Halloween

This year Avery decided to go as Belle. She watched Beauty and the Beast to study the outfit and was very specific on the requirements, including yellow shoes and gold earrings. 

Ross chose Harry Potter - the quidditch player.

I love this picture! He looks so different with glasses. 

Bella went as Hermione so it was the perfect match. 

She and Annalise are always quite happy when they get to see each other. 

A petty zoo was at Trunk or Treat, and that is primarily where we spent all of our time. She didn't play any games for candy. 

I sure love Halloween when they tell me exactly what they want and how to dress them. It makes it fun and so much easier on me. 

Branson

I don't know of a better picture to start our Branson blog off with. Our fist day there and it was ice cream for lunch with Granny! 

Followed quickly by bumper cars! 

Ross got to drive this year! It took him a while to realize he was going to get bumped off going for his 'target' pretty much every time. 

Go-Carts!! 

The next day was Silver Dollar City. Let me just say, the day before it was warm. Like upper 70s warm. SDC it was cold. Like cloudy, windy, and 40s cold. Boss squad was ready to hit the park though. 

Annual pics at the entrance. 

Avery decided to be super brave and rode the big swings for the first time. She also picked Ms. Danielle to be her ride partner for the maden voyage. Let me again just say, she picked me to ride the next time and it was COLD!! 

From there we headed over to the fireman's corner and she rode the smaller swings solo. 

Uncle Kevin got in on the rides. Oh yes, and no picture, but Uncle Kevin also slyly got Danielle on a mega roller coaster. He's so rude. :)

For the first time ever we didn't get to ride the train. It was being worked on. However, we got our own personal show from the bandits and the train engineer. So good! 

Of course we did ride the carousel. A lot. 

It was so cold I ended up shopping for a new knitted hat. We tried on all sorts of things. 

In this end I got an awesome slouchy hat that is super warm. 

Dad was a grump. He isn't a fan of the cold one bit. 

We should have left them there. ha

On the way out of the park, little miss found the horses and got to play a bit. I love that she still does this. 

Once we thawed out over night we were ready to hit the road the next day to a new adventure attraction. 

There were all sorts of activities. 

Zip lining! Yes I actually, finally, did it! No pics but it did happen. 

We ended the day back at bumper cars and go-carts. This was McKenna and Danielle's first time on this trip which meant McKenna's first time to drive. She was a beast out there! 

Go-Carts!

We were worried the little tikes track would be closed, but it was open and Avery got to ride a long time! 

Ross and McKenna drive the bigger carts with no problem. SO fun to watch them out there with Don, Kevin, and Steve.

Aves and I rode once. Then she ditched me for Karlin. 

I feel like go-carts and bumper cars are his favorite thing to do the entire time we are at Branson. 

Such a fun trip! SO many memories made every single day that we are there. 

School Starts

The summer flew by and before we knew it the first day of school was already here.

Ross started the day before Avery. He was pretty excited about the morning! He got a great teacher and a good group of friends in his 3rd grade class. He was mostly bummed b/c he'd have homework again. :)

The next day was Avery's first day for Kindergarten! I still can't believe it! 

She was mega excited for her first day! She has an amazing teacher and Annalise is in her class too!