Beggin' Time!

Tonight is Beggar's Night in Des Moines, which means the kids get to trick-or-treat in the evening. The forecast said it would be in the mid-50s and sunny...it was in the low 40s, windy and spitting rain...not the most ideal weather. We made the best of it, and had a great time! Alex dressed up as a tank - and he kept the box on for two whole houses!





Mom had fun putting Jason and his ghostly gal pal on the front porch!





As you can see, Alex just...loved...his...costume...not...


And we're off!


After 35 minutes and one block, Dad got to carry
1. the tank box
2. the treat bucket
3. the helmet
4. the child

We headed off to see Grandma Faye and Grandma and Grandpa for some more treats and pizza. We grudgingly put the tank costume back on for family members and then put on a show!

Trunk-a-lunk-a!

Early this week, Alex had Trunk-or-Treat at his school. People decorate the trunks of their cars and the kids get to trick-or-treat for each one. Every car has a theme, like the Wizard of Oz, Toy Story, and of course, this being Iowa - the Hawkeye Express! Alex wore part of his Halloween costume and went as an army guy.

Thomas Time!

As one of the rewards for doing such a great job as a ring bearer, we took Alex to the Day Out with Thomas at the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad. He got to take a ride on the Thomas train, see Sir Topham Hatt and play with even more Thomas stuff.

Goin' to the chapel

Alex was the ring bearer in my cousin's wedding on September 26. And I have to say first of all, that I was probably more nervous at their wedding than my own! Especially when a punchy little kid was running around full speed, laughing hysterically and rolling around on the ground not more than five minutes before the ceremony started. He pulled it together and was a champ and did a great job. Bribing a child with Thomas the Tank Engine toys usually has that effect. Unfortunately, I was in the back and Matt was up front and I forgot to give him our camera before so he could do the video and take pics. These are from the "dress rehearsal" on Thursday night when we picked up his tux.






Rehearsal on Friday - he got to meet the two little flower girls and check out his pillow. He got a toy for doing a great job that day too (see the reinforcement strategy here?) Walk down aisle, get toy!





This is why I did not really get any good pictures of him before the ceremony...we were running around at top speed in the sacristy five minutes before the ceremony started!



(going home so Mom and Dad can enjoy the reception!)

In the end, he didn't want to be left out of getting to throw rose petals like the flower girls, so as we were getting him back to the pew, he grabbed the remaining petals on his boutonniere and threw them on the ground, leaving a lovely stem. The poor bout had already taken quite a beating during photos, so I was glad we were able to salvage it for the ceremony. Whew! Mom could then enjoy the reception...which she did! We had lots of fun and we were really honored that Eric and Katie included us in their special day - all the best to the two of you!

What the Dell(s)?

So, I'm finally posting some more pictures from our trip to the Dells a few weeks ago. Here's a quick recap of the top ten things we did:


10. Used a toilet with a plastic, bullet-ridden seat


9. Got lost in a Wisconsin corn maze for what seemed to be hours when in reality it was 15 minutes, thus leading to a serious case of PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Detassling - going back to age 13 when I had to detassle corn for $4 an hour in drought conditions in the late 1980s!

8. Played sand volleyball with a guy named "Shakey" who was a few sheets to the wind and missing a few digits (no wonder the poor guy had so many problems serving)


7. Went skeet shooting for the first time and hit a clay pigeon on my third try! (Little known fact: I was Annie Oakley for the fourth grade "Famous Americans" pageant and took my brother's BB gun to school as a prop...pretty sure they don't let kids do that today)


6. Fed and petted tame deer


5. Shot, killed and ate before mentioned tame deer with bare hands (OK, just kidding, I didn't use my bare hands to do it!)

...OK, and I couldn't hunt a deer either, I keeed, I keeed!


4. Got to see one nice beaver (I'm holding it in a picture on my sister's blog, in case you want to take a look at it, this is an otter!)

3. Got to see Alex catch a fish and get stuck in a hammock


2. Did the one touristy thing you have to do in the Dells...ride the amphibious Duck boat/truck!




1. Got to spend an absolutely amazing time with my family - thanks so much everyone for the great memories!