Bella's Halloween Party

Bella's school's Halloween party and parade was today. She dressed as a Tiger Ballerina- her pick. Here's her other classmates and their picks. They paraded outside the school and were given treats at various spots.
Then, they had their Halloween party. Charlie's mom and I were in charge of it this year. We had donuts and Lemonade.

During our snack, the FIRE ALARM went off and everyone went outside to wait. Bella was midway through her donut when we were evacuated, hence the orange icing on her face. The kids were excited to see a real fire truck come to school. It turns out that a fog machine was to blame and we all went back inside and finished our craft (stickers on pumpkins.) An interesting and fun time!

Pumpkin Carving

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, we took the kids to eat at Chuys Mexican Restaurant- amazing fajitas and a good outdoor patio to let the kids dance to the music and watch the storms roll in. Later that day we went to Coppell and had a BBQ brisket dinner with my parents and then went to Grapevine Mills Mall to walk off our meal:) I personally think we put more calories in our bodies then walked them off, considering that about every block was a bakery handing out free samples.

On Sunday, Josh and Renae and their family, and Carol and Dick swung by for a spaghetti dinner. We decided to carve some pumpkins. It was really more the adults doing the carving and the kids playing in the backyard. What a gorgeous evening! (Great weather, no rain.) Later that night, we decided to bake some pumpkin seeds. I put the seeds into the oven after following the Internet instructions, then Victoria sticks her head out from over the stair railing and shouts, "Mom!!! Bella is playing with the baby powder and getting it everywhere!" I run upstairs to see a dust cloud of powder wafting from their room. Caleb is a white snowman and Victoria's red hair is white. I send Bella to time out, while Renae and I start to clean up. Then we remember the seeds roasting downstairs and bolt to check on them- slightly crispy, a couple brown, but edible. Later, Carol told me she went over to Bella in time out and asked her what she did. Bella just started laughing hysterically and making a big boom expression with her hands. On the plus side, I don't have to deodorize the kids room anytime soon. All in all, a great weekend with great people. I love Fall.

Victoria's Pumpkin Patch

I went on a field trip with Victoria's class to the Pumpkin Patch today. What a neat time! I met tons on parents- 12 parents from Victoria's class came! They had some great mini classes about pumpkins- in their science class they hypothesized if a pumpkin would float in water- in math they weighed and measured pumpkins, etc. They also read a book about the perfect pumpkin, then went to pick one out. Victoria shows her classmates her find.
Victoria's best friend Bentley

the hay ride

Mrs. Byers awesome Kinder class

Branson

The Lunn family traveled to Branson Missouri with Grandma Carol and Grandpa Dick. Along the way we made many pit stops (small bladders). Jer kept telling Victoria and Bella that we were traveling through Indian Country and they kept asking to see an Indian. He was finally able to show them at one of our stops- picture above.

One of the shows that we saw was the Yakav Russian Circus- very good! Basically, it was about a clown that falls in love with a ballerina and they perform all the circus acts plus more. During the show, they asked Victoria to be part of it, by becoming a human bubble. She did a great job- I was very proud of her.

Before the show, we were able to participate in a competition with Boomsticks. We were the orange team. We marched along banging sticks together.

The next day we went to a butterfly exhibit. Before we entered with the butterflies, we saw a 3D show on them. (However, when butterfly is pitted against praying mantis... let's just say, it doesn't end pretty.) Afterward, the girls were given magnifying glasses, binoculars, hats, and a butterfly index to tell the different ones, then set loose on the innocent little critters.

Look at this picture carefully, can you tell where the butterfly is?

Check the sleeve.

Showing off our butterflies.

Victoria teaches Bella how to make a butterfly with her hands.

It's funny what kids find scary at different times of their lives. Bella was actually a little scared of the butterflies and didn't want them to land on her. Last year we went to an exhibit and she was in love, this year, different story. Victoria this year was a little upset that they weren't landing on her. She stood like a still tree, and waited.

We went to a Hall of Mirrors and Wax Museum one night. We had so much fun taking picture with all the stars. Can you guess the movies/stars (besides us, of coarse) ?

One day we went down to the Branson Riverwalk. It had a bunch of outdoor stores, restaurants, a playground for kids, and a walkway along the river.

At the end of the river walk were water fountains that also spit fire.

One night we went to the Dixie Stampede. Before the pre-show we had a cherry Slurpee and some popcorn. The show was amazing- food you eat with your fingers, lots a cheering for your side- the South- lots of booing for the North, lots of dancing and laughs. Both girls danced in their seats. OK, I might have been doing some toe tapping too :)

This vacation we also went to Silver Dollar City amusement park. (No pictures- my battery died.) The kids enjoyed riding almost all the rides. They went on their first real roller coaster Fire Down the Hole and loved it, although Victoria admitted that "it might have been a little scary." (It was in the dark.) A great vacation with a great family!

Bella's Pumpkin Patch

Bella's class went to the Pumpkin Patch this morning. She choose a cute little pumpkin.

We also celebrated her birthday with her class by eating cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday. Here is her teacher Mrs. Shannon and Bella.