Get ready for Halloween!

I'm so excited about Halloween this year. A understands it and we have a familycostume  ready. Pictures of that will have to wait until at least tomorrow, but in the meantime check out last weekend's fun at the Discovery Museum Halloween Party and carving our pumpkin!

The pirate in his pirate ship

Mad scientists!

Making a pumpkin 

Yummy spider cookie!

Pumpkin goo

Showing off our silly face pumpkin

S'mores and glowing jack 'olantern

Life's a Beach (Part 2 of the family vacay)

I meant to do this post earlier this week, because with Halloween looming, I already have some great pictures to share! Oh well, it's here at last :)

Most of the week we had fantastic weather...check out DaDoc (far left), Pop, A, Kyle and Fella enjoying the fishing and waves.
 
We mostly tried to fish...

though a few fish were caught (none good for eating).

And we went exploring too!

And on the one day we did have rain, we went to the NC Aquarium! This was our first full aquarium trip, and it was really fun.

Don't worry...we relaxed plenty too...mostly by playing play-doh and watching Jake!

We had a really great time with our family, and can't wait for the next family trip in 2015!

Crabby Time

Don't worry. Crabby time is not a reference to A's recent mood or behaviors. Instead it is a reference to the nightly ritual we had while at the beach this past week! Perhaps this was A's favorite part of the beach trip this year. (And I mean for real favorite, not just the last thing mentioned.)

With the sun going down around 7pm, it was perfect for us to head out to the beach and hunt for crabs each night. Well, except for that night it was pouring rain of course so we skipped. Fiddler crabs, ghost crabs, sand crabs...whatever you want to call them...are downright fun to chase around the beach for all ages! 

First, take a look at one. They range from 1 inch to 6 inches and are usually tan or spotted to blend in with the sand. Here's a tinier one that DaDoc was happy to hold for us. 

But searching for and running after them are really the fun part. 

Just wait til you find one!

Yep. We had fun. I think we'll do it again. 

Apples and More Apples

Last week I posted a menu that was mostly fantastic. A ate everything without complaint, though unfortunately the sweet potato quesadillas were a little lack-luster. But let me tell you that kid can eat some sausage with apples and cabbage. Lucky for us we have leftover pumpkin soup (recipe winner for the week!) so this week will be easy for dinner. 

If we do need something beyond leftovers, we have 30 lbs of apples to eat. Yep, you read that right. Thirty. And here begins the picture installment from our adventure to Carter Mountain today...

Look at this view...

Apple picking time!

Pumpkin patch!

On the hayride 

And now for some apple pie!

Indian Summer?

Well we enjoyed 80 degree temps this weekend, meaning we spent lots of time outside. Pop and Magga were here so we had a blast running around the yard, "fishing," meals on the deck, and a baseball game to top it off. I  always long for fall, but I can't resist these low-humidity wam days in September! 

Anyways, here are a few cute pics from the weekend.

On a totally different topic, I get the question of how do I cook and plan weekly meals each week from friends often, so I thought I might try posting a few weekly menus on here. We're blessed that A is a good eater (what he lacks in quantity he makes up for in variety), so everything I post is A approved. My go to cookbook these days is the Six O'Clock Scramle (SOS), which I adore. She has great recipes that are actually fast. And they use a variety of grains, vegetables, and spices which I love. *I try to go meatless multiple nights a week, so you'll notice that within my menu.

Okay here we go...

Sunday, aka Grill Day: pork chops, oven roasted potatoes with herbs, oven roasted brocolli 

Monday: sweet potato quesadillas with a side salad*

Tuesday: leftovers from the weekend (I made baked ziti from a Pioneer Woman which makes enough for 12 so...)

Wednesday: Greek rice bowl (SOS)*

Thursday: Pumpkin soup with canellini beans and pancetta (the original recipe is from has this made on the stovetop, but I'm going to make it in the slow cooker)

Friday: Sausage with apples and cabbage (again, from SOS)

If you like my menu go buy SOS. I swear I'm not getting a kickback. Also, check back next week to see what we have planned  😄

Avocados and Popsicles

Random ramblings for this rainy Monday....

"I don't like avocados." This is a phrase we hear at least once a day. We can be talking about carrots or cookies or any number of things and A will say "I like (insert random item here). I don't like avocados. Mommy and Daddy like avocados."

The best part? He still ate 3 bites of avocado for dinner last night. 

Also, I'm convinced A is already learning his daddy's charm. We've been having some trouble with time outs at day care recently (as in he got 2/day on average last week). So today he went to the daycare director and said "I had a good day. We can have Popsicles?" 

The director responded by saying she needed to ask the teacher. The teacher agreed he had a good day. 

Everyone got Popsicles.  A for class president. 

The End of Summer

 Well, it's been a very short summer here in VA if you are counting number of days where it felt like a VA summer: hot and muggy. I don't know how many we had, but I'm guessing it was only a few weeks of them compared to the normal 3 months straight. That said, this past week was one of those weeks. To celebrate that, DD and DaDoc picked up A and took him to the spray park one day. My dad got way better pictures than I could have, so I had to share!

Possibly the first picture where Kyle said, "He looks like me."

Booking it between the spray park and the playground.

So here's to the end of summer...although I wouldn't be surprised if the hot weather stays for a little while now that it's finally here. Unfortunately, today is the last day of the spray park and pools for the year!