Halloween Superheroes

When I asked Mason what he wanted to be this year for Halloween he answered "Spider-Man" without hesitation. Then the next sentence out of his mouth was "what are you going to be for Halloween Mama?" 

 

Well, in all honestly I wasn't going to be anything but myself so when I told him that Mama wasn't dressing up you should have seen the sad look on my kiddo's face :( It definitely made me rethink my decision & the next thing I know I was on a mission to find a Halloween costume to go with Mason's. It is after all, all about your kid, right?

 

So I found a Batgirl costume at Target that wasn't too short or too revealing & lucky me there was an additional 25% off if I used the Cartwheel App so I ended up getting it. Shane had a Batman t-shirt from Mason's birthday party last year & used his mask as well so I present to you a family of Superheroes:

Shane didn't think I was going to walk around the neighborhood wearing my costume but if you remember last year I ain't got no shame in my game. I look at it like this...my little man isn't going to be little forever & if he wants his Mama to dress up with him then this Mama is going to dress up. He won't be asking me much longer so I am going to do it as long as he keeps asking.

So after we got our pictures we headed out around our neighborhood & my little Superhero had a ball. He said "trick-or-treat" at every door & then said "this is my Mommy. She is Batgirl"....incase they didn't notice :) As we walked from house to house he kept saying "Mama I like your costume - you are a Superhero like me." So needless to say the costume was money well spent.



After we hit a majority of the homes in our neighborhood, we headed over to our old neighborhood to see some of our old neighbors & trick-or-treat over there. We hit up a few blocks, went to our old house, saw some old friends & then headed home.

Mason was SO excited to go through all of his candy & so was his Daddy LOL :)

Shane started to make a little pile for himself & from the look on Mason's face he was not happy about it. I had to inform Mase there was enough candy for everyone & he had to share. You can tell he wasn't very excited about sharing!

Once we deemed the candy safe to eat, we all had a few pieces & then got ready for bed! It was a fun evening spent together & Mase is already talking about what he is going to be next Halloween. We hope everyone had a fun & safe Halloween as well!

Halloween Eve

It is Halloween Eve & we have had a busy day getting prepared for tomorrow's festivities. We first made a couple batches of cookies - Pumpkin Snickerdoodles & Smores cookies. 

These little morsels are oh so yummy! I will be sure to put the recipe on my food blog :) 

After baking we ventured out to Gigi's Cupcakes to pick up Mason's cupcakes for his class party tomorrow. They always do such a great job & this year they didn't disappoint. SO cute!

Then after supper we got a bath, put PJ's on & carved Mason's pumpkin that he had picked at the pumpkin patch last week. It of course had to have a Superhero theme & he had picked Batman. He was SO proud of his pumpkin & couldn't wait to put it on the front porch with a candle.

We are officially ready for the party at school tomorrow & for some trick-or-treating in the evening! 

Cell Phone Dump

Cell phone pics for the month of October :)

Was driving home from work & looked into the sky & saw this strange cloud. Kind of reminded me of the shape of an angel.

Cute little mummy cake pop to go with my Starbucks coffee! 

Good start to the morning!

My gray-haired, smooshy-faced girl. Oh how I love this face :) 

A motorcyclist wearing no shirt...the things you see only in Missouri. Hope he doesn't crash - can you imagine the road rash??

Who is that cute little fuzzy bear? 

 Snapchatting at work with my co-worker Stacey.

Snapchat fun :) 

This boy was pretty excited to get a Halloween card in the mail. 

Me & some of my co-workers posing for our cover shoot :)

Louisburg Cider Mill

Halloween is right around the corner & we still hadn't made it out to Louisburg Cider Mill for pumpkin picking. I am so glad we waited until today to go because it ended up being a warm & absolutely gorgeous day!

Sadly, Shane wasn't able to go so I ended up meeting my Mama friends there with there littles. We first stopped to get some hot apple cider & a bag of apple donuts & then made our way over to the play area.

The first thing the kids saw was the face painting booth so all the kiddos got there faces painted. Of course my kiddo chose Spiderman as that is his favorite Superhero.

After everyone got their faces painted we made them all pose for a group photo:

The kids had a ball playing on all the equipment, running through the mini-maze, jumping on the huge trampoline & sliding down the bale slides.

Next we took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch where the kids each picked out their very own special pumpkin to take home.

Mase was pretty excited to find THE ONE!!

We took a hay ride back to the front & there we stopped to feed the baby goats & pigs.

We were there for several hours & the kids were wore out by the time we left! We had such a fun time all together & was so glad the Mama's could meet me there for the day!

Branson Trip

We are back at Table Rock Lake for the weekend & this time it is MUCH nice weather! We are staying at the same campground as last time & trying out some new adventures that we didn't quite get to do when it was 100+ degrees out the last time we were here.

One of the things Shane really wanted to do with Mason was ride the go karts so we spent a couple of hours at the Track Family Fun Park. We rode go karts (which Mason LOVED), drove the bumper cars where Mason thought it was hilarious to hit Mama's bumper car, played some arcade games & did a round of miniature golf.

We were both amazed at how well Mason did golfing & pretty impressed by how natural it came to him. But why wouldn't it...his Grandpa Mountain & Daddy are both really good golfers so it seems he inherited the gene. Thinking golfing lessons will be in his future soon!

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures while on the go karts since we needed to pay attention to driving but managed to "say cheese" in front of the track.

After our afternoon of fun we headed over to the Dixie Stampede where we had reservations for dinner & a show. We had never been here before so we were excited to see what it was all about.

The show got going & Mason was into watching all the horses, stunts, music & the light show. As the show was going on the waiter started to serve us dinner. Out came the soup, then the bread, then the main course & we had all this food in front of us & they wouldn't bring us any silverware. We asked for it but the waiter kept saying there wasn't any so as we looked around we saw everyone was eating with their hands. So mental note for you all who have never been....either bring your own plastic silverware or be prepared to get messy eating with your hands. Don't forget the hand sanitizer too! 

After our meal they handed each person a warm, wet cloth to clean our hands & mouths with. It got pretty messy but the food was SO good. We all enjoyed the show & the food & would definitely do it again next time we were in town.

The show got out around 8pm so we made our way back to the camper & started a campfire, made some smores & enjoyed a cool evening around the fire.

The next day we headed out for breakfast & then to Silver Dollar City. It was a gorgeous day out & we were excited to be able to enjoy the place in 80 degree temps compared to the last time we were there.

Just as we made our way into the park, we stopped to take some family photos. He did good for two pics but once we sat down to take a family photo you can see Mason fighting me & saying "noooo" because he didn't want to stop for pictures. Ugh kids.

Whenever we come here we always start out towards the back of the park because that is where all the rides are that Mason can ride. We ended up riding all the kiddie rides & when I say all I mean ALL. THE. KIDDIE. RIDES.

He absolutely loved it & had so much fun. We spent a lot of time in Fireman's Landing shooting the foam balls & I think my husband actually has more fun than my child does :) I couldn't get them out of there! Of course there were more rides back there that we went on.

We stopped for lunch & then headed over to the train to take a train ride but sadly it was out of order so we ended up walking around a bit more, had some ice cream & then decided to call it a day.

We made our way back to the camper, made supper & started another campfire for another night of smores, wine & some peace & quiet after Mase went to bed.

Sadly, we are packing up & heading back home tomorrow but are looking so forward to getting back here next spring for more adventures.

Swimming 101

Here is a scary statistic for you.....according to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in 1-4 year olds. Enroll a child in swimming lessons & it reduces the risk of drowning by 88%. 

WOW!

Mase spent a lot of time at the pool this summer & this Mama spent a lot of the time in the water with him making sure he wouldn't drown. This summer is going to be more of the same so I wanted to get Mason in swimming lessons this fall & take them through the winter/spring so that he would be a better swimmer come summer time.

Those lessons started up tonight & Mason was SO excited to be going to swimming lessons with his best friend Greyson.

The first lesson they tested them to see where exactly they were at with swimming & then would proceed with lessons from there. The teacher said they were actually better than "beginner" level (which from what I understand is pretty basic...blow bubbles in water, dunk your head, etc) & started working with them so they could graduate from wearing the "bubble" you see on their backs.

The teachers here are awesome & I can't wait to see how much progress the boys make come summer-time! Lessons at this place are a bit pricey but it is SO worth it. In my opinion you can't put a price on the safety of your child! And when my child hits the pool this summer I want to make sure he can get to the side of the pool without trouble & without panicking.

Headed Home

Sadly we are headed back home today. Excited to get back home & see the husband & the furry children but sad to be leaving my sister & her family.

Yesterday we spent the day shopping at the outlet mall, making cookies & watching football. My brother-in-law thought it would be funny to put Mase in Packers gear since we were in "cheese-head" country after-all. 

I sent this picture to Shane. He didn't think it was very funny being a KC Chiefs fan :)

We SO enjoyed our visit & had an uneventful airplane ride back home to KC. Ugh I just love traveling with this little guy. 

We are looking forward to having my sister & her family to KC for spring break in March! There is sure to be lots of fun while they are here!!

Annual DS Walk

Today we are joining our team Dana's Daisies along with 1600+ other people from the community to celebrate those born with one extra chromosome & help raise awareness Down Syndrome. 

My niece Dana is one of those being celebrated today! I absolutely love being able to come & help support my family & help raise awareness for those with Down Syndrome. 

During this annual event individuals & families are able to learn more about Down Syndrome, browse through resource vendors, network with other families & enjoy tons of family entertainment. It is always a great time & the kids end up having SO much fun!

This year almost $70,000 was raised for DSAW-Fox Cities community through sponsors, pledges & donations! 

The weather wasn't too bad for once. There were moments of sunshine, it wasn't raining & it wasn't super cold or windy - unlike the past 2 years. We got to the park late morning, collected our t-shirts, food tickets, goody bags & let the kids run around playing in the park & participating in all the fun activities the event had to offer.

There were clowns who made fun balloons for the kids, face painting, mini-train rides, giant slides, rock climbing wall, trampoline bungee jumping, bounce house, photo booth & a petting zoo.

After we all ate lunch, we headed over to the stage area where the speaker announced the top 10 teams who had the most donations. Our team Dana's Daisies proudly raised $4295 which put us in 4th place of all the teams.

After the announcements it was time to line up & begin the 1 mile walk around the river front of Lake Winnebago. It was at that moment that it started to lightly sprinkle :(

We got about a 1/2 mile in & it started to pour down rain....of course. We took a short-cut back to the park & ended up packing up our stuff quickly & heading home to dry off & warm up. It was a bit disappointing that it rained but we were thankful it had held off until that moment!

All in all, it was a fun event & the kids had a great time playing & hanging out together. Next years' event is already on the calendar & once again we will be making the trip to WI. Let's just hope for some sunshine next year while we are there!?