More of November

The last post ended with part of Sam's birthday but didn't cover the actual day of his birthday. I was off all day so while Daddy was hunting, Sam and I went to get a bagel and then went to Prairie Kids Club. Sam got right to it!

He had the most fun playing in this little car and pretending to go on calls for emergencies.

We then went to the "soup place" for lunch. Sam told the man working there that it was his birthday and the man was very nice to Sam. Then as we were leaving, the store owner came out and said, "I hear it's Sam's birthday today. Here is a free coupon for a kids meal." Sam was THRILLED.

When we got home, he had his last present waiting for him. Minecraft Legos!

I got to be snack helper at school with Sam, and he had a great day.

Ready for snack and waiting for the kids to come in from outside. We got to go inside early to set up.

Sam chose strawberries, popcorn and chocolate milk to bring for his snack.

Sam got to be the Super Helper since it was his birthday which meant that any kid unable to perform their job, he got to do. He got to be the meteorologist since the meteorologist was currently still eating his snack :)

Dr. and Mrs Breadon invited us to join them at Mt Olympus in their suite for the night. The boys had So much fun. G&G Hyland and the Breadons had to leave early Saturday morning for an Optimist meeting, and the waterpark and theme park didn't open until 10am so we had some lounging time watching cartoons and playing with Minecraft characters.

We hit the arcade at about 9am because the boys could not sit still anymore!

Sam started with the Star Wars game.

After that we hit up the theme park. This ride was a hit with both boys this time. Sam hadn't tried it before, but he loved it.

This is where they spent the most time. There are tons of light soft balls that you can shoot out of air cannons and climb on this structure. Both were red faced and sweaty after being in here!

Sam got invited to Kona's birthday party at Prairie Kids Club. He had so much fun. Kona is in a different 4K class this year, but that didn't bother them.

Just like last year, Sam managed to sit next to the birthday boy. It was a fun time!

Pumpkin Patch and Birthday Season!

This is going to be a long post because October and November are usually our busiest months!

John went on a hunting trip with Grandpa Rikli in October, which meant that Grandma and I were on our own. I took some vacation so Sam, Grandma and I went to IHOP for breakfast one day after Joey went to school. Definitely one nice benefit of Sam having 4K in the afternoon!

Hanging out at the park while Joey is at Cub Scouts.

There was no school on October 7th so we headed to Edwards Orchard!I didn't get as many pictures when we were there.

This was the view on the way home though. Joey got a new Minecraft book and read most of the way back.

Sam chose to catch up on his sleep!

We went to Star Wars reads at the library. They had a group of adults come dressed as the characters, and their costumes were amazing.

Kylo Ren with Kylo Ren. The adult said to Joey..."You look familiar"

I love how Joey blends in with Darth Vader in this picture.

There was a young man Stormtrooper who asked Sam to take his picture with him. Love the size difference :)

Sam's big request this Fall was to make an apple pie...so we did it!

We made our annual trip to Oakwood and Peck's. Here is what is becoming Joey's annual picture on the pumpkin display. Sam still refuses to participate :)

We went to Chuck E Cheese for Joey's birthday. The boys wore their costumes and got some extra tickets. It was fun to see Kylo Ren and a Stormtrooper playing at Chuck E Cheese.

Joey's birthday was a superhero theme. He got a Thor cake!

Some fun photo props...

The boys were great helpers with the leaves this year, as long as it meant they were being collected in a huge pile to jump and play in! It helped make bagging them much quicker though!

We went to Boo in the Woods with scouts. They had a fun donut bobbing game, a haunted house (which scared both the boys), bb gun shooting, and various other games.

At the end they had pumpkin launching. Both boys were super impressed with that!

Sam fits into Joey's old Curious George sweatshirt that Aunt Kate got him, and I think he looks so cute in it!

We tried out a new place on the last weekend they were open for the year and LOVED it. Waldvogel's is the name of the place, and they have a TON of stuff to do.

First up was getting a Creeper painted on our faces....

Then we had to go on the giant slide through the hill. We must have done these slides at least 10 times throughout the day.

Joey is doing his usual in the corn box while Sam gets to work :)

We did a full mini golf course for the first time, and both boys really enjoyed it. We ended up going through a second time. We didn't follow all the rules, but it was a very efficient game of mini golf as a result!

We got to go inside the pen with some pigs. They both enjoyed petting them.

Halloween time! Halloween was a beautiful day this year. Not too cold and not rainy...we'll take it!

Sam made it about 1/2 an hour before he said he felt like he was going to throw up. We had John pick him up and then he told John when they got home that some candy would make him feel better. We have discovered that him saying he's going to throw up is his code word for being done with something or wanting to stop. Can't wait till it is actually the real deal and we don't believe him! I believe Peter and the Wolf is a story in our near future.

The weekend of November 5th and 6th was more beautiful weather. The boys and I took advantage of it while John was hunting and went to the last outside Madison Farmers Market, went to the observation deck at the Capitol and went to the park in Middleton to enjoy a picnic outside. Great day!

We had Sam's birthday party on the 6th.

He had been talking birthday for months and was so excited. Overall it went well. We still have to work on how he responds to presents that he forgot he asked for (or didn't ask for), but it is very fun to see his excitement over the day.

Grandma Rikli made him a  dolphin cake (that was the theme), and it was a perfect cake for Sam!

Look at that plate of desserts. He ate about 3 bites of everything, but he had an impressive plate which is important to him :)

Joey set up rounds of playing Pop the Pirate. This is the 3rd round of people. Maebel got to play it, and she was very serious and was able to play too!

She was very silly with the dolphin ring toss game.

We walked to Joey's school since it was such a nice day, and Maebel took her car.

She was so tired that she snoozed in the swing for a little bit.

Fall fun!

We had Sam's back to school picnic at the park, and Uncle Jay and Maebel got to come with us. Joey loved pushing Maebel on the swings, and she seemed to really like it!

Joey took ice skating lessons for the first time. He did a good job for the first time. It is a tricky thing to learn!

We had a Nerf Gun fight and Maebel was the referee. She got pretty into it!

We went to Fireman's Park on a nice day and met a little boy named Sam who was 4 just like our Sam. They had a great time playing together.

We went to the first Kids in the Rotunda. The boys both went on stage to help with the music. It was a full house, but was fun!

More Fall fun to come!