happy hauntings!

what a whirlwind of a month october was!

we had many celebrations, so we'll tell our story through pictures rather than words.

ward halloween party on the 26th:

wonder woman, super man, and clark kent

check out grandma linda's freaky skeleton hand that she passed out candy with!

harvest fest 2012 at 

bonita springs charter school

on the 27th:

waited in line for 1 1/2 hours for this:

while chris listened to the BYU football game on his phone and controlled, or tried to control, charlie

then waited in line again for the nerf gun maze:

ellie's preschool

fall festival on the 26th:

 charlie loved every second 

(until he couldnt have a piece of candy and had the biggest tantrum known to man, but i wont go into that)

this is how ellie prepared to enter the petting zoo:

halloween

at the brower house:

we had a fancy dinner complete with "mummy dogs" and plastic wine flutes.

our elf, skippy, has stopped by a few times through out the year, just to remind the kids that santa is always watching and taking notes. he dressed up as a ghost for halloween (although he looks a little bit more like a kkk member if you ask me). the kids were ecstatic to see him!

along with all of our fun events, the kids turned into to some pretty mean and feisty kids. after the party at jack's school, they were being rotten and in the heat of the moment, as a consequence chris decided to take away their trick or treating privileges. yesterday morning i got a text from chris saying he didnt think he could stand not taking them. he caved. so...

ready to trick or treat!

to say charlie was head over heels about running (RUNNING) from house to house to charm people into giving him multiple handfuls of candy, would be the understatement of the century. he knew what was going on and took full advantage!

browne family camp trip

the browne family decided that the month of october is perfect for an annual camping trip. last year we headed north to Hillsborough State Park, remember that?
luckily chris was able to come along and it made it so much more enjoyable for our little group.

this year we switched things up, stayed a little closer to home, and went to 

Markham Park in sunrise, which is closer to ft. lauderdale.

my dad chose this park because it has all new facilities and some incredible mountain bike trails. seriously, these trails are so awesome that tony hawk rides there. for real, my dad saw him last weekend. so that just proves that even in south florida our mountain biking is legit!

anyway, here are some pictures that capture our great time filled with bike rides (with the kids), playing at playgrounds, messy faces, food, mountian biking, model airplane watching and of course, marshmallow roasting!

you have to watch a safety video and sign a waiver before hitting up the biking course.

its pretty hard core, as alli's legs can prove...

the park had a few great playgrounds that the kids enjoyed.

charlie man was in his element!

it was a little redneck, but chris had the genius idea to hook up a fan in our tent. we slept great thanks to that beauty.

we watched some amazing model airplanes do pretty cool tricks.

whats the matter ellie, squirrel got your buns?

yes, actually, squirrels did rip into our hotdog buns and have a few nibbles while we were on a bike ride :)

nothing like a nap in the car after an overload of camping goodness

this was the first time chris and i have tried mountain biking and we had a blast! i realize it was through the grace of my father in heaven that i didn't crash or tumble down the mountain. it was definitely luck that got me through. this stuff was crazy difficult and if it werent for the adrenaline that kicked in, i dont think i would have been able to do it. but chris was a natural and im sure if i hadnt been there slowing down his momentum he would have been really rockin it! i found a clip on youtube of one of the trails we rode. i walked down the big, steep ramp, but chris took it! we both did the "winding bridge" though and it was SO AWESOME! chris really wants to go again and i think he could get pretty good at it. i guess the next time that my dad, alli & jacob go, chris will have to go along. they are all nuts and will do all the scary obstacles. 

Jack turns 6 at DONUT FEST 2012!

our brother-in-law, jacob, has a family tradition of making homemade donuts and apple cider during the fall 

and by golly, we wanted to join in the fun!

jacob made donuts and i glazed them with regular glaze, chocolate, and maple icing. they were oh so soft and tasty. 

we combined this party with a celebration for jack's 6th birthday.

this awesome 6 year old was out of his mind excited about receiving pogs from alli and jacob. i couldnt be more proud. i was obsessed with pogs in 4th grade and would take them to school and have competitions with the boys after lunch. i have found jack organizing his pogs each morning before school and it makes me smile.

he was given so many incredible gifts, including a skim board, a bass fishing trip (his dream!), binoculars from dad, books, a ninja turtle shirt, a star wars shirt, moolah, a hawkeye toy and a leonardo ninja turtle.

i love this boy.

he invited me to have lunch with him at school and i thought i better take advantage of this stage where he still thinks im somewhat cool. before school, he splashed himself with some brute aftershave and asked me to wear something "kinda fancy" when i met him for lunch. he is hilarious. and he's growing his hair out to be like the middle school boys that "shake their head to get their bangs outta their eyes".

happy birthday to the greatest 6 year old i have ever known!

and just a few random pics of some other cute faces i get to see often.

last saturday

alli and jacob put together a family garage sale this past weekend, 

which is always a grand time

this weekend:

we are going camping and mountain biking!

yeah, you read that right. mountain biking. in florida!

my dad found a campground that has an awesome, man-built, mountain bike trail.

im sure we will have some great stories, pictures, and bruises from all the fun.

along with camping, we will also be celebrating our anniversary, jack will turn 6, and we are having a donut and apple cider party all in the next 6 days. whew, what an insane month this has been!