Happy Halloween from my little 50's "babies!" :)

Wednesday, we took the kids to Boo at the Zoo. We went last year, but they didn't even know what candy was yet! This year was so different and so fun! It's so fun to see them get so excited about things. If they were this excited about trick-or-treating, I can only imagine how excited they will be when it's time for Santa to visit!

We went to dinner at Chick-Fil-A before going to the zoo. The kids wore their costumes the whole time, and managed not to get any ketchup or barbecue sauce on them! A small miracle. :)

We stayed at the zoo for about an hour. We took the wagon but they ended up walking the entire time. Addison got SO excited each time she saw a candy stand and took off running saying "trick-or-treat!". Fischer was excited too but seemed much more phased by all of the lights and costumes so we kept having to remind him to go up to the stands, and walk with us. :)  They got some good stuff which I have been sampling throughout the week. They are getting to pick a small surprise out of their pumpkins everyday or every other day.

If that wasn't enough excitement, their school party was on Thursday so they got to wear their costumes again! They came home with goody bags and balloons and I later found out they got to eat orange donuts at school! It was their first ever school holiday party and I think they loved it!

Here are a few pictures from Boo at the Zoo:

This weekend was the chili cookoff that we participate in each year. This was our 6th year doing it, and it was a lot of fun, as usual! We raised about $300 for Camp Kemo and had a great time while doing it!

It's a little different since having kids. It requires help from several people to allow us to participate since it's hard to cook and serve chili all day with 2 toddlers roaming around! This year, Jim and Dianne brought them a little later in the day after feeding them lunch at home. After hanging out for a little while, my parents brought them back home and stayed overnight with them so Scott and I could have a night out with friends. It was fun and I'm already looking forward to next year!

While the kids were there, my Dad and I took them over to a nearby playground. They had a great time!

On Monday, we spent part of the day at the South Carolina State Fair! We took the kids last year but they were too small to really ride anything or enjoy the food. We were really excited about taking them this year! They have changed so much since last year!

For starters, we didn't even take a stroller. They walked around the entire fair! What big kids! In addition, they ate about as much food as we did (which led to a dose of Pepto all around later in the day). We ate french fries, fried okra, wings, pizza and ribbon fries. Yes, lots of fried food. But isn't that what the fair is all about? And the last, biggest change from last year, is they went diaperless!! I actually thought about putting them in pull-ups because I was worried they might get scared on a ride and have an accident. But I decided against that, and there were no accidents to report! Like I said, such big kids!

They kids were still a little too short for most of the rides but we did get to ride a few! We did the same slide that they did last year, which was fun. Then we rode the "Wacky Worm" which was a little roller coaster! It had a few curves and one hill. The kids seemed to really enjoy that. The last ride was a bumblebee ride, which went around in a circle and the bees could go up and down. We had to wait in line for awhile for this ride, and they even did great with that. We figured we were practicing patience. :)

We also ventured over to the barn area where we got to feed some goats. And Fischer and Scott rode an elephant!! Sadly, that's the only thing I have a picture of from the entire day. I will have to post that soon. I pulled out my camera to take some pictures and it wouldn't work. I was really sad! :(

I can't wait to take them back next year. It will be even more fun because they will be even more into the rides!! I will just dream of the french fries until then... :)

Yesterday I worked at the Scholastic Book Fair at Addison and Fischer's school. It was my first event as a  "school mom." It was fun, and it was nice knowing I was helping the school out.

My mom was always very involved in our classrooms and with our schools so it was a neat feeling knowing that I am going to get to do the same things!

Other than that, we've had a pretty good week. After I picked the kids up from school on Tueday, we headed to NC to visit my parents for the night. While there, the kids and I had a slumber party. The 3 of us slept together in their king sized spare bed, and it actually went well. It didn't take long for them to go to sleep (without me in bed with them!) and they looked so cozy laying beside each other when I did come to bed. I wish I couldn't taken a picture.  Fischer did wake up at 4:45 and announced that it was time for breakfast. Thankfully he went back to sleep though.

We had a nice visit, even though it was short. The kids had a great time getting into everything and going up and down the stairs that have always been blocked off in the past. They are growing up!!!

Their bedding is here, and their beds are made. I just need to take some pictures and then I will post them!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Here are some Monday updates:

-Addison and Fischer are now in their BIG KID beds! They each have a full sized bed and have been sleeping in them since last Wednesday. And they are sleeping great! More on that later!

-We sent the kids to school in "undies" last Tuesday. We thought they were ready. They weren't...Addison had a very messy accident (that included double bagging her clothes to send home and throwing away her undies). Fischer decided he needed to potty out on the playground and pulled down his pants right there and started to go (this is our fault since we let him do this at home when we are playing outside). So we'll try again soon, hopefully. They are doing great at home though.... we just need to work on the "rules" about when/where it is appropriate to potty. :)

-Our little potty goes everywhere with us now. It never fails that one of them has to go when we are somewhere that doesn't have a restroom. This could also be why Fischer is confused about when/where to go - it's much easier for a boy to go anywhere! I never thought I'd be a potty-toting parent, but it has definitely helped us out a lot.

-We got A and F's beds at IKEA, and while we were there we finally got an organization piece for my "office." Scott hung it last night and I finally got to get some things organized - I'll post pictures soon. I'm hoping to get back to work on my photo albums now that I have a space to work.

-We had a good weekend that included lots of outdoor time (and a Carolina win!!). We are loving this weather. We went to a new park/playground and the kids had a blast. Saturday afternoon, we went to Jim and Dianne's and ran around and played with their dogs. We even went for a ride in the back of Jim's old Jeep Scrambler. Fischer kept saying we were in the jungle. :)

-Hunting season is in, and Scott's been trying to stock up our freezer with some deer meat. When he goes at night he leaves around 5:30 but gets home before the kids go to bed. The kids always "help" him get ready, and have even pitched a fit or two because they want to go too. Now, they like to "go huntin'" when they are in the yard playing.

-Addison is demanding that she be a princess for Halloween. Fischer won't agree to anything except "running around naked." Um.... I'm not sure a streaker is a good Halloween costume. :) That boy says some funny stuff.

-Both kids got haircuts on Friday - as usual, they did great!

-Once the kids' new bedding arrives (hopefully today) I will post pictures of their new rooms!

I think that about sums up the past week. Oh, I bought The Lion King yesterday and was so excited to watch it last night. About 20 minutes into it, I could tell Addison was completely stressed out and on the verge of crying so we had to turn it off. It was a bit darker than I remembered, especially for little kids. At least we have it now and can watch it in a few years. :)

Friday afternoon, the kids and I were sitting on our porch. They were sitting at their little picnic table having a snack. Out of nowhere, Addison looked at Fischer and said "Let me see your thumbs!" Only it sounded more like "Wet me see yur fums!"

Apparently that was their cue, because they both started singing a song in spanish! It took me a few seconds to catch on, but then I realized what they were doing. Their preschool teacher is Hispanic and told us she'd be incorporating Spanish into their class. So now, they've learned an entire song. I was so impressed and have had a great time saying "Show me your thumbs" and making them sing it over and over!

Here is a video of each one of them singing it. You can definitely understand more of what Fischer is saying, but it was so cute when they were singing it together. Maybe I'll get that on video eventually!

Incase you were wondering, they are saying:

Buenos Dias, Buenos Dias
Como Estas? Como Estas?
Muy Bien, Gracias, Muy Bien, Gracias
Y Usted, Y Usted

Last Sunday, we were up early again, but this time it was on purpose. The kids did wake up somewhat early and crawled into bed with us. Luckily, this time, they went back to sleep until we had to wake them up. We had to leave for the airport at 8 am, so thanks to our kids, the whole house was awake pretty early. This was good though because Addison and Fischer got to play with their cousins for awhile before having to leave.

We returned our rental car, rode a shuttle bus to the airport, checked in and headed to the security line. We were expecting the worst, since the line we saw when we landed on Friday was really long. However, we were pleasantly surprised that USAirways has a family line! So, we got to jump to the head of the line and we were done with security pretty quickly.

This was good, but it was also bad because now we had A LOT of time until our plane boarded. We decided to head to our gate just to see where it was and then we were going to figure out what to do. While we were walking, we happened to pass a play area. YES!!!!! We stopped there and the kids played for about an hour. It was awesome, and pretty much a life saver. We took a quick break to go get some pizza then headed back to play some more.

When it was getting close to boarding time, we headed to our gate. Fortunately there was an empty seating area close to our gate so the kids had a great time climbing all over the seats. Then, it was time to board! This time, we were sitting 2 on one row and 2 on the row behind. I sat with Addison and Scott with Fischer. Scott got the better end of the deal this time - Fischer slept the entire flight. Addison didn't sleep at all but was very tired which led to sevreal meltdowns. She didn't want to be buckled up, she wanted me to hold her (I couldn't because we were about to land and she had to stay in her seat)... every little thing was setting her off! Luckily she wasn't too loud so I don't think we interrupted anyone's flight.

Finally we were back in Charlotte. Like I said, Addison was so tired. She was fast asleep before we were even out of the parking garage. Overall, the kids did great with the traveling and all of the fun! We are hoping to be able to visit again soon!