Ben's Birthday and Halloween Happenings

Ben and I both had our birthdays this month! Ben turned 30 this year, which is kind of crazy to believe. I told him he looks the same as he did when we got married. He says he thinks he looks a little more tired. Haha! Well we do have 3 kids . . .

 

Mom made Ben a birthday dinner, which consisted of delicious Szechuan Beef, fried rice, Bacon bread, and a mint pie. It was kind of a weird combination, but no one complained! It was super tasty.

 

Here is the birthday banner that me and the girls made for Ben. It's so fun to have our birthdays in October. We love getting to celebrate Halloween and have so many fun traditions! For Family Home Evening the other night we carved our pumpkin. We asked April what she wanted us to carve and she said, "A vampire!!" so we carved a Vampire pumpkin.  

Pulling all the seeds and gunk out.

The finished product! He turned out pretty cool.

Here's our Halloween door. The girls helped me pick out the decorations.
 There is a really fun pumpkin patch around the corner from our house. We went there for a play group one week. They had a miniature horse and donkey that the girls loved petting and "feeding" hay to.

The girls with some pumpkins they picked out.

Jamie has been super helpful lately with Ryan and April. She really enjoyed giving Ryan his bottle the other day. She is such a great big sister! Last week my friend Kristen hosted a Halloween party/Girls' Night Out so I got dressed up as a witch. Jamie really enjoyed me chasing her around the house saying I was going to get her.

Me and Laura had the same idea to be witches.

There is another cute pumpkin patch in Buda, which is about 15 minutes from us. They had all kinds of inflatables and the girls loved posing for pictures next to them. Ryan loved napping in his stroller.

Last weekend our neighborhood put together a Halloween Fall Festival for all the people and kiddos in the neighborhood. It was a huge success and we all had a great time! April dressed up as Anna from Frozen, and Jamie was Jasmine from Aladdin. Ryan didn't want to wear his banana costume, so he just chilled in his onesie. April loved the pig at the petting zoo and gave him a lot of love.

Free train rides!

April's prize that she won for putting a ring on the witch's hat. She calls it her "Skelly Ball".

Jamie with the miniature horse at the petting zoo. I was so impressed with how well behaved the animals were. They loved the kids.

Here's Ryan with his "Baby's First Halloween" bib on. He is getting better at lifting his head up and enjoying tummy time a little more. We all love this time of year so much. We can't wait for our Ward Trunk or Treat on Friday, and then actual Halloween night!

Galveston Trip!!!

We had such a wonderful time going to Galveston at the end of September for Ben's annual law conference. The road trip on the way there wasn't too bad, and the first night we ate at a really delicious authentic Galveston seafood place called Gaido's. We all loved it, and Ryan slept almost the whole time we were there! Here is a pic of the girls in front of the statue in the restaurant:

 The next day we all went to the beach for a few hours before Ben's conference started. April's favorite thing to do anytime we go anywhere with a body of water is to run into it and then run back out. Haha. It's super cute to watch. She also started picking up seashells and throwing them into the ocean.

 Ben took turns with the girls taking them out farther into the ocean. It always gives me a mild panic attack- (have you seen the movie, JAWS???) but they always like it.

 Of course we built a few sandcastles, buried some legs and feet, and generally just got sandy and dirty!

 Ryan slept almost the whole time at the beach, but toward the end he woke up and wanted to join in on the fun.

 He wasn't a big fan of his hat though. He hates it.

 Jamie could have spent all day at the beach. She loved every minute of it!

 Just chillin' in the water.

 Hanging out in the hotel room and waiting for Ryan to wake up from his nap.

 Almost every night we went to the beach when it cooled off and walked around. It was always so beautiful and peaceful. It's nice that we went when it wasn't the busy tourist season, because we mostly had the beach to ourselves.

Ben and I have been to California beaches and Florida beaches, and even Brazil beaches. Texas beaches may not compare, but a beach is a beach! We thought it was really pretty and fun. This was also our first attempt taking all three kids on a vacation, and it went better than expected. Ryan did cry the entire way home pretty much, so that was really rough, but I'm glad we went!