Halloween

It's only 11:00, but the dishes are finally done, the kids are in bed and I'm tired and going to bed. But, I wanted to at least get a few pics of the kids in their Halloween costumes posted. More will come later. We had a great Halloween. We realized that this was the first year Michael got to trick-or-treating with us since going back to school. A real treat! Good night!
PS Thanks Mom for making the costumes--they were a hit!

Decorating Cookies

So one of the coolest things about living in an apartment is that there is always a gang of kids running around to play with. We love having the kids knock on the door and ask Allie and Luke to come out and play. So for Halloween I decided to round up the gang and decorate some Halloween Sugar Cookies. It was a sugar fest and very....energetic...but lots of fun.



Oh yeah, and completely unrelated but still fun--the kids were overjoyed the other morning to come out to ducks in the pool. Kind of gross--but oh well--the pool's closed until summer so someone might as well enjoy it.

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Allie wrote this last night to the tooth fairy--I thought it was very diplomatic and appreciate that she stood up for me. I would hate to have the wrath of the tooth fairy on my shoulders. No worries though--we received a note that the tooth fairy was able to locate the tooth in the garbage can outside. Whew!

I was asked to write the note--some people were having a hard time viewing the picture. Here it is with Allie's spelling:
Dear Tooth Farie,
Today I lost my tooth. I put it in a little dixie cup and put it on the kitchen table. Then on axident, my mom put it in the trash. (please don't blame her) We are SO sorry we can't give the tooth to you. Please understand.
Love,
Allie Melanson
PS I believe in faries

I love the Zoo in the Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year at the zoo. There aren't as many people there, the leaves are beautiful and the crisp, cool air seems to make the animals more active. Allie didn't have school on Friday so it was the perfect opportunity to go. It was an absolutely beautiful day with a perfectly blue sky. Kate even enjoyed it too. She was intent on watching some of the animals--the elephants were her favorite. Our pass is actually to another zoo ( a good deal my friend told me about) and so when we go it says on our ticket that we are guests. The man at the gate asked Luke which zoo he was from. Luke was confused and said, "I'm not from the zoo, I'm a kid!" Somedays I feel like I live in the zoo!

We could watch the sea lions underwater for hours


Kate looking for Prince Charming

Our zoo has a famous new member. Baby Samudra was born in late August. Isn't he cute?

She's cute too!

Allie checking to see if she measures up.

Getting a stamp at the end of your zoo trip is a tradition and we can never leave without a stamp!

Need a smile?

Okay, since this is our family journal I should be posting something about our family, but Luke and I found this today and I had to share. It just makes me smile and makes me forget about everything I'm stressed about. Luke had to watch it 4 times in a row he liked it so much. It only works with the sounds on though. Hope you enjoy!

http://abc.go.com/primetime/afv/index?pn=player&itemId=364210

Kate and the apple

This video is for Grandpa Melanson. We discovered this week that Kate loves apples. I don't usually give them to her whole with the skin on, but we were having apples for snack and as soon as she saw them, she made it clear she wanted one. (Or in other words, screamed until I gave it to her!) It all started last week when Allie and Luke were eating apples and I held them for them while they were cleaning something up. I was holding Kate and she got into Allie's (which was good--Luke's had a whole bunch of dirt on it for some reason) When we got into the car to leave, I took it from Kate and she screamed the whole way to the grocery store for it. When I got her out of the car at the grocery store she looked all around for the apple and ate it the whole time at the store. When we got into the car to leave, the screaming started again until we got home. She was serious! I was surprised that she could remember that long what she was upset about. So now when we have apples, Kate has to have one too. Anyway, I just took the video for fun. I love the look on her face when Luke is around and how she watches her apple so seriously.

Surfer Allie

The long awaited surfer pics of Allie are finally out. She had no fear! She would still be in the water today if we hadn't made her get out.

Just learning with cool Uncle Neil in the back pushing her into the waves



How do you think this ended?

Pure joy!