ponies are spooktacular

mason and i were playing at the park last weekend when a park ranger stopped to tell us about the spooktacular festival being held at the "big park" in the neighborhood. it sounded like fun, so we headed on over for mason's first face painting, balloon animal, and pony ride.

it was an unexpected excursion, so we were caught without the camera. brad managed to get one shot on his blackberry to commemorate the day. please ignore the pink saddle - another kid cut us off as we walked toward the non-pink pony and we didn't want to wait in line for the next round. brad was cringing, but mason didn't seem to notice what color the saddle was; he just thought the pony was the best thing ever!

daddy's haunted house

for years brad has wanted to build a haunted house for the neighborhood kids. he decided that this was the year. what started as a 7-room haunted mansion, we downsized for budgetary considerations to a very scary porch and side yard exit. judging by the screams of terror i heard from my esteemed location on the living room couch, fun was had by all most (one patron cried, but hey, you can't please 'em all!)

mason and grammy helping set up for the festivities
(grammy had no idea what she was in for!)

emma - the official black-fingernail-polish-painter

co-conspirator (brother of emma and neighbor) jonathan

co-conspirator (brother of emma & jonathan and neighbor) oscar

co-conspirator (and friend of oscar) dylan

co-conspirator (and friend of jonathan) collin

the mastermind (aka daddy)

the daylight version of the tunnel of doom
(visualize total darkness, fog, strobe & black lights,
plus scary people jumping out as you reach in for the candy)

the full cast of characters (plus mason)
yes, that is a body laying next to our hedges

guess who's not scared?!

for the record, mason was fast asleep when all the fun began. and outside of the black spray paint which found its way on our gutters, the house is pretty much back to normal. we hope daddy had fun!

one cute jack-o-lantern

last weekend we carved a pumpkin for the front porch. well, brad carved the pumpkin, mason helped a little, and i tried to keep our little monkey from taking a nosedive off the deck. for the most part, we were successful! :)

the perfect pumpkin

the first cut

"here daddy, let me help!"

"are there any more pumpkin guts for me to scoop out?"

good job boys!

the finished product!

all decked out for the storybook parade

mason's school hosted a "storybook parade" on thursday. all the kids dressed up as characters (apparently we can't just call them halloween costumes) and collected candy from the church staff. mason was one of the monkeys from the book eight silly monkeys... pretty appropriate since his new favorite trick is jumping on the couch.

although all the kids in mason's class know how to walk, they wisely chose to use the giant bye-bye buggy for the excursion. for the record, this was the best lunch break at 10 am i've ever taken! :)

mason's class

mason's buddy derek
i'm hoping he'll teach mason how to ham it up for the camera!

our friend eve - she's in the next class up
apparently they can be trusted to walk on a giant leash!

mason's former teacher - ms. lisa!
we love her!

nearing the end of the parade...
notice the ladybug passed out in the front row!

one of mason's teachers - ms. karina

our monkey

i kept thinking that mason looked pretty unimpressed during the parade, but it turned out he just wasn't feeling well. he spiked a fever that afternoon and after a trip to the doctor, we are now on a regimen of antibiotics and breathing treatments for bronchitis. poor monkey.

bottle time

"no, i am not ready to give up the night-night bottle.
thanks for checking!"

thirsty?

sometimes you just need a drink from the hose...

i like to party

our friend parker celebrated his 3rd birthday this weekend with a costume party. mason was dying to test drive his halloween costume, so we dressed up and headed on over for some fun! happy birthday, parker! thanks for sharing your special day with us!

parker and his parents (unfortunately the best shot i got of them)

our little monkey

"balloons are awesome!"

guess who found the one mud pit in the yard?

yup, mud got everywhere.
(some crazy mommy thought he could wear this more than once - ha!)

who says monkeys and bumblebees don't get along?!

"pizza is delicious!"

(he ate 2 whole slices. unbelievable.)

what's a party without cake?

(totally brad's idea. mommy is still the sugar nazi.)

"parker, your party is so fun!"