Wild Wild West

This post has been a long time coming.  It's about a month late.  Oh well.  It's taken us that long to recover from our wild, wild west adventure with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandma and Grandpa are wild - what can you do?

The seven of us boarded planes headed for the wild west to get in touch with our inner cow-persons.  We headed to Phoenix for five days of adventure mixed with posh.

We rode a train and hijacked a stage coach.

We landed ourselves in jail for the hijacking stunt, but Grandma bailed us out.

After she bailed us out, Grandma took the kids for a stroll along train tracks...in front of a train.

We thought about climbing a tower of water, but at the last minute, decided that wasn't such a good idea.

Gramps and the big kids ran into some rapscallions who tortured them by making them lie on a bed of nails.

We also ventured into the desert to find our fortune in gold.  But the only gold we found was in Gramps' wallet.

The kids also rode a frog.

And every night, we headed back to our domicile, to rough it like cowboys of old, in a palatial house set into the Fountain Hills, complete with hot tub, heated pool, and outdoor grilling area.  

Thanks for the great trip, Grandma and Gramps.  We had a blast.  

Love,

Momma T. and her cow-persons

We Did It Up Right This Year

We have very, very dear family friends, the Kestners.  Pete and Melissa went to law school with Ryan and me.  We've known them for what feels like ages, in the best sense of that saying.  They have five kids - - they're a traveling party.  A few years back, we started a holiday tradition - Fourth of July at our house and Halloween at theirs.  This year, we did Halloween up right.

The celebrations started with some good old-fashioned pumpkin carving.  Awesome.

Then, we spent Halloween Saturday at this giant corn maze/amusement park/petting zoo/corn pool.  Yes, CORN POOL; it was probably the highlight of the day. Fun was had by all, even the daddies.  

The kids even rode a camel - - in Minnesota -- in October.  PETA must not have seen the ad.  Oh well.  Twenty bucks and two camel rides later, there was joy.

And finally, we trick-or-treated.  It was over 40 degrees this year and there was no snow, so I'm pretty sure the world is coming to an end.  In light of the fair weather, the mommies decided to accompany the superheros and the lady bug on their quest for candy.  

Melissa donned her full-length down coat (she gets cold in mid-September) and took the youngest of her five out for some treats.  She doesn't have too many years of this left.  There is sadness and joy in that.

Because of the abundance of superhero muscles and powers, we felt brave enough to trick-or-treat at the haunted (tent) house this year.  That place has scared us off in the past.

Then we headed back to count our loot and keep Superman from stealing all the good chocolate.

A hallowed eve was had by all.  Happy Halloween.

Love,

Momma T.