Halloween and More!

The kids had a great time at Halloween this year, starting with trunk or treat at a local elementary school with their friends Emma and Jackson (and their baby sister, Felicity)!

Then they carved their jack o'lanterns:

They also got to do a Halloween Costume parade at their school. First I got a pic of the three third grade teachers dressed as the Sanderson Sisters.

Here is a video of Avery going by in the parade: 

Avery parade and also Gavin:

Gavin parade

And then we all got ready for trick or treating that night.

Gavin also started wearing glasses a couple weeks ago. They are kid friendly (meaning nearly indestructible)!

Gavin also had two of his baby teeth pulled this past week! There was concern that the adult teeth might go back into the roof of his mouth if there wasn't space for them because the baby teeth were still there. So he got double rewards from the tooth fairy!

Miss Avery went on a field trip with her class to the fire station right near their school! I went as a chaperone and walked with Avery and two of her classmates through the station.

We have had a fun few weeks and we are gearing up for Thanksgiving!!

Wichita Visit

We just got back from Wichita where we celebrated Gampy (Carlton's Dad, Dan Brinda) - he turned 90!!! We were able to spend about 4 days visiting with family and they threw a big celebration for Gampy on Saturday. We had lots of fun catching up with everyone - here are some pictures of our trip!

We spent our first day at the Exploration Center (Children's museum).

We walked to a nearby resturant that evening with Eileen and Remy. The kids just had to have their picture taken on this sign....each on the letter their name starts with.

And again on the walk back to the hotel.

Extra sugary pancakes for Avery and some meaty bits for Gavin to sink his teeth into at breakfast time!

The highight of our hotel stay was the robot butler who brought up a complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste just so the kids could interact with the robot!

Robot Butler

The next evening we got to hang out with the Bartnick's for a bit and since Moira wasn't going to make it to the birthday celebration, we got pics with her!

Here Moira is holding sweet Evelyn, her 3 month old niece, Maxine's new baby!

And here is a quick video of Avery checking out the chicken coop!

Chicken coop

The next day we met up with Olya, Marcus, Ariana and Deana to walk along the river, find the troll and see the Keeper of the Plains.

Avery and Deana

Deana, Avery, Gavin and Ariana with the Keeper of the Plains statue in the background.

The troll - a local woman made the statue to hide under this grate and see how many people actually noticed it.

Later that day was the big celebration! Here are some pictures with all the family!

Molli holding her grand-niece Evelyn.

Gampy holding Evelyn - his newest great granddaughter.

Our family getting pics with Jasmine before she had to leave for work.

Gampy and Jasmine (one of his grandkids).

Gampy modeling the t-shirt we bought him.

Gampy and his birthday cake that Molli made!

Happy Birthday song for Gampy:

Happy Birthday Gampy!

More pictures with the Birthday boy and his enormous family! This first pic has most of the "kids". Liska Dae, Eileen, Marcus, Paula, Anna, Molli, Carlton and Audie.

Gampy with his sister Margaret, brother Gary, and nieces Mary and Jocille.

Here we are with Maxine and her daughter Evelyn (with MArcus photobombing in the background).

Dasha and Teddy Renteria! Dasha is one of Molli's daughters. Here is Angelica and her daughter Lorelai (totally Angela's mini me).

Anna with her son Danny and her grandson Sebastian (Danny's nephew).

Kids playing in the puzzle room. And below we are with Eileen and Remy again and this time inclued Jeremy (Audie's son).

Molli and her other daughter Teril. Below pic with Liska Dae.

Here we are with Cassie (Audie's daughter) and her husband Nate.

PIcture with Gary and Margaret. Below pic with Mary and Jocille.

Pic with Marycile (Gammy's sister) and her son Jim. Belowpic with Angela and her son Liam.

Here we are with Audie (above) and Paula (below)

Above pic is Joe, Audie's husband. Then here is Remy with a big cheesy smile. Next to her is Alex, Molli's son.

Then we got one more pic with Gampy before leaving. It was o fun to see everyone and try to catch up a bit in the short time we had!