Happy Halloween 👻🎃🦇

We are still dealing with the pandemic, so we weren't sure what Halloween would hold.  Before we know what our town was doing, I told the kids we might not be allowed to go trick or treating.  I told that that no matter what we would make sure to have fun!  We planned a fun Halloween party at Lisa and Nick's.  The kids thought that we could do trick or treating upstairs in the house.  Lisa bought all of the kids' favorite candy!  She made chili and mummy dogs! 

This year Mila was a cute witch and Caleb was a werewolf from Disney Zombies 2!  They looked adorable, and I didn't spend too much money on costumes!

My Mom and Dad surprised the kids and dressed up!  My Mom was a witch with Mila and my Dad put on his old karate gi!

Mila's 8th grade buddy, Aleksa stopped by with a sweet surprise for Mila!  I love how they've kept their friendship going!

Two adorable mermaids!

Four generations!

Best way to end a fun night...Hazel snuggles!

Mila 💗's Soccer!

Last year, Mila's gym teacher reached out to me and said she couldn't believe Mila had never played organized soccer.  That day in gym class, she said Mila looked like a natural while dribbling the soccer ball!  This started talks about signing Mila up for soccer.  And guess who was most excited of all?!  That's right, her soccer playing Dad!  He immediately said he wanted to coach!  She was supposed to play in the springtime, but Covid ruined that!  Luckily she was allowed to play this fall!  She and Erik had a great time!  She even scored several goals!

Caleb's 2nd Karate Tournament

Caleb had his second karate tournament today. He's been working very hard in his classes.  He did very well, but didn't place as high as he had hoped.  He got 3rd place in his basic skills.  We had a huge cheering section for him, but on the way home he completely broke down 😔  He was so disappointed and it broke my heart.  I felt like I didn't know the right things to say.  I tried saying he just needs to work harder, but he pointed out that he did!  He was right!  Finally I just said, I know you're disappointed.  You did the best you could, but it just wasn't your day.  It was someone else's turn to get first.  I told him we'll make sure we help him practice more consistently before the next tourney!  

Apple Picking Fun

I have wanted to go apple picking since before we even had kids, but we never went because it was more of a want versus a need!  I know it's expensive to go apple picking versus just getting apples at a store!  Well since my kids won't listen to me and keep growing up way too quickly, I decided this year I don't care about the cost!!  This is about the memories!!  However I still kind of thought about the cost and made sure to research all possible places to go!  We settled on Jonamac Orchard near Dekalb, and truly had a great time!!  I hope this is a new tradition that we will get to continue for several more years!  We went with Erik's siblings and families.  The cousins had a blast together!

Even baby Hazel was there!!

Mila needed a boost from Daddy!

This tall kid could reach his own apples!

We made sure to get our money's worth and ate while we picked!

Nikko took the lead in the corn maze.  After a few minutes he exclaimed, "this map is garbage!"