Halloween Preparations

Last year the kids were a little too young to understand Halloween, but this year they have already been talking about what they want to dress up as. The problem (for their moms, who are trying to plan their costumes) is that they change their minds every day.

Tonight after dinner Mom took the girls to the local Goodwill store to get some ideas.

Emily really likes the scary masks this year, although she wouldn't get very close to them in the store.Kate has been insisting that she wants to be Velma from Scooby-Doo, but the pretty princess costumes really caught her eye. This one didn't fit, but she definitely likes the idea of being a princess or a fairy.Then Emily made a fantastic find: A blue robot helmet!

Emily really wants to be one of the villains from Scooby-Doo, but she can't decide on which one. She goes back and forth between wanting to be a vampire, tar monster, ghost clown, etc. Lately she has been obsessing about the blue robot in the "Funland" episode, who has a helmet very similar to this one, so she was thrilled to find the robot helmet!

When we got home from Goodwill, Emily couldn't wait to show Mama her new helmet. Mama was not quite as impressed as Emily, but she agrees that it will be a great costume.

Birds in the Rain Bucket

Tonight Mama was wondering why Davis was not registering any rain, when we had showers all day long. She got out the ladder to check the rain gauge.

She found out that some of the local birds have been enjoying the rain bucket a little too much!After a little cleaning, Davis was as good as new.

Dave and Julie's Wedding

Yesterday we attended the wedding of Aunt Sara's brother Dave and his fiance Julie. Grandma came over to watch the kids so we could go all by ourselves, which was really great.

The wedding was in Manchester, which is about 1/2 hour from our house.The ceremony was outdoors, and we were so glad that the weather was beautiful for it.When we arrived we found Nana, Uncle David, Alana, Lili, and Sebastian (who was sporting some cool shades).Aunt Sara (far left) and Uncle Seth (far right) were both in the wedding party.

The ceremony was very nice and also very brief--perfect!

The reception was in the Lions' Hall, which was decorated nicely for the occasion.All the Nichols had a great time!We thought the wedding cake topper was pretty funny.

Dave and Julie did a great job cutting the cake....

....and tasting it too!We both tried to grab the bridal bouquet, but Chris only managed to get a couple flowers.Congratulations Dave and Julie!

New Hockey Gear

Mom plans to teach Emily how to ice skate this winter, so we went to Play it Again Sports in Augusta and got her some new gear. She got a used hockey helmet (size Extra-Small) in great condition....

....and the cutest little pair of CCM skates, size Youth 10.We tried them on in the playroom, and Mom was amazed that Emily could stand right up with no problem.We can't wait to get out on the ice!

Apple Orchard Field Trip

Today Emily's preschool class went on a field trip to a local apple orchard. The trees were really loaded down with apples!

Em got to ride in a wagon with her buddy Luke and his mom.All the kids got to pick enough apples to fill up a bag. Emily loves to eat apples, so she picked some really good ones.What a fun field trip!

Rolling Hay

Farmer Steve came back sooner than we thought to roll up the hay in the field! This time both Kate and Emily were awake to watch him.

He used a big trailer that sucks up the hay, rolls it, then ties it with twine.The hay trailer was a lot of fun to watch.The kids especially liked the way the hay rolls "pooped" out the back.When all the hay was rolled up Kate apparently felt like she had to do a little ceremonial dance.Emily immediately wanted to go check out the rolls.It sure is fun to have a real farmer next door. We get to see the cool stuff happen, but we don't actually have to do any farm work ourselves!

Haying Time

Today Farmer Steve hayed our field with his big red tractor! Emily got to watch him go around and around.

He came and left while Kate was napping, so she missed the whole thing. You can see in the photo below that she was not too happy about that.She tried to explain what she thought had happened to the field.Now we can't wait to see him come back and roll it up into big hay rolls!

Checking out the Tent

Tonight when Mom got home from work she found Mama and the kids in the backyard playing in the camping tent! Mama had put it up in the afternoon to make sure we still had all the parts, and she left it up so the kids could play in it.

The kids found lots of fun stuff to do in the tent, like eating crackers and apples, reading, and pretending to sleep.Emily discovered two of the neatest things about the tent: It has a mesh top so you can see the clouds and stars up above, and when people walk by outside you can see their shadows on the wall!It's a little late now, but hopefully next summer we will actually use our tent to go camping.

First Movie!

Today Mama went on a 72 mile bike ride (her last long training ride before the Dempsey Challenge), and Mom took the kids down to Augusta to see their first movie ever. Grandma met us at the theater, which was a big help for Mom. The kids were very excited!

The girls sprinted right up to the ticket window. We had decided to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", which is one of the books we have at home.The treat counter was a big hit. They each got their own popcorn, which was quite a blow to the pocketbook (although they both got into the movie free). We brought water bottles in so they wouldn't be drinking soda.Believe it or not, those popcorn bags they're carrying are size "small".We walked in while the previews were playing and the girls were kind of stunned by the size of the screen. They were actually gaping, which was pretty funny.

They did great in the movie--no crying, whining, or potty breaks. The paid attention and ate their popcorn, and even laughed at the funny parts.After the movie the kids were exhausted, probably from sensory overload. They both promptly fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Our first movie experience was a big success!