Boo at the zoo!

On Columbus weekend, we headed up to Leurenkill for a Halloween filled weekend.  The kids had a great time and Finn didn't want to leave.  On Saturday night, they had treat or tricking on the hill.  We were a 50s family.  Finn and Fish looked super cute!

The following Friday, as a family, we hit up Boo at the Zoo.  The Cleveland Metropark Zoo hosts this event every year.  The zoo is open after dark and they feed pumpkins to animals.  They have lots of different acts and entertainment for the kids.  Finn even hit up her very first haunted greenhouse!  We all had a great time.  Despite the fact that everyone thought that Fish was a crab -- he's a lobster.  At least 6 times, I heard "Oh, look at that cute little crab..."  Womp womp.

I tried to get Finn to take a photo with these two tigers that were walking around (in fact, two weeks later, she even said "I don't like the tigers" immediately upon seeing this photo) because she was a kitty cat.  But girlfriend was WAY too petrified to stand next to them -- and to be fair, it was starting to get dark by that time (even though you can't tell from the photo -- my camera is really good in the dark).

Pumpkin Patch -- Iowa Style

Our last weekend in Iowa with the family, we hit up a local pumpkin patch and had way too much fun!  Due to the fact that I'm WAY behind on October photos (I have two more photo-laden posts that need to make it up before Halloween), this will be a snapshot post -- i.e. a photo with a title/description underneath.

Papa couldn't understand why I wanted to take so many photos of him with the kids.

Fish was thinking the same thing!

The photo on the right was the face that she made when I told her to make a "serious" face.

Baby Reid

Owen was full of smiles

Papa's gonna shoot me for this one -- but I couldn't resist.  He didn't realize how quickly the slide was.  Ha!

The pumpkin patch had a pile of old leaves to jump in.  It was Finn's FAVORITE part (with a capital letter on every single letter).

This is how she would spend her time every day if we let her.

Mimi & Papa let the kids pick out their own pumpkins. Guess which one is Finn's?  We were reading at the time (and are currently reading it again back by popular demand) the book The Bumpy Little Pumpkin.  So she had to pick out her own bumpy little pumpkin.

Pumpkin Parade

It seems like every time we go to Iowa, we end up at multiple parades.  This time, we hit up the homecoming parade of our local high school (as well as the pep rally) and then the Anamosa Pumpkin Parade.  The Pumpkin Parade features a contest for the largest pumpkin in Iowa.  And let me tell you, they get pretty big!

We met up with three of Finn & Fish's cousins, Sydney, Lena, & Knoxx.  They were wonderful with Finn as when the candy came flying, they would always make sure that at least one piece ended up in Finn's bucket if she didn't pick up any on her own.  Gramma Dawn, Gramma Nan and Carly were also there.  The parade was long, but Finn had a great time.

This is how Fish spent the entire parade.  It was pretty chilly that day.

See those blobs behind Finn?  Those are the winning pumpkins, with the largest being on the back of that white truck.

This wasn't even close to be one of the bigger ones -- it was just one with nice coloring near the natural light of the door.

Pretty amazing!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

And here is the big winner!  Weighing in at 1,666 pounds!!!!!!

That's one big pumpkin!

A mover and shaker!

No dogs, cats, or toys are safe!!!!!

Just happened today!

Cowboy up!

As I'm sure that you are aware, me and the kids headed back to Iowa at the end of September for a pretty kickin' 3rd birthday party.  Finn was so excited for the party and didn't stop talking about it for at least a week.  The bitin' lil' black bugs that were out during my entire stay (except the last two days) weren't that bad, which made for an excellent party!

Fish got in on the party festivities and took the opportunity to pose with the true mustache man -- Papa.  I can't remember a single time that my dad didn't have a mustache -- not a single time in all my 30-something+ years.  I think there is ONE photo in the albums that my mom keeps that has my dad not sporting his signature 'stache.  So Fish has some work to live up to that one.

Best-est cousins

Fish turned out to be quite the chick magnet.

Soon to be best-est cousins

Papa & Mimi with all the grandkids

Reid totally stretched out through my taking this photos.  It was almost as if he was saying "You think I'm the little one in these photos.  Ha!  I'll show you!"