Trick-or-treat

William had requested No Call, so he came home with plenty of time to get ready for Trick-or-Treat. William and I actually decided not to dress up, which made it easier to walk around the neighborhood. Alexis last almost an hour, after which William came back home with her to pass out of the candy. I continued on for another hour with the older kids. By the end of the night, the older kids had almost 7 lbs of candy, EACH! Some neighbors (like, maybe 3 or so) even passed out full-size candy bars. I feel super blessed that we live in such an awesome neighborhood.

Preschool Halloween party

The kids aren't allowed to dress up for school on Halloween... but Alexis could, and she did. I fact, she doesn't usually even go to school on Thursdays, but Miss Jodi planned a special combined party for both her Monday/Wednesday class and her Tuesday/Thursday class. She had to skip both tumbling AND swimming for this, but it was worth it, I think. I stayed, which, once again, I'm not sure was a good thing. I don't even know what she would have done if I hadn't been around. All the other kids are so independent. And she's still so... dependent. There were games, a cookie decorating table, a pumpkin decorating table, and a cupcake decorating table. Alexis stayed right next to me as I was running the bowling game. She rolled the ball twice, maybe, then sat next to me and watched the other kids bowl. She didn't even attempt to play the other games. She also didn't go into the bouncy house because there were "too many kids." I walked with her to the decorating tables and made sure she got a cookie and cupcake (they'd run out of pumpkins). And then they had free play and that's when she finally sort of, kind of, got somewhat comfortable. She bowled with Kira and Jane. But when Kira asked her if she wanted to go into the bounce house with her, Alexis hung on to me for dear life. Good thing she has another year of preschool ahead of her (after this one)- she'll need it. 

The next day, Alexis had a playdate with Kira. We invited Jane, too, but she had a dentist appointment. The girls had fun, but they both still needed me to entertain them.

Pumpkin carving

I didn't get a good picture of Taylor, and I forgot to take "after" pictures, but we did carve pumpkins.

Ward Trick-or-Treat

Ward Trick-or-Treat night! The kids love it because they get a ton of candy and don't have to walk very much! In fact, they go around multiple times. Alexis went around just twice, once with William, the Beast, and once with me, Belle. She'd actually picked out an Ariel costume, but when I put my Belle dress on, she decided she wanted to be Belle, too. Good thing we had a Belle dress for her. 

I'd actually been wanting to get a new costume, because I was Belle last year, but nothing striked me. I could have been Elsa, but the only costumes they had in the stores where the Frozen 2 dresses, and I only like the Frozen 1 dress. I could've ordered it online, but I didn't plan it early enough. Oh, well. There's always next year. Anyway, not a lot of adults were dressed up, and the ones who were really only had a little face paint on. But, whatever. The kids had fun.

APEX fun run

We skipped music class for this. We wanted to show Kendall and Taylor our support. And since they were both running at the same time and on the same track, there was really no good excuse to miss out on this. I also figured that I'd miss their class parties (because they were during Alexis' nap and I'd have to bring her), so this was the least I could do. They both did awesome! Taylor ran the entire time and didn't even stop for water. He ran at a steady pace and easily ran his 36 laps, and then more. Kendall stopped more frequently, but she still ran over 36 laps. Alexis was a good little cheerleader on the sideline, all dressed in her Elsa dress. Yep, I am that mom who lets her little girl wear princess dresses outside of the house. That picture of Kendall counting the tallies on Taylor's shirt is my ultimate favorite! They don't always get along, and Kendall can be pretty ruthless toward him at times, but once in a while they have a moment, and it melts my heart completely.

Preschool field trip

Alexis had her very first field trip. And since she's the last one... I tagged along. I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or not, because she clung to me the entire time, but we both had fun, I think. She was kind of nervous, probably because she was out of her element, so she didn't really show emotions, just the nerves. It was funny to see her interaction with the other kids, though. Everyone kind of treats her like the little baby. One boy, Jones, was super cute with her, holding her hand and walking her through what they were doing. But one girl, Abby, was super clingy, and a little forceful at it, too. I could tell Alexis didn't like it. She's actually told me before that she had to tell Abby that she was a big girl and didn't wear diapers. In the car, she also told me, "Abby is not my friend!" Yeah, she was kind of annoying to me, too. It was like, "Give her some space!" Overall, it was a fun trip, though.

Ballet

Watching Alexis dance is one of my favorite things in the world, both at her ballet/tap/tumbling class and at home. She is so darn cute! She can be very peaceful at times and very sassy other times, depending on the music. She loves music and she loves dance, and I love it! I hope she always continues to dance and sing and have the best time with it. She's a natural!

Medieval Times

I've only ever been to Medieval Times in Maryland, when I was in High School. And then I went to a similar show at the Excalibur in Las Vegas with William and the boys when they were just babies. This location opened up in Scottsdale just recently. And it was packed full! We were seated in the yellow/red section, rooting, of course, for the yellow/red knight.

For dinner, no utensils, just our hands, which the kids were a little weirded out by. The food wasn't their favorite, but they only serve one meal option, so the kids didn't have any say. It was tomato soup (dragon blood), Texas toast, corn, and chicken. I liked it! The chicken was very moist and cooked to perfection. I can only imagine the size of the kitchen, cooking that much chicken for that many people, all eating at the same time. And they have 2 shows every evening!

We were fortunate enough with our seats because our knight won! He beat all 5 other knights! The kids were super into it and were psyched that our guy won.

Schnepf's

Going to Schnepf's around Halloween time has become a tradition that I look forward to each year... mostly. This was our 4th year, and although I tried to get the cousins to come with us, we only that one evening to go, and it was one that just didn't work for them.

Actually, the 3 previous years have been pretty miserable. It's always super hot and we run out of water because the kids drink it all. This year, I went prepared with 3 ginormous bottles of water. But for the first time, we went in the evening, and we didn't even drink a whole one. The weather was Perfect! It felt amazing. The lighting was beautiful. The train ride included scary zombies. And it wasn't more crowded than in the daytime. Note to self: always go in the evening.

We had a great time riding the train, where Alexis hung on to me as hard as she could, going on the various rides, riding the ponies, and getting lost in the maze (it took us 20 minutes to find our way out). I love creating these memories with my 4 little pumpkins.