Fall 2013: Part 2

More Fall Fun!

We took a trip to the Knoxville Zoo on warm Sunday in October.  It was Anna's first trip ever!  And, Ben hadn't been since he was 2, so it was really fun to see how excited they were.  The highlight was getting to feed a giraffe! 

 

 

Anna didn't know what to think about the elephants....they're pretty big!

Ben was all about the petting zoo, but Daddy had to give Anna a little extra support to pet the goats :)

Yee ha!

We also had our annual family reunion "Sumner/Caldwell".  Ben had a BALL playing with cousins Hank and Tyler.

 

Halloween was super fun this year....Ben had the coolest astronaut costume, and Anna was a precious little lady bug.

Trick or Treating in Lake Ridge neighborhood with all our little friends...

 

 

Halloween Cuties :) 2012

We had a great Halloween this year!  Ben was a shark, and Anna was a cupcake.

Here is Ben making his "shark face"...

...and Anna in all her cupcake-cuteness :)

We went over to a friend's neighborhood and met up with all of their little buddies to go Trick-or-Treating.  Ben and Sophia led the way!!

Anna is, of course, too little to eat candy and just started walking.  So, she got to be chauffered in the wagon from house to house.  Sweet  little thing had on so many layers, she just sat there in the wagon with her arms sticking out like the kid from "A Christmas Story"!!

Getting some help from his big brothers!!!!

Anna, quite the trooper :)

And one more - I  just couldn't resist!  Doesn't it look like he's contemplating EATING YOU!?!

~ Halloween 2011 ~

This year Halloween was super fun because it was Ben's first "real" Halloween that he understood the concept of dressing up and getting candy.  His first bag of loot came from school, where they had a candy parade though the church halls.  He was to dress up as a Biblical character, so Mama made him a king costume from a bathrobe and (spray painted) Burger King crown ~ he loved it and was so proud!!



King Ben

Here he is at school with his friend Riley. His teacher says they are two peas-in-a-pod because they are the "talkers" in the class...ha ha!!

For the actual trick-or-treating on Halloween, Ben dressed up as a golfer.  I really can't believe he wore the whole costume, including the hat, the whole time, but we kept saying how he was "just like Daddy", so I think he felt really cool :)

We had pictures made as part of a charity event, and both of them were super cute!  Anna wasn't any particular costume....just a cutie pie!!

On Halloween night, we went to a friend's neighborhood to gather with all of Ben's little buddies. 



Ben and Sophia



Anna in her Happy Halloween tutu and Candy Corn socks!

We might be mean parents, but after the night was over, we just hid Ben's candy bag and never mentioned it again....whew!  We had our taste of sugar highs and crashes from the school candy and didn't want to repeat it!  Ben has quite a big sweet tooth and once he got a taste of it, he constantly pestered us for candy for DAYS!!

Ben, Liam, Sophia, and Clara

Anna must have seen a ghost...ha ha!!

 But then it was all smiles!!  She did so great riding in the stroller, even though it was FREEZING outside!!

Fun times and great memories for our family!!

Hallo"scream"

Well, this Halloween was a bit "un-traditional" in that we were out of town for the big day. Our annual family reunion in Chapel Hill, NC fell on this weekend, so we weren't at home to do the Trick-or-Treat thing. That turned out to be OK, though, considering 1). Ben's never eaten candy in his life and at age 15 months could not care less to miss out on all that, and 2). he hated his blue dinosaur costume worse than going to the doctor for shots ~ oh,no!!

"Help me, Mason!"
We had successfully done a "test run" a few weeks before, but the combination of it being past bedtime (for the second night in a row) and all the excitement of everyone returning from the fun football game was just too much for our little dinosaur. The longer the costume stayed on, the harder Ben cried :( So, we just threw on the "Mommy's Little Pumpkin" shirt and went to visit everyone. Let's hope next year isn't such a "scream"!!

Happy Halloween!

Ben had a great First Halloween ~ a bit uneventful due to the rain, but that was OK with him (and Mama and Daddy, too!) All along, he was to be a skeleton..."Bad to the Bone" is what his little cap said. But then I found a cute monkey costume at Old Navy for $2 on Friday, so he had a costume change mid-day.

First we went to the mall to do some errands as B.T.T.B. Everyone thought he was just adorable, and of course, I agreed!! :)

Then to go trick-or-treating (i.e. go visit the 3 neighbors we're friends with - ha!), we put on the monkey suit.

He did OK with it for the most part, but when we got back to the house, he told us in his own way that he was not ~BANANAS~ about this hot costume business!!

Starting off all smiles....

"Hmmm....not so sure about this."

"Ok, take a hint. I'm getting tired..."
"WAHHHHHH. I don't want to be a MONKEY anymore!!!!!"


Tee hee hee!! Only a mommy could think this face was cute! :)

My Lil' Pumpkin!

Ben has two Halloween "outfits"- his costume, and this:
So, of course, since he won't be wearing it anymore after Saturday, we've been sporting it out and about a lot!!