The Accidental Boilermaker

A little after 1:00 I check my email and see a notification from Evelyn’s teacher letting everyone know that Fort Wayne has postponed trick o treating till Saturday afternoon. Great news because the weather really wasn’t nice but kinda bad news too because instead of a busy Saturday we are going to have a super busy Saturday.  But it’s Halloween right?  You have to do something. The strip mall where our closest Kroger is and the library and the restaurant where my friend Sarah works at was still holding their trick o treat event so we went there. And it was cold and windy and rainy but Evelyn and Jameson didn’t complain.  We ended the evening at the cider mill which also had treats for kids.  So lots of candy, hard cider, and a pumpkin pie! Jameson help make the leaf crust. 

We carved our pumpkins last night. My parents are coming again for Halloween but not until tomorrow so I had to carve pumpkins all by myself this year. The original plan was to carve the Captain America shield for Jameson and Olaf for Evelyn. The shield looked easiest so I carved Jameson’s pumpkin first.  It turned out really well!  But once I was finished there wasn’t time to start on Olaf. Evelyn was pretty disappointed and decided instead of Olaf she wanted a more traditional jack o lantern that could be finished before bedtime.  I was a little sad not to get the chance to carve Olaf, but also a little relieved too. The template did look a little complicated. 

Evelyn and Jameson picked out their pumpkins today. Jameson and I also got lunch with Maryca and Millie. After lunch, the kids played at the mall play place. It’s fun to see Jameson and Millie interact without their respective big sisters. Millie also shared her pumpkin cookie with Jameson.  Evelyn lost her second tooth yesterday. Just like the first, she lost it while on the bus ride home. 

Jameson had his parent teacher conference this morning. Miss Stephanie said he is doing great. She gave him all yes’s for his developmental checklist except for holding an utensil correctly (improving), can write own name and cut on a line (not yet). Miss Stephanie said all 6 boys in Jameson’s class are doing great too. They all listen well, clean up when it is time, sit and do table work well, and play nicely. Jameson always talks about his friend Preston and Miss Stephanie said it’s true they do often play together. She said everyone kind of paired off but when they play outside on the playground equipment, they all play together. She asked him some questions and it was fun to see his answers. I’m not sure if his favorite toy is one we own or one he wishes he had. His favorite song is a song he “wrote” himself.  As for his favorite shape Miss Stephanie told me never in all her time teaching has she had a preschooler say his favorite shape is a dodecahedron.

Nate has the big project of fixing a set of steps on our deck. Thankfully Pat and Paul came down to assist. Evelyn and Jameson were such good helpers too. They ferried the extension cord back and forth between Nate and Grandpa Paul, sorted screws, and just kept the busy workers company.  Evelyn said her favorite part was helping with the deck. Pat got to come to Evelyn’s ballet lesson too. We also bagged a few leaves for Halloween decorations.  Jameson said his favorite part of playing hot wheels. He and Grandma Pat came up with some cool track configurations. 

Yesterday we met Harper, Willow, and Violet at the park but also there was Evelyn’s friend Katen from pre-k with her two sisters.  All 7 girls plus Jameson played really well together and since the weather was so nice we stayed for a long time. At the park Sarah invited us to the trunk-or-treat at the community college tonight but then this afternoon she texted saying Harper didn’t feel well and they were going to stay home.  Evelyn and Jameson were disappointed but they still really wanted to go. The weather was not great - cold, windy, and drizzly but they had fun and got a ton of candy. And I figure they only get so many chances to wear their costumes. 

We went it a huge farm fall festival in Ohio yesterday with Bella and Millie.  The same farm we go strawberry picking. There was everything. A not too scary haunted house and pig races. Rubber duck races and a corn pit.  Giant slides and buggy rides.  A kids barrel train ride and of course tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.  It was a lot of fun. The weather was great, a perfect fall day but it was so crowded. I’m glad we went because it’s always fun to see the kids play together and catch up with Steven and Maryca but I don’t know that I want to go back next year. There are some other more low key pumpkin patches closer to home that I think I like better.