Fall Fun!

"Gonna go wild wild wild Kratts, Gonna go wild wild Kratts, Gonna go wild wild wild..."

I wouldn't say that we emphasize Halloween at all.  In fact, my favorite holiday is Christmas and we go ALL out for December/Christmas, but for whatever reason the boys have grown to love Halloween, and they talk all year long about what they'll dress up as.  It's innocent fun, they enjoy choosing their costumes (within reason) and getting candy and treats that they get to eat (also within reason).  

So the talks of Halloween began in early Summer.  There was lots of watching Halloween Curious George, and lots of debate about what they will dress up as.  My goal each year is to get the boys on the same page and do costumes that go together.  I have no doubt that I won't always be able to do that, but for now, they can be somewhat coerced.  Examples, we've been minions, and last year they were Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  

So when the chats first started, the boys were going in opposite directions-- there were talks about being Lego Movie characters, which was pretty hilarious when we decided that baby Joel could be the piece of resistance.  And there was talk about family costumes of Star Wars characters.  And then in August the boys finally settled on being the Wild Kratt brothers and were SUPER excited about it.  I set out to Pinterest for ideas and inspiration but because I have a newborn, we had to keep simple.  AND knowing how much the boys love the Wild Kratts, I also wanted the costume to last a little while because I imagined them wearing it every single day..... and they have worn it every single day.  

Purchased black and white fleece to sew the vests at Hobby Lobby, got their green and blue long sleeve shirts from The Children's Place, printed the creature power discs from PBS.com and had them laminated at Staples and added velcro to them, and got some black knit gloves at Target.  It was a multi-day project working while the baby was sleeping and in between our school work with children watching over my shoulder and asking literally every 5 seconds when they would be completed.  But the look on their faces once they were completed was SO perfect!  And subsequently watching them run circles all over the house leaping off of furniture "activating" and "deactivating" over and over was pretty priceless.  

For our 4th year, we headed out on Saturday to the orchard to see "The Great Pumpkin."  I say it every year, but I'll say it again and again-- it truly is one of my favorite family traditions.  I really love that while we have things we did growing up, and we have things that are families still expect at the Holidays, we've also gotten to where we are creating our very own family traditions.  Things that the boys will talk about when they are older and have their own families.  (Unless of course Leeland is speaking truth when he says that when he grows up, he wants to be nothing and doesn't want to get married and wants to stay with us forever.  Oy vey!) This one just happens to be one of my favorite traditions.  What can I say?  I'm a "Peanuts" lover!  We rode on a hay ride, devoured s'mores and watched the Charlie Brown movie on projector screen outdoors under the stars by the light of the moon.

Glow necklaces from the Target $1 spot were a hit too!

Then on Sunday we devoured my recipe of Pumpkin Patch Pasta, I made pumpkin lactation cookies and we carved our pumpkins.  Daddy Kroh had mandatory work on Saturday night and sadly had to miss the orchard festivities, so we were so happy to have him home to help and enjoy carving pumpkins with us on Sunday.

We've got Emmet and Wild Style from the Lego movie and a classic one tooth Jack-O-Lantern.  A Fall fun filled weekend! Now we wait and look forward to trick or treating and the great Pumpkin's return. ;)