends and new and a lack of familiar trick or treating, I just had to make it up to the poor deprived girl one way or another.
…Old friends and new, yes, double the head count. The highest number we’ve attempted to date was 7 kids for her birthday. But she was four and they could still be corralled. At this shindig there will be 10, not including our darling little goblins.

Task at hand: How not to lose control of 10 kids and your mind in the process.

#1 Save the sugar until the end.
#2 Start with a craft to get them into it and to get a chance for the grown-ups to size up the crowd.
#3 Convince extra grown-ups to serve as back up. (i.e.2) – Thanks G&G.
#4 Games, games, games. Tire those kids out.

GAMES

Stick the hat on the witch. Our twist on the donkey. It should be fun for the 5 year old crowd, plus it’s always good for a laugh and will work out 20 minutes. Yay.

Guess the monster parts. The SK version of a haunted house. Tell them we just picked it up from the store, but we haven’t put it together yet.
Grape eyeballs, pasta brains, dried apricot ears…

Mummy Race. Grab your partner and wrap them in TP.
Who’s the fastest? Who’s the neatest?
After that, we’ll do the Monster Mash… & freeze. We’ll see which mummies can stay perfectly still for a thousand years. Then they can do the Time Warp, again.

We’ll finish with a balloon popping race. Who doesn’t like popping black balloons with their bums? Especially ones (all) that have prizes in them.

Then it’s off to the snack table. There will be green ooze (limeaid and gingerale) to drink, fingers (carrots) and slime (guacamole), ghostly cookies and ghoulish cupcakes.

For loot bags, I have orange craft bags packed with mini Play Doh, eyeball gum, pumpkin pencils and gummy fangs. All tied up with green painter’s tape to look (almost) like a little pumpkin.

But the best? The prizes, stay tuned, since they all get the same thing. It’s the super CD complilation that will drive their parents BATTY.

Muwhahahahaha.

We’ve experienced Thanksgiving days in the past which required us to pull over the car due to the lack of visibility caused by the snow. This year was quite different indeed. The 90ºF heat certainly broke records as we feasted. Even the next day, as we dined on leftovers (and macaroni, of course), we were thrilled to hear the last motorized tune of the ice cream truck venturing down for one last try.

Imagine. Out there enjoying the last of the ice cream in the softee machine as we watched the early autumn sun set on our day. Now there’s something I’m sure the kids were able to be thankful for.

We took the kids to get a pumpkin (we couldn’t find a pick your own apples that day) and boy did we have fun! So much fun, we went twice. We started off with just Mad, but the ninny I am forgot my camera.
By the time we made it back to get it Baz was up from his nap and never to turn down a trip to any farm, he was in for the ride back.

As you can see, there were quite a few pumpkins to choose from – and it’s still ONLY September.
Do you think that stopped Mad? No way josé.
The first one we carved has already turned into a massive pulp of mold in the composter, but I guess that’s why she was planning ahead, and chose this one to hold on to.

Mad was all around collecting pumpkins, asking questions and catching crickets – who can do that???
Everything was going just super…

Until she got busted by the owners for climbing the haystack.
But she got over it, as she usually does and she listened so much better for the rest of the day too.

Great day – and not just for the kids either. I found a new love of all things made of gourd.
As it turned out, the keepers of this fun farm were heirloom aficionados. There were about twenty varieties, some dating back to the 18th century France and beyond.

One of the many reasons I love autumn. Next is apples, I will find an orchard yet…