Halloween

I really enjoy fall.  I like the cooler temperatures, the color of leaves changing, and the crisp smell.  And I really like Halloween.  I always loved Halloween as a kid, but as a parent it's so much fun to watch my kids experience it.  I love taking them down the Halloween isle at the store and laughing as they freak out at the scary decorations.  And I love all the activities that are available during this season.

We went to see the witches at Gardner Village with some friends, and Jamie was able to come with us too. 

Luke was scared of the witches and refused to sit or stand by them in any photos.

We carved pumpkins as a family.  The kids are grossed out by the guts, but they cut theirs much better by themselves this year.

Luke got the cut-out of his bat and had fun stabbing it over and over the whole time.

And the girls got invited to a Halloween party at Brightyn's house.  They were so excited and had a great time with some of the neighbor girls.

I had my annual family Halloween party.  We had chili and bread sticks, salad, brain jello, and yummy pumpkin pie.

Our family decided to be mythological creatures.  

Isaac was a satyr.  (He was supposed to make  his horns, but slacked off so I made them for him.) 

For some unknown reason Isaac posed with this face in all his pictures.  I guess that's what he thinks a goat looks like.

I was Medusa.  I found some cool snake jewelry on Amazon.

Sophie was a mermaid.  I wanted her to be a creepy mermaid, but she didn't like the face paint of my scary version.

Aspen was a woodland fairy.  I think her costume turned out pretty well, but she looked a little like a Renaissance person.

And Luke was a centaur.  Unfortunately his wheely legs didn't work quite as well as I hoped.  But his costume still looked really cute.

My parents were the "Incredibles".

Isaac's parents were the "Bernstein Bears".

Lacey and Justin's family were the characters from "PJ Masks".

Jamie was "What About Bob".

Kevin was a magician.

Jason was King Bob from "Recess".

And Hannah and Gabe were ninjas.

After dinner we went for a walk to the haunted forest (some neighbors decorated it and made a scavenger hunt for the kids).  Some of the kids (James and Luke) were terrified.

I like how Barry is standing in the background like a serial killer in this photo.

And I love Aspen's face and pose in the scared photo.

On Halloween day, we also got to go to the Halloween parade at Sophie's school.  We have to sit in the cafeteria for about 30 mins before it starts, and Luke and Aspen were terrible.  They were so bored and whined like it was the worst thing in the world.

Then we had to go back for Aspen's afternoon kindergarten parade.  But that was really short so it wasn't too bad.

This year I stayed home to hand out candy because in the past we have left a bowl that is always completely gone when we get home and we worry some kid dumps the whole thing in.  But staying home is sooooo boring.  The doorbell rings so frequently you can't really do anything because reading or watching a show is interrupted too frequently.  And if you don't answer in a nanosecond they ring the doorbell a million times.

Isaac took the kids trick-or treating.  It was a little chilly that night, so after a while he brought Luke  home to hang out with me. The kids had a ton of fun celebrating Halloween, and Luke ate all his candy in less than a week.

Lava Hot Springs

Over the last few months, we have looked at cabins in a few other areas as well.  One Saturday we looked in the Timber Lakes area by Heber.  Isaac wanted to check out some cabins by Lava Hot Springs and Soda Springs.  So for fall break we headed up there with my family (Grandma, Grandpa, Jamie and Jason).

On the way up there we stopped for lunch at a park in Lava.  Then we went swimming in the hot springs.  It was lot of fun, but you can't sit in water that hot for a long time.  So by the time we left I think we were all sleepy.

But we did take lots and lots of silly photos.  Close ups:

Beautiful and relaxed Sophie                                Crazy Lukey

These pictures are so creepy

Luke and Mama

Beautiful Aspen the deer                                        Hippy girls

I like the snot dripping out of my nose, but especially how it tagged my dad as a sick person too in the background.

My little old men

Cute little chefs

We rented a house in Soda Springs.  It was a strange house.  All the rooms had signs on the doors with the theme of the room, like "Native Nights" or "Moose Meadows".  And there were quilted tapestries all over the walls.  But it was spacious and had plenty of beds for everyone.

The next day we went to look at cabins.  Again they were all fairly disappointing, until the final property.  The last one we saw was a beautiful cabin.  It was built in the early 2000's and had lots of high end features.  It was really spacious and we liked it, except it was in a juniper forest.  It was built in a really ugly location right outside of Soda Springs (which is a dumpy little town).  So if we could have transported the cabin to a different location I think we would have been more interested.

After we finished looking at cabins, we went swimming in the indoor pool in Lava.  Then we went out to dinner at a place that had good food, but it took FOREVER for them to make it.

The final day we packed up and went to the geyser in Soda Springs.  At first it erupted and only shot about 10 feet in the air.  We were a little disappointed, but it got bigger as time went on.  The kids walked across a mineral deposit to get closer, but as the water ran down it made a  little river (about 3 feet across) that blocked them from the walkway.  When they came back and Aspen saw the river her face fell and she just started saying "oh no, oh no, oh no".  Jamie, Jason, and I were watching her and cracking up because she was so worried about it.  I just stepped across the river and lifted her to the other side.

Then we went to a part with a naturally carbonated spring.  Isaac tried drinking the water and said it was good, so the rest of us tried it.  It was disgusting!  It tasted like drinking copper pennies.  But Isaac said he liked it and kept drinking.

The park was really cool with all sorts of old-school "dangerous" playground toys like a merry-go-round and huge teeter-totters.  The kids had tons of fun playing there.

One the way home we stopped at a cave.  Isaac accidentally locked Luke in the car (I have told him a million times to not lock the car before we are finished getting stuff out).  We tried to teach Luke how to unbuckle himself, but he could only get the top part and not the bottom buckle undone.  Then we tried to shove a piece of barbed-wire through the back window to get him to snag Isaac keys, but that didn't work.  Finally we had to call the police to come break into our car.  Fortunately it wasn't a hot day, so it wasn't very dangerous for him to be in there.

After that, we tried to stop at an apple orchard near Logan, but it was super creepy so we turned around as soon as we drove there.  So instead we stopped at the Fat Boy Ice Cream shop and got ice cream instead.  It was a fun, short trip.