Halloween

Halloween held a whole 24 hours of festivities for the kiddos. The night before was the Fort Collins Preschool Halloween party. The ballon lady was a huge hit! Cora got a frog and Emmett got a bee that actually buzzed. (We decided that Thatcher did not need a ballon to chew on.)Then the morning of Halloween, we went to the Gardens on Spring Creek and played with watering cans, saw talking pumpkins and water fairies, and got gourds to take home.

Then we headed home for a nap (Mommy was tired!), then some pumpkin carving, then got all dressed up for Trick-or-Treating. We were so lucky that this was the warmest Halloween in years so all of the costumes could shine. Emmett and Cora decided that that Halloween was the best holiday ever, and that no amount of candy is worth braving the spooky house across the street with the talking rock.

Cupcake? What's a cupcake?

This was Thatcher's first experience with a cupcake. He just didn't know what to do. Bite it? Lick it? Pick it up?

Yum, frosting!
How do I get the frosting off this cake thing?


Frosting is all gone!

So sad!

Pumpkin Cupcakes from Marthastewart.com

24 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven
2 cups flour all-purpose

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

15 ounces pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin purée. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.

OK so I lie, I had to at least substitute half whole wheat floor and cut back on the sugar, but they still turned out very good. (Well, maybe not as good as the cream cheese frosting.)

Haircuts...

At long last I take my scruffy kiddos in for haircuts. This time I managed to do before and after pics.

Emmett

Cora

Thatcher - this was Thatcher's first haircut. (I thought Dan was going to cry.) He did so well (LOVE Cool Cuts!) and now he looks so cute with his little boy hair.

We also voted today. This is the first time I've ever done early voting and I must say it was wonderful!! There was no line; we even got an entire table to ourselves and the kids.

Today was also one of the darkest in the Watkins-Brown Family. Sometime in the early morning a fox (we think) broke into the chicken coop and killed all four of our hens. We were just devastated not to mention feeling guilty about our lack of coop-building skills. They were Dan's babies; and even I have become very attached to them. So rarely is there a pet that actually contributes to the family welfare. Every time we put food down the garbage disposal or use a lovely blue egg we think of them. If there is a chicken heaven, they are surely there.

Thatcher's first words?

So, you think with the third kid we would have this 'firsts' thing down. Like we would KNOW when they use their first word. But, no, we think that Thatcher's first words are THERE and THAT. He points to things and utters what we would swear is "there" and "that", appropriately. If so, then he is our earliest talker. But we kinda figured that would be the case. He has been the most 'chatty' of the three.

Preschool Field Trip

Today Cora's preschool class had a field trip to the Lee Martinez Farm. I love being a teach-parent on field trip days. The weather was just a bit nippy (all of the kids look like the Michelin Man), but they had a fabulous time.

The farm kitty got lots of love.

Everyone got a hay ride.

Everyone got their very own pumpkin.

The whole Fort Collins Preschool Class and their teacher Mrs. Bonnema.

My Cute Kiddos

Dan snapped a cute photo at bedtime.

Healthy Kids Run - Halloween Hustle

While I was sleeping after working last night, Dan took the kids to run the Halloween Hustle. Cora has decided that she wants to run too. She did about half of the mile then hitched a ride in the stroller for the rest of the way. Pretty good for a three year old!! Thatcher looks ready for a nap.

Portland Day Six

We got up at dawn to walk the beach. The kids could have done it all day. They were so sad when had to start driving back to Portland to catch our plane. Emmett kept asking why we couldn't live in Oregon. After we got home I emptied pounds of shells and rocks out of their coat and pants pockets. The very first "shell" that Emmett picked up had legs and tried to scramble away. I though Emmett was going to come out of his skin. After that he carefully nudged everything before picking it up.

On an interesting side note, Cora has developed quite the talent for finding coins this week. No matter where we were, restaurants, bus stops, the airport, she always seemed to find at least a penny. And she found one in the Portland airport at we were headed home. What a good luck sign!

Portland Day Five

We got up early and said our goodbyes to Amy and Derek. Emmett was so sad to say goodbye to Molly. Then we headed down to Salem to have brunch with Carmen and John. After brunch we headed to the tiny town of Newport. We just randomly picked a town on the ocean so the kiddos could see the sea. When you're from a place as landlocked as Colorado you need to take every chance you've got! Newport has an AWESOME aquarium that we spent the afternoon at.

Cora's favorite part was the otters.



We got to watch the keepers feed the seals. I think it's funny how they always look so smug.

The kiddos.

A random sea-bird.

There was a huge touch-pool. Cora was a bit unsure about touching and prefered to stay on the looking side of things.

I loved this pink anemone.

Part of the sea life exhibit was mixed with blown-glass art from local artists in the tanks. The result was stunning!

We finished off with dinner at a place called Georgie's (yeah seafood!) and a sunset walk on the beach.