Daddy's home

Daddy finally moved back from Alabama.We were all very excited. The boys made signs to bring to the airport when we picked him up. 

And waiting at home were balloons and an ice cream cake (not really an expected item when it is only 15 degrees outside but it's one of his favorites). It's also Patrick's favorite, as you can tell. All items were picked out by the boys.

We also made a special dinner for him (a few days later). It was BBQ ribs, salad with bacon ranch dressing, and potato casserole.

 

I had never made ribs before but I think they turned out pretty well. We will have to do this again sometime.

And with Daddy came all his stuff. He had all his things shipped back UPS so this is what our porch looked like when they arrived. And this was only half of his stuff.




I also thought it would be fun to put all the packing peanuts in a pile and let the boys play in them. I figured we would never have this many packing peanuts for a long time so why not let them have fun.



And they did.





I will be cleaning up pieces for quite some time, however. Oh well. It was worth it.

While we were in Alabama this summer, we picked up some real Tennessee moonshine and decided we would make Moonshine Margaritas as a celebration when he moved home. So, after the boys went to bed, we mixed some up. Man, they were strong. Next time we will use half the amount of Moonshine.

Welcome home Daddy! We couldn't be more excited to have you here at last.

Wildlife experience

Since we didn't have school today (I guess voting day is a holiday), we decided to make a trip to The Wildlife Experience so see their Lego display. 

The boys like walking around their Globeology exhibit. This time they even attempted the Scavenger hunt that goes along with it. It didn't last long, but it helped to keep their attention every once in a while. 

After walking through that, we made it to the Legos exhibit. The boys loved it. There were a few displays but mostly there were free legos to build cars and other things.





Doesn't he look thrilled that I asked him for a picture?



They had a ramp you could race your finished car down. This is where Patrick spent most of his time.



The other two were having fun running from each activity to the other. It was a neat exhibit.

Halloween

Since Dad was out of town before Halloween, I didn't want to carve pumpkins (I make him clean them out. Gross!) I wouldn't have even bought pumpkins this year but they were giving away free ones at the Broncos Bunch event the weekend before Halloween. So, instead I had the kids decorate their pumpkins with stickers from a book we had. I know, mean mom.

Halloween is an all day event out here. It starts in the morning for school parties. Since Daniel only goes in the afternoon, we all went to Josh's class for his party. 

They have snacks and games set up for the kids. 

After the party, they have a school-wide parade that goes around all the classrooms and outside. So we took the two little ones (with some of the snacks) outside to wait for the parade to start. 

Then we left Josh to finish up his school day and we headed home for lunch. 

After lunch, we came back for Daniel's party and parade. 

They made spiderwebs out of paper plates and yarn. What a great idea for this age group to work on their hand-eye coordination. I was impressed.

Patrick even had someone to play with. One of Daniel's classmates has a sister that was born two days after him. They are good buds.

Daniel thought the parade was pretty cool. Some of the older kids came out to watch them walk around (including Josh's class). Daniel was giving everyone high fives like he was a real race car celebrity. 

Patrick was practicing showing everyone his muscles.

After school, the boys came home, ate dinner, and were ready to go out Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood with Daddy.

They were very excited when they got home. 

Happy Halloween!

Mountain Vista Trick or Treat Street

Every year, the night before Halloween, the local high school hosts a Trick-or-Treat Street that the boys like to attend. They have all the hallways decorated as different themes and the high school students dress up and pass out candy. It's free and the kids get a ton of candy. 

It's always fun to watch the boys different reactions. Patrick knew more what was going on this year and was ready with his bag for candy. Josh kept his distance and Daniel would always try to get more than he was allowed. 

Its a fun event every year.

Broncos Bunch Trick or Treat Street

For his birthday, Josh got a membership to the Broncos Bunch from his aunt and uncle. It includes different activities throughout the year including a Trick-or-Treat Party at the stadium. So, after his football game, we jumped in the car and headed downtown. We didn't know what to expect but were very excited to get to walk around the stadium. 

You got to walk all around the stadium. Even through both locker rooms and the media room. 

And of course, photo ops right on the field.

The had some other photo ops set up including these mock lockers for Peyton Manning, Demaryius Thomas...

...and Von Miller. (I had to get in on the action, too).

It was a fun event. We will definitely go again next year.