Halloween at Grants Farm 2010

Great Godfrey Corn Maze 2010

This year we met our friends Leanne, Aaron, and Olivia at the Godfrey Corn Maze. If you have never been you should go it is so much fun. This years theme was Alice and Wonderland (last year it was medieval times). This is the "map" of what the maze would look like if you were above it.
Dave and the girls riding the tea cup train.

Olivia and her daddy on the tea cup train.
Caelyn hanging outside the corn pit.

Olivia and her daddy playing in the corn pit.
Chloe had no issues with diving into the corn.

This is the only decent picture I got of Caelyn actually in the corn. The dad's buried the girls so us mom's could get a good photo opt, Leanne did you get a good picture, cause this was the best I got.

Chloe's New Bike

Chloe has gotten too big for her Radio Flyer tricycle so Grandpa bought her a new Princess bike. it is so much different then riding her trike but she is learning. While these pictures were taken at my parents house, she does normally wear her helmet, I am not sure why she isn't wearing it in these pictures. So don't think she rides without one all the time. The first day she got it she wouldn't even ride it, but up until last week when it started getting colder she was riding it everyday I know she will do great next spring and I can't wait to take her and Caelyn to Grant's Trail to ride with my girls (because I got me a new cruiser bike as well).

Trick or Treating

This was the second year Chloe truly trick or treated it was alot of fun for all of us. I can't wait until next year when Caelyn can really participate as well. Like last year, we went into my parent's subdivision to Trick or Treat. We just don't have alot of younger families by us on our street. I do feel bad because there are some kids that come around, but there are at least double the kids at my parents' subdivision.

Halloween Playdate

We had a playdate at our friends the Reininger's house for Halloween. It was alot of fun and there were lots of people there. Chloe decided she wanted to be the Woodland Fairy Aunt Lisa made her, so that is what she was this day. There was lots of playing, food, and activities. Chloe made a Ghost (which we left there) and a candy apple. She always loves being around her friends and making new ones.

Carmel Apples

I made for the first time carmel apples. I decided to give them out at Halloween gifts to some friends. I hear though they got soft (or as my mom said. "turned to mush) alittle too fast which makes me sad, but I had fun. Next year, I wil buy two bags of carmel.

St. Louis Boo at the Zoo Nights

The St. Louis Zoo holds some Halloween themed events during this time of year. They do a Boo at the Zoo on October 24 and they offer night events through out the month of October until Halloween. It is a kid friendly experience to see the zoo at night. While there wasn't a whole lot to do, we still had alot of fun and I learned that I need so much practice with night shots.

2009 Pumpkin Carving

This year, we only carved 2 pumpkins, a shock I know. We normally average about 5 but we had to cut back cause things are tight. So this year, Dave and Chloe picked a pumpkin together and Caelyn and I picked one. Last year Chloe participated, but this year she did alot more than she ever has. I think her favorite part though it so remove the "guts" of the pumpkin. Dave and I wear gloves, but Chloe dug right in with her bare hands. Oh, someone is missing. Who could that be? Well Caelyn really had no interest in the pumpkins so with the help of Aunt Cindy she was entertained while Dave, Chloe, and I carved. Oh, you wanna know what Caelyn was doing, well she was looking extremely cute, that is what she was doing.

Because I picked such a small pumpkin, I had to hand draw my design on there. And of course, nothing fancy would fit so I just did the traditional jack-o-lantern face. Dave and Chloe on the other hand had a nice sized pumpkin and choose a witch for their design.

Chloe did start to get alittle board so she did play with Cindy and Caelyn (and rode her bike inside the garage). But we also let her cut the pumpkin as well. She had alot of fun using the knife and making her cuts (on the backside of course, Dave didn't want her to ruin the design). She really enjoyed carving and I think next year we will be getting her a small one like I had to cut herself. Here Chloe is being such a big girl carving her own pumpkin. She loved using the knife and we actually had to take it away cause she didn't want to put it down. But don't worry, a few years back we bought a kid proof kit so the knives in the kit were not dangerous sharp, they were very rounded so they couldn't actually poke you and hurt.

We had a lot of fun carving our pumpkins and enjoy that each year Chloe gets more and more interested in doing it. I can't wait for both girls to be excited about carving their own pumpkins. Soon we will have 4 pumpkins carved, one for each of us!!

Eckert's Farm in Milstadt

Normally we head right down the road to Stuckmeyers Farm to get out pumpkins. This year we decided to try another farm and we are so glad we did. We went to Eckert's in Milstadt. This is the Eckerts that does charge you to get in, but all the "activities" are free once your inside (with a few exceptions but nothing major). There was so much more for the girls to do and Dave and I enjoyed watching them play.

The first thing we did once we got there was watched the pumpkin launcher. Chloe was fascinated by this thing. They first demonstrated how it work with just one pumpkin. Then they called kids from the audience to help clean, prep, and load the launcher. Then the count down began, and boom!!! The pumpkin shot out of the cannon and soured through the air until it hit the ground scattering into many pieces.

We then headed out to the pumpkin patch. You could also pick apples, but we didn't want to take a chance of the rain moving in since we went on the only day it had not rained in almost a week. Next year I think we will for sure pick some apples. We rode a wagon to the field and the search for the perfect pumpkin began.

After we found the perfect pumpkin we came back to let the girls play. There was a playground, swings, tea cups, horses, a fun house, bike track, mini golf, and so much more to do. They even have karaoke there that day. It was funny to hear the little girls sing, no boys were brave enough to get up there so we heard many Taylor Swift, Demi Lavato, and Miley Cyrus songs. Chloe would not get up there to sing, but she was singing right along with the girls while playing.