Halloween, Halloween, Hallow Halloweeeeeen.

Since my kids never want to be anything really cool for Halloween, I still don't bother sewing costumes....although I think it would be cool. Kaitlyn dressed up as Minnie Mouse (thanks Kacy for that one!)....she seriously was the cutest little mouse ever. Cole was a pretty cool Spiderman (thanks to Tami for lending us that costume)...and can we all guess what Alli was?? Tinkerbell...again (and we'll thank Shannon for that one) do I seem cheap suddenly? Hey it works right? Anyway, I have pictures from Halloween from my old old camera which has suddenly gone missing so we'll see if they ever make it on this post. I love the tradition we've started with the Dixons of having Chili before we go trick-or-treating together. There was a haunted house on the Dixon's street and Dan took Cole in it. Nice dad. He said that Cole was literally shaking but he said it was cool when it was all done. Maybe next year I'll be ahead of the game and have my kids' costumes together before the last minute scramble!

Festible

...at least that's what Alli calls it. Our kids start counting down to this day every year starting in like January. It is held at Maddy and Audrey's school the Friday before Halloween every year. We eat Kentucky Fried Chicken, and purchase tickets for the booths where the kids earn prizes, get their faces painted, and their hair spray painted. Last of all, they spend at least an hour on the blow up slide on the soccer field. THEY LOVE IT. Next year Alli will be going to the festival as a student!! She still asks me every few weeks when the "festible" is coming. I'll admit, I really look forward to it too! My camera is gone so no pictures :(

Foreshadowing

So I took Cole on Autopia for the first time (Allison was still too chicken to go in it)and now I have an idea why...she's frightened of Cole's driving!! Ok, so that's probably not why, but seriously, I hope my experiences in the future when Cole gets his permit, are not this bad. Notice his lack of focus on the road.


And a few more photos for good measure. Like we haven't seen enough of these!


Sadly, after the last ride, Indiana Jones, I was walking down main street and discovered my camera case was not around me any more. It had our camera inside, and in the pouch of the case was my license, and all 3 of our annual Disneyland passes. Dan fought through the crowd back into the park all the way to the ride. They checked all the pouches in all the cars (that's where I had left it) and they were all empty. So I made a claim at the lost and found and figured I'd never see any of it again. It was a rotten way to leave the happiest place on earth.

My baby's rolling over!!

Time with number 3 is flying by so fast I feel like I sneeze and a month goes by...especially when my baby I just had yesterday is already rolling over! Kaitlyn is such a happy, sweet girl. She's just what I ordered--even-tempered, binky baby, likes to be swaddled and can endure 2 older (clumsy) children...I'll say good sleeper too because I know things could be worse...we'll definitely say great napper...and I'll take that over Cole's crap naps as a baby any day. She smiles with her eyes and truly lights up my day. I'm so glad I had her when I did....she's easy and makes having 3 kids way less daunting than I imagined it would be. Now I'll just try not to blink so I don't miss anything!

Pumkin Patch

Every year, there is a mini carnival that is set up on Temecula Pkwy right by our house and the kids always beg to go there. So this year we decided indulge the kiddies and head to the carnival! They rode a few rides...see them holding hands on the swings?? So cute! Then we skipped out after seeing the prices of the pumpkins and picked up some sweet pumpkins at Stater bros for about 1/10 the price! I think it's going to have to be an annual FHE!

Who says is ghetto??

I've decided that Knotts Berry Farm is the coolest roller coast park ever....We decided to take a little family day and take the kids to Knotts. I've only been once before when I was like 12. I remember it being really fun but I also remember long lines. There was NO ONE THERE this time! We literally walked RIGHT onto every ride and then stayed on a few of them for more rides in a row. Those little Dixon girls are little daredevils and love roller coasters...I think it's from having Andrew as their daddy. Cole wasn't quite tall enough for most of the adults rides although he would have been game to go on them.
All of us adults felt like kids again...
(see creepy carousel---maybe that part WAS a little ghetto...)I had a sore throat a the day before and I really did it in by screaming on all the roller coasters. The kids have been asking to go back ever since...I think we'll have to make that happen!


Oh...and how could I forget, on our way to the last ride of the day, Allison decided to stow away in the basket of Shannon's double stroller....when we arrived at the ride, Drew hopped out of the front and Andrew picked Gavin up out of the back, so as Allison climbed out of the back basket, the weight of the diaper bag hanging off the bag, started to tilt the stroller onto her, and the handle hit the back of her head, planting her face into the textured cement. I saw it all happen in slow motion and couldn't get there fast enough. She held her head just crying for a while and wouldn't let me look at it. Finally when I was able to see it, she had a round, flat protrusion coming off of her forehead and the blood was right at the surface of the skin but not bleeding. And it came right under the skin in speckles because of the texture of the cement. She also scuffed the side of her nose a little. So our time playing was over, and on the way to first aid, a nice worker gave us a rubber glove filled with crushed ice. We finally made it to the first aid station, and a nice looking gentleman got her cleaned up right quick. He cleaned it and gooped on some Neosporin and planted a fat Bandaid over her forehead. The tears dried up and the handsome first aid guy got her a free Knott's Berry Farm T-shirt (since they were out of stuffed animals.) She calls it her "up and down shirt" because on it is Snoopy and the yellow bird riding a roller coaster. (Not the cutest shirt ever....but those are always their favorites right?)After a long fun day...we headed back to Temecula and ate at Oggies....the kids Zonked on the way home. It's days like this spent with family that create lasting memories!!!

An escape

When you have a lot of chores to do and the kids are being crazy....and the bread in the house is moldy....what do you do? You head for the duck pond!! I decided to treat me and the kids to Oscars and then head over to the duck pond...escaping the laundry list of things to get done around the house. We had a good time...but I'll have to say, there is an overabundance of bird poop under every step and while the kids were throwing whole pieces of bread into the pond for the ducks to choke on, they were a little too close to the edge for comfort...and there's no diving in when there's a baby in your arms. But alas.....an escape for a day was just what we needed!