Halloween Fun!

This week has been full of fun Halloween activities! Now that the marketing world has gone "Halloween crazy" there are so many more decorations, toys and crafts available for this holiday. Who would have ever thought there would be a Halloween Gingerbread House kit? Well, there is, and once Payton saw it, he begged me to get it so we could decorate it together. First we put all the toppings into separate bowls (I'm pretty sure he sampled each one as we were doing this step)...

Then we decorated the house with icing and all the fun toppings. I think it turned out really cute, don't you? We have it sitting on our kitchen bar area and now every time Payton passes by he sneaks a few sprinkles off the bottom!

Next, we made our annual pilgrimage to the local pumpkin patch. We were a little late getting there this year, so there weren't a ton of pumpkins left, but he searched and searched until he found just the "perfect one." He was so proud when he found this one... 

Finally, since the public school system can't officially have a "Halloween" parade, they have a "Book Character Parade" where the kids get to dress up like a character from any book. Then they invite all the parents to come to school and watch the kids parade around in their costumes. Well, of course Payton had to wear his Mario costume, so we used his "Nintendo Choose Your Own Adventure" book that his Aunt Kara gave him as his corresponding book. Turns out, most kids wore their Halloween costumes and just found books that contained the same character. It was a really cute parade and Payton had a ball showing off his Mario costume. Here is a little photo collage of some of his classmates in costume, his adorable teacher dressed as "Little Red Riding Hood" and of course the "Westchase Wizard" school mascot. More Halloween blogging to come!

Pumpkin Bread - Make this soon!

Something about this time of year makes me want to cook with pumpkin. Even though the weather has not cooled off much, the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin coming from the kitchen makes it feel a bit more like fall.

I found this recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin bread on one of my favorite cooking blogs. It sounded so yummy I had to try it out - and it did not disappoint! You've got to try it soon!

The recipe makes 3 loaves, so at first I thought, "Oh, I'll just cut the recipe in thirds and only make 1 loaf." But anyone who knows me, knows that math is not my strong suit, so I figured I'd be safer just making the 3 loaves and giving 2 away. I already know the lucky recipients of the extra 2 loaves - a sweet neighbor who was recently widowed, and my good bud April who just had her baby this morning (welcome to the world little Walker!!!). 

So go get some canned pumpkin and try it out. It's super easy and soooooo tasty!  

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween

Goodie Bag contents

Getting ready to head into the park

The day finally arrived for us to go on vacation! We've been looking forward to this for a long time (I purchased the tickets months ago) and took full advantage of the opportunity to go "Halloween Crazy" for this trip! First, I got a bunch of little snacks and treats to create a "Halloween goodie bag" for Payton to open when we got to the hotel. Plus I decorated the car with Halloween stickers and found this great Halloween "Doodle" book where you fill in the pages using your own imagination - such a great idea (see slide show at the bottom for photo)!!
Two years ago we went to the Magic Kingdom for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" and have been looking forward to going back ever since. In true Disney style, the entire park is transformed into a spectacular Halloween scene. They have a special Halloween parade, trick-or-treating stations throughout the park, and even a special Halloween-themed fireworks show. It was everything we were looking forward to and more!

Mid-air jump between bed

This year, we decided rather than driving back in the middle of the night, we would get a hotel room on Disney property. Payton thought this was the coolest thing in the world! He loved jumping from bed to bed and seeing "all things Disney" inside our room (even the soap had an imprint of Mickey on it). 

This is my favorite picture! (Taken on Thunder Mountain)

Once we arrived at the park, Payton was in heaven. So much to see, so many rides to ride, so much candy to eat! He loved every minute of it and rode every roller coaster in the park (even Space Mountain!).  Of course, by midnight, the magical spell had worn off and our little Mario had fallen fast asleep on the way to the monorail.

The next day, we met my parents out at Downtown Disney and enjoyed shopping at the Lego store, the World of Disney and of course the Ghiradelli shop (yum!!!). We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which was really fun, although Payton thought the simulated thunderstorms were a little too loud.


All in all, it was such a special family vacation. One that will live on in our memories forever. And speaking of memories, I took a ton of pictures. I've broken them out below into 3 slideshows: 1) Hotel Room, 2) Magic Kingdom and 3) Downtown Disney.


Enjoy and Happy (early) Halloween!

Signs of Fall

I have been noticing signs of fall around here. Want to see them?  There are candy corn pumpkins,and regular pumpkins all over the kitchen...









The hammock has made it's annual fall pilgrimage from the garage into the back yard. And I even caught my hubby working on the back porch today!

And the front door wreath has changed into its fall attire. We're ready for fall! How about you?