Happy Halloween 2018

Happy Halloween from the Farnsworth clan. This year was a little different because we are not matching with our costumes. It was different, but we all had awesome costumes. 

Tiffany made Logan's Superman outfit, Emily wore Tiffany's scarecrow outfit from when she was a kid, Colby was a Ninja, Charlotte was excited to be Olaf from Frozen, Mom was Anna from Frozen and I was an Indian because this outfit was really warm.

This year's costumes were pretty easy because I let the kids pick their own from what we already had.  The only one I had to make was Logan's Superman but it was easy because I just had to sew a Superman shield on some blue sweats.

We did a lot of fun traditions this Halloween season.  This year Grandma Farnsworth gave the kids a Halloween Gingerbread house in the design of a haunted house. It turned out really awesome. 

We love making gingerbread houses at Christmas time but had never thought to do one for Halloween. They all pitched in and put it together. After we made it Emily was overly excited to eat it. It was a great time for everyone.

Here is our spooky house!  I think it turned out pretty cool. The kids liked to sneak bits of candy from it everyday but by Halloween it was still full of candy and decorations.

During Parent/Teacher Conferences in Logan's class, his Kindergarten teacher had set up a Witch's Kitchen for him to explore and make recipes and potions while I was talking to her.  He had a blast making his brew and his teacher told me he was doing so well in school.

We also went to a Trunk-Or-Treat carnival at the Family Place here in Hyrum.  This was the first time we all tried on our costumes and it was good we did because we discovered that we needed to add a few layers to our costumes in order to stay warm.  The Trunk or Treat was fun but very crowded.  We ate hot dogs, donuts, popcorn, cotton candy and played a bunch of carnival games.  Finally we got too cold and it was too crowded to do anything so we went home.  It was a fun activity though.

What is the Halloween holiday without pumpkins. This is always fun to help with. The kids love to carve pumpkins. They draw their own faces or designs and Russell takes off the top so they can scoop out the guts on the inside. 

I remember when none of them would take out the pumpkin guts. Now everyone, except Charlotte, dug out their entire pumpkin. Charlotte's pumpkin was very interesting. The pumpkin was small so the sides were really thick and impossible to cut a face. Russell was finally able to get the top off though. We decided to drill her name into the pumpkin with the power drill instead of cutting it with the knife. It turned out really cool when the light was placed inside the pumpkin. Everyone did a great job.  They are even getting old enough to help hold the knife and cut out their own pumpkin faces. This is a great family tradition that I hope stays around for a long time.

Here are the finished projects of every one's pumpkins. They all did a great job. Emily's was a bat and the boys and the family one were spooky faces.

The all looked so cool when the candles were lit and the lights were out.  Charlotte's looked like a disco ball when it was lit.

Halloween day started out with school games in each classroom.  In the morning, I took Logan and Charlotte to the American West Heritage Center for their Halloween story time.

I didn't know that they did a story time each month until I started working there this Fall.  Karen does a great job with the kids.  They loved hearing the stories and making the ghost sucker craft at the end.  

Since it was Halloween, we all dressed up in our costumes for the story time.  It was fun.

The school does holiday parties for the majority of the holidays and Tiff and I have fun being part of them. This year we helped in Colby's class. We played "Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin," "Don't Eat Frank," and a few other games. 

The kids really seemed to enjoy the party.  At the end, we did a cake walk and they all got cupcakes. Emily came in during the games and took pictures because she was part of the photography club. She thought she was really cool taking pictures of each class and  getting to miss her own class. She is getting really good at taking pictures.

After Colby's class, we went to Logan's Halloween party. They did something different this year. Instead of a party they put on a Halloween singing program.

The whole class sang a bunch of fun Halloween songs.  The also did a few dances.  It was funny to watch all of their faces and see how excited they were to have their parents in class.

 Some of the kids also had speaking parts.  Logan did a great job memorizing his "Flutter Flutter Little Bat" poem.  When it was his turn he said it perfectly.  Good job, Logan!

Before school was out, the whole school participated in a Halloween parade and a dance outside. 

The kids always have a good time showing off their costumes during the parade.  It is fun to see all of the different costumes people come up with each year.  This year they did a dance to "I Put a Spell on You" from Hocus Pocus.  During the dance, they did different dance moves from Fort Night. Colby was way excited because he knew all of the moves especially the Floss. It was a successful Halloween.

Once we got home from school, homework was done quickly and a bunch of layers were added under the costumes.  We decided to get out early so we could get done before it got too cold.  We still ended up going until dark but luckily the layers helped a lot.  It was Charlotte's first time officially Trick or Treating and she picked up on it very quickly.  She was so excited seeing other kids knock on the door and seeing people giving them candy. We pushed her in the stroller so we could get around faster but by the time she had done a few houses, she thought she was an expert. We did not buckle her in the stroller from house to house. At each house she jumped right out of the stroller and ran to the door to get her candy.  By the end she was saying "Trick or Treat" and "Happy Halloween" to every house we went to.  While we were about to go to one house, she did not wait for the stroller to stop before she bailed out and fell right to her stomach. Thank goodness she had padding on her belly from her Olaf costume. 

They all came home making a killing from the neighborhood.  We had 3 gallon sized Ziploc bags full of candy.  We are definitely going to be sick or have a ton of cavities if we eat all of that.  We decided to freeze all of the chocolate for later and save the rest to use on our Gingerbread houses at Christmas time.

We had a great Halloween this year!  We love dressing up, carving pumpkins, and having fun at school.  We also have a great time Trick or Treating with all of our friends.

Happy Halloween!!

Parades and Leaves

We had a lot of fun during October.  One of the fun things we did was go to the Utah State University Homecoming Parade.

The kids loved collecting all of the candy that was thrown as well as other fun things like Aggie horns and pinwheels.  Charlotte is our sugar addict and just loved sitting back and eating all of the candy the other kids collected.

My favorite part of any parade is the marching band.  USU has an amazing band.  I am definitely a band nerd because I like to see how straight the bands' lines are and if they are on the right step.  This band definitely was pretty perfect.  Their songs were awesome too.  And of course, it wouldn't be a USU event if Big Blue wasn't there.  The kids just loved him as well.

Next Emily and Colby had a little mini choir concert this month.

It was really short and we almost missed it because we were one minute late.  They only sang two songs and then we got to eat cookies and make a little bookmark craft.  They had fun.

The best part about school in October is Red Ribbon week when the kids get to go to school dressed in funny ways.

Here they are sporting their silly socks and funny hair for one of the days.  There was also wear red day, hat day, Halloween costume day, and super school spirit day.  They love this week and look forward to it all year.

Another thing the kids look forward to every year is the leaves falling from the trees and making the biggest leaf pile ever. 

We took all the leaves in the yard and made the biggest pile.  The whole neighborhood came over to  play in it. The kids loved it. We covered them with leaves so they could play scare everyone that came close to the pile. We even decided to find more leaves and get the pile big enough that all the neighborhood kids could bury themselves in the leaves. We left their heads uncovered so it looked like a Halloween grave yard.  We all had a great time like we do every year. We even brought out the fun excavator to help us dig up the leaves. 

We love Fall!

Fall Break Activities

We decided to do a little "Stay-cation" this year for Fall break. We had a great time during the whole weekend. The weather was great and perfect for outdoor activities. Tiffany and I had a great morning we ran a lot and I did a lot of leg workouts. Then we decided to go for a hike. Since moving to Logan, we have wanted to check out the Wind Caves up Logan Canyon. So we packed the hiking pack with waters and snacks and up the canyon we went. 

The hike was a lot of fun and we had a great time as a family. The kids got to get out and be with nature and learn things. We got to see the red leaves on the oak trees. For those of you who don't know about the Wind Cave hike it is about two miles straight up with switch backs. Not to complain, but it was a bad idea for me to do a leg workout and run 3 miles that morning. My legs were jello by the time we got done with the hike.  Let's just say the hike was a lot longer than we expected.

But finally we made it to the top YEAH!!!! It was worth every step to see the Wind Cave. As you can tell from the pictures it is an arch looking over the Logan Canyon. The wind goes straight through the arch and up the canyon. The kids did an amazing job during the whole hike. They were as excited as Tiff and I were when we got to the top. I'm glad Tiff and I made the decision to start doing these hikes with our kids.

Our family is so photogenic. We had a fun photo shoot while we were on top. The view was amazing and as you can tell the kids are having a great time while were up top. 

Even Charlotte did a great job. While we were hiking she passed out asleep and I was wishing I could trade her places in the hiking backpack. While we were on the way down, she kept telling me, "Dad out, Dad out." So I let her out close to the end of the trail and she was the happiest girl ever. She thought she was so big hiking like her big bothers and sister. 

We loved the view from the top.  We could have stayed up there all day and just enjoyed the scenery.  I think we would have stayed up there longer but it was getting late and we didn't want to hike back in the dark.  The hike back down the mountain was a lot quicker and easier!

After the hike, we went home and I passed out on the couch hoping no one would touch my legs. Talk about charlie horses and tight muscles. Everyone slept good that night so we could get up in the morning and go to the Fall Harvest Festival at American West Heritage Center. This has been our family's tradition since we have moved into the valley. The kids love all of the activities as well as seeing the animals. Speaking of animals here is a pictures of our little animals while were playing around.

The Heritage Center has fun pioneer activities that the kids can take part in and learn how the pioneers lived and worked. And what is the festival without the animals that you can pet and see. Charlotte loved the animals and wanted to see all of them.  Emily and Logan even got to milk a cow!

The kids also got to shell corn and see a steam engine thresher.  The favorite part of the festival for all of the kids is the pony rides. If we don't do this ride then the festival is not complete.  Once they see the ponies, all of them start chanting, "Please can we ride the horses? Please?!" I think we rode them two or three times that day. Tiffany and I love all of it except the helmet part. Ever since our lice break out in our house, we always get nervous when our kids put on hats or head gear that other kids have worn. We do not want to go through that out break again.

Selfie time with them family. Love Colby's smile. Toothless Joe. Here we are riding the train.  This is also one of our favorite things of the Festival.  

One of the activities while were there was a shoot out in the street. They had actors come out do a little acting and at the end they starting shooting each other and finally the good guys kill the bad guys. The kids love going up after and getting one of the bullet casings that the cast shot. 

Some of the other activities we did was candle making, and corn husk dolls.  We also learned about mountain men and Indians.

Then it was time for the corn maze and trying not to get lost. 

It was Emily's turn to lead us and she did good with getting us through the maze. This year it was a horse and carriage with the letters AWHC.  Mostly the kids just loved running around in the corn.  They had a great time.  After making it through the maze, we decided to play some of the yard games.

Logan totally won Tiff in Connect 4.  He was pretty happy.  After playing the games and bouncing in the bounce house, we decided to pretend we were Indians and throw some tomahawks.  The kids were pretty good.  It was harder than it looks though and they couldn't stick any of the axes in the wood.  They had a good time trying though.

We loved the Fall Harvest Festival and always have a good time with all of the activities.  For fun and a little extra spending money, Tiffany started working at American West Heritage Center during October.  She had a good time getting out of the house and working for a few hours each week.  The people were really fun to work with and the customers were really friendly too.  We don't know if it will turn into something permanent but for now, it is seasonal and just while the Corn Maze is going on.  She will be done on October 30.  

The next morning, (Saturday of Fall Break) we participated in the North Logan Pumpkin Run.  The starting line was at the Pumpkin Walk and we ran through the decorated pumpkin scenes to start the race.

Russell and the kids ran the one mile race while I ran the 5K.  It was a really good course and it was fun to be racing again.  I think this was my first race since getting back into running.

The kids had a blast and Russell said they did so well on their mile.  The best part of the race though was when the kids saw me coming to the finish line and started cheering for me and running to the finish line with me.  I totally love their support and enthusiasm.

After the race we decided to do another one of our Fall traditions and walk through the Pumpkin Walk.  This year's theme was "Where in the World?"  There were a lot of fun and different scenes but these were our favorites:

Winnie the Pooh and the Incredibles!  There were a lot more as well but my camera died so we couldn't take pictures of them.  One really good one was a whole scene that was just like the "It's A Small World" ride at Disneyland.  It was pretty cool.

My camera came back to life at the end and I was able to get a picture of Charlotte and Logan saying hello to the Pumpkin Walk Witch.  Luckily she was a friendly witch.

And no Fall Break would be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch for some pumpkins.

We actually did this after hiking the Wind Caves.  The kids love picking out pumpkins and finding their very own pumpkin to carve.  We also pick one out to cook and eat later.  Charlotte pick a baby pumpkin for herself because it was just her size.  She carried that thing around the whole time because it was her favorite.  I love how cheap the pumpkins are so it doesn't matter how many we pick out.  

We had a great Fall Break stay-cation.  I love fall here in Cache Valley.  It is so beautiful with the changing leaves and so fun because of all of the festivities.  I hope it stays Fall for a while though because I am not looking forward to winter...

Happy Fall Y'all!