Trunk-or-Treat

Our church put on a Trunk-or-Treat today. Instead of going house to house, the kids go from one car to another to play games and get candy. They had a bounce house, pony rides, face painting, food, a petting zoo, and even a rock wall to climb. It was fun!

Clowns

When I was a little kid, my mom made my brother a clown costume for halloween. It was handed down to me (see center photo below), then to my brother's son, and now to each of my sons (Gabriel on left, Nathaniel on right.) What a fun tradition. :)


What big eye-lashes you have!

Too Young for a Minivan

Michael and I decided it was about time to buy a new car. Our Accord is 10 years old and has 110,000 miles on it. (Anyone know someone who needs a good starter car?) My mom suggested a minivan, they love theirs, and I said, "I'm too young for a minivan." So we started thinking about what we want.

Our first thought was of a fun car. Look how pretty it is. So shiny and powerful. But really, are you going to put two car-seats into this?

So we revised our thinking to something larger. This Pilot could still fit into our self-image. It looks fun and big. So we went to the dealership to check it out. We liked it but the 3rd row seat is a little squished, the gas mileage was pretty low, and the kids needed help getting into it.

So what we really need is something like an SUV except with a larger 3rd seat, with better gas mileage and a little lower to the ground so the kids can get in easier? Really, we need a minivan? It was a shocking realization that, indeed, I am old enough for a minivan. So yesterday, we purchased a grey 2007 Honda Odyssey. I am officially a soccer mom. Michael was very sympathetic to my feelings and offered to get me a bumper sticker that said "My other car is a Ferrari." Very funny - if you stick anything to my pretty minivan, you will be in trouble.

Balloon Fiesta

We had a fun morning at the Balloon Fiesta. My parents and I bundled up the boys and headed out before dawn. Gabriel asked, with much skepticism, whether it was really morning. We went on Thursday morning, so we missed most of the traffic. We also had free entrance passes and a parking pass that made it very easy. As we walked in the front gate to the fiesta, the worker told us that Darth Vader was about to arrive. So we waited and accompanied his entourage to the Vader Balloon.

We then watched the balloons go up. While we were waiting, a balloonist gave the kids bunny ears to wear. Of course, I had to photograph them, they are adorable. I could have posted 300 pictures of this event. There was so much to see. Gabriel has decided that it would be fun to go up in a balloon. Maybe we will do that right after we get him a dog :) Poor child.

Fire Prevention Day

We decided to go to Walmart last Saturday morning and were surprised with Fire Engines in the parking lot. For Fire Prevention Day, the fire department had a huge event that included a jumper, hamburgers and hotdogs, and visits by the Lobo mascots. An emergency helicopter also landed nearby and let us look inside.

My Parents

I love to take pictures of people I love. My parents came for a visit during Balloon Fiesta and I got lots of good photos of them ...

Self-Portrait for October

Me at Wagner Farm's Corn Maze

Balloon Chasing

October is a time of changing seasons and hot-air-balloons in the air. One Saturday during the Balloon Fiesta, the wind was just right to send the balloons over our subdivision. The kids and I decided to see if we could find where they were landing. So we jumped into the car and pretended we were a chase crew. We found two balloons as they were landing and got to talk to the pilots, watch them fold up the balloons, get in the gondola, help carry the balloon to the chase vehicle, and even got trading cards. The first balloon landed right in the street!

As we were finishing up with Balloon #1, we saw Balloon #2 coming in for a landing. So we jumped into our car and went to search for the landing site. It landed on a hill overlooking an arroyo. We had given up on finding it and were heading home when we came upon the chase vehicle. They were kind enough to let Gabriel help carry the balloon.

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Wagner Farm pumpkin patch in Corrales. They have a maze out of corn, a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch and a hayride.

Coronado Monument

My parents were here last week and we had a wonderful visit. We introduced them to Coronado Monument in Bernalillo. Here are some photos of our walk.