Halloween 2008

It was so much fun this year having Halloween on a Friday. It was much more relaxed with out having to worry about school the next day. We had some friends over for pizza and then went trick or treating. We had a great night and the weather was perfect. Hudson was a Power Ranger, Porter was a Ninja, and Braxton was a Mad Scientists.





Hudson really caught on this year to the idea of free candy. He had a great time and did a good job of keeping up with the big kids. I don't think he missed a house!



Even more than getting free candy Hudson loved handing out the candy at the door. He liked seeing all the different costumes and putting the candy in their bags.



The sorting and trading of the candy




All the boys had costume parades at their schools right before their halloween parties. It is always so fun to go and see all the different and creative costumes that the kids have. The boys think it is fun too. I actually walked in Hudsons as a chaperone this year so that was fun. They did a loop around downtown Madison, all the store owners thought they were so cute.







Porter the "Ninja"

Braxton the "Mad Scientists"


Pumpkin Carving






Some friends of ours the Dents had a family halloween party on the Monday night before halloween. We had chilli, soups, and treats that were very tastey. The kids played some games and had a lot fun dressing up and playing with their friends. Mike and I dressed up this year, Mike was a doctor and I was a bag of jelly beans.



No-hands doughnut eating contest. The kids loved this one. Our little blue "Jungle Fury" Power Ranger was content watching all the activities.







Porter being mummified and the final product! I thought they did a pretty good job.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

This is the new favorite thing to do in the Rich house. My boys can't get enough of it, every time they see me on the computer they want to make funny faces. It is a feature I have on my new computer that Mike got me for my birthday, it has made for many hours of laughter in our home. Enjoy!

Mike



Emily



Braxton



Porter



Hudson

Central Park in October!

We thought it would be fun one Saturday to take the boys into the city to our favorite pizza place Totono's and go to Central Park. It was a gorgeous day and we realized that most of the times we take them into the city it is freezing for some reason. We hit Central Park first and spent some time at Turtle Pond, Belvidere's Castle, and the Reflection Pool. Then we headed to Totono's. We were sad to find that their oven was broken, so they were closed but we found pizza somewhere else, it was nowhere near as good but maybe next time. Then we ended the trip at Toy R Us in Time Square and ice cream. The boys loved it and they were so well behaved the whole day even with all the walking. Porter said right before bed that night, "Mom thanks so much for the best day ever!"


Turtle Pond right outside of Belvidere's Castle, we couldn't believe how many turtles were in there.




Belvidere's Castle in Central Park- The kids thought this castle was awesome. They couldn't get enough of it. They had so many question and were really interested in the history of it. Mike and I spent the night in the city back in June, and while we were there we jogged through Central Park and found this by accident, we knew the boys would love it.





The Reflecting Pool in Central Park


The Happiest place on earth Toys R Us in Time Square. The boys loved this part of course. Hudson could not get over the Giant T-Rex, he stared at it forever.




We got a family pic at Time Square at night because for some reason with all the million times we have been there we don't have one at night with the kids.

The Pumpkin Patch and Apple Picking at Wightmans Farm

Choosing "THE" Pumpkin










The Hay Maze




The Pumpkin Slingshot



We all decided instead of going on the hay ride like we always do we would try apple picking this year. The boys loved it especially because they got to use these dangerous weapons. They do work great though. We got three different types of apples and all of them were delicious!

Annual Pine Ave Block Party!!!

Every year in September our neighborhood has their annual Block Party. The boys look forward to it every year and we do too. It is always so much fun. They baracade the ends of the street and we light up the grills at 1pm. There is always great food and tons of it. The kids play all through the street on their bikes, scooters, you name it. Then they have the water balloon toss and which ever team wins gets into the block party for free the next year. Then they have the group picture and then they light up the grills again at 6pm. The adults visit and the kids play Man Hunt. It goes into the wee hours of the night. Anyway here are some pics.




This is the boys taking their turn at the water balloon slingshot. They had over 400 water balloons so all the kids had plenty of turns. The picture of Port is right after one of his backfired on him he thought it was so funny.




Hudson and our next door neighbor Bella dancing to the music. I actually think it was "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses. Anyway it was cute.


This is just a couple of pics of the boys getting geared up to play "MAN HUNT" they love this game and the big kids are great to let the little ones play too. The boys look forward to it every year. Hudson even got in on it this year, he some how ended up with about 30 glow bracelets and he was pleased!