Happy Halloween!

There's my little Hulk.  Probably the most timid, shy Incredible Hulk anyone has ever seen.  It was cute because he pretty much chose his own costume.  John likes to joke and say "what are you, the Hulk?!" every time Jack breaks something or throws something.  So it's one of the few characters he actually knows.  And when I saw it for sale at Costco...  well, you know.  I was incredibly thrilled that he even kept the mask on his head (albeit, not over his eyes) for the whole day.  Even when he went into the bounce house.

Wednesday our Moms Club had a big Halloween party with about 45 moms and 60 kids under the age of 5.  It was quite a chaotic scene as you can imagine.  There was a bounce house which was clearly the highlight for Jack (as usual).  The darn kid loves the bounce house so much that he even flirted with his friend's older sister while in there.  Holding hands while jumping, giggling...it was too cute.

There were a ton of games there like "ghost bowling", "pin the bowtie on the skeleton", "witches ring toss" which Jack killed. 

Of course, perhaps even better than the games were all the signs Jack could read.  Yup, took time out from the raging party to read some signs.  My little Hulk nerd.

We had a great time at the party even if this pregnant lady was tired by the end.  Standing for 4 straight hours is tough!

Halloween night we were super lucky because John got off work early and was in home in plenty of time for trick-or-treating.  Jack thought our carved pumpkins were really neat and wanted to get up close and personal.

We joined some of our friends for trick-or-treating which meant a quick car trip.  There was something about the Hulk strapped into a car seat that I found pretty funny.

All day we had prepped Jack about trick-or-treating and what to say when we walked up to the front door of a house.  He had it down cold.  So guess what happened when we starting going door to door after nightfall?  Yup, he turned into a mute.  Wouldn't say a single thing.  Wouldn't even reach into the bowls the people were holding to choose candy.  Good thing his daddy was there to collect for him.  He would say nothing, then we'd walk away and he would tell us that he was having fun and wanted to go to another house.  "And what are we going to say at the next house?" "Trick or treat." "That's right Jack!"  And then...nothing.  :)  Ahh, our shy little guy.  

But, like I said, his best bud, his daddy, collected candy for him and then proceeded to let him try out all different kinds at 8pm so that he got a sugar high (and subsequent crash).  That's what dads are for.  :)

Pumpkin Patch Trip 2013

Last week (two weeks ago?) we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch at the farm. Jack and I actually took two trips...one with his playgroup and one with daddy and the Lynns. But let's just combine them all, shall we?

I actually really enjoyed the weekend trip with daddy, if only because this 9 month pregnant lady enjoyed the help. My solo trip to the farm was exhausting. I didn't realize how tiring it would be to run after Jack while it was 90 degrees. Luckily, Jack loved doing all the fun patch activities with his daddy. First they took a ride on the "cow train":

 

Then, after the corn maze, they tackled the mini-tractors. Pretty darn adorable...

 

He found a giant pumpkin to climb into.

 

And a giant tire tunnel to run through.

 

There was a big pumpkin hut...

 

...and of course LOTS of pumpkins.

 

Of course a field full of pumpkins is a great opportunity to jump off giant pumpkins. Or really jump off anything and everything.

 

Of course, I coudn't really manage to get a good pic of Violet and Jack together. This was the best I could do.

 

Jack wouldn't pose with Violet but he attempted to pose with the sunflower sign.

 

One of Jack's favorite parts of the farm is pushing the old wagons around. Makes him so happy.

 

In fact, he's generally just happy on the farm.

 

The best thing about going to the same farm every year is the fact that you can do photo comparisons. Check it out.

 
Jack measuring his 1 1/2 yrs height in October 2012

Jack measuring his 2 1/2 years height in October 2013

Peeking out from the train window in 2012

Peeking out from the train window in 2013

Family photo in 2011 - Jack at 8 months

Family photo in 2013 - Jack at 2 1/2 years.  
He's not the only one who has aged!

Halloween Extravaganza

Howdy from November!  I've been meaning to blog about our Halloween extravaganza but we've been busy.  And today Jack got sick (stomach flu) and puked for the first time ever!  He followed that up quickly with his second and third times ever so that was fun.  Poor little guy.  It's going around the playgroup so I guess it's to be expected.  

But back to Halloween.  When you're young it seems like your birthday and holidays last about a week.  So we had three different parties to go to with three different costumes.  Before you say that I can't believe she'd spend so much money on costumes, don't worry.  The first one was all free hand-me-downs, the second was 99 cents at the thrift store and the third...well, yes, I splurged and bought the $19.99 toddler costume online.  

The pic above is from our first Halloween party which had a barnyard bash theme.  He looked adorable in the hat but only wore it for about .2 seconds.  That's me in the picture holding down his arm with all my might so he didn't tear it off.  But he sure looked cute (so did daddy).

 

 When we got to the party he wasn't quite feeling it. Maybe too many people and he seemed to be getting sick. He did enjoy the cardboard barn though.

   

 Everyone got together for a group picture which was actually quite successful, all things considered.

   

 Of course, our family picture wasn't as adorable. Jack really really wanted to go home.

   

 The next day we had our club Halloween party with about 35 kids and 35 moms in attendance. It was so fun seeing all the costumes. For this occasion, Jack was good ol' Spiderman.

   

 I knew he would enjoy the party when we walked in and saw a bouncy house. Sure enough, he spent most of his time in there.

 

 

 He also loved the little car and ramp. Addicted.

 

 

 There was a sandbox too!

   

 This party I think the picture of me and him was a little more successful.

 

The last party, on Halloween, was with our playgroup and Jack was a karate kid. Or, more specifically, Johnny from Cobra Kai from "The Karate Kid" movie. He looks just like him I think.

 

He played and had lots of fun!

 

 

 He wasn't too into trick-or-treating (not at all), but that's okay because he seemed to just have fun running around. All in all, a successful holiday!