Halloween

I didn't get that many pictures this year! We were in such a hurry and it was freezing outside! They didn't want to wear their jackets because it would cover up their costume, but the girls soon changed their minds. Ben never wanted his on. He is always warm, or hot and sweaty.

Spiderman's Muscles

He asks to wear it everyday!

Addi is Merida from Brave, of course!

Alyssa chose to be a witch this year. I was so happy it was something cute and easy!

Happy, but asking to go home.

We only lasted 45 min trick or treating! But we had plenty of candy from the Halloween parade and ward trunk or treat. We miss Arizona!

 

Carving Our Pumpkin

Addi was the only one Brave enough to touch the inside of the pumpkin, which was fitting for her because she was Brave Merida for Halloween. Both Lys and Ben refused. They said it was too yucky. Strange, coming from a girl who picks up worms!

Our Pumpkin! Steve did a great job!

Since Ben and Lys wouldn't touch the goop, Steve had a few tricks up his sleeve to get them to touch it!

Addi Takes Center Stage

After watching Puss in Boots, the music came on during the credits and Addi decided to break into dancing!

Home, Home on the Range

You have to listen very carefully because the girls are kind of loud, but it's cute. Ben is singing "Home, Home on the Range." Steve sings that to him before bed time. He is always singing different songs. I love it! His lips crack me up when he sings too.

Sunday

I usually don't have time to take any pictures on Sundays when my kids are all dressed up and cute for church, but I did this week!

Addi's dress is now missing! I have no idea where she took it off! It has to be in the house somewhere!

What am I going to do when the next baby girl is born? Buy 3 matching dresses for each week of course. Ha!

Hershey's Chocolate World

Steve had a conference in Hershey, PA. He suggested that I check the kids out of school early and meet him there so we could go to Chocolate World. I was a little hesitant to drive there by myself, but we made it! We had so much fun! As soon as we got close, we all really could smell chocolate in the air!

We went on the perfect day! Well, almost. The "create your own chocolate bar" was closed for cleaning, but there was hardly anyone there so that was nice.

The first thing the kids got to do when we arrived was to pretend they were Hershey Kiss factory workers.

I forgot my good camera so sorry about the poor pictures!

Getting on the free tour. See the long line? So nice! We went on this ride 3 times by request of all 3 kids! Every time you get off, they give you chocolate!

So much to look at

Ben thought the singing cows were funny

Dad's favorite candy bar, or so I thought! I learned today that his new favorite is dark chocolate with almonds! I'll have to remember that!

Kisses with kisses

We saw a 4D movie. I really screamed twice when the rats came! Ben was a little nervous. The girls thought it was hilarious!

I caught Ben in mid air!

We took a tour of Hershey city on the Hershey Trolley. We read the reviews that it was an entertaining ride geared toward kids, well not ours. It was interesting for Steve and me, but the kids were ready after a few minutes. It was the chocolate they kept passing around that kept them from complaining! When we got off, they gave us each a big hershey bar!

We learned that Hershey was actually a really neat person. He was a humble man that really helped out a lot in the community. The city is actually a beautiful place to live. I would live there!

World's largest chocolate bar!

It was such a fun day! Dad has the best ideas!

Penn's Cave

On Labor Day we went to Penn's Cave. The tour is by boat! 

The store before heading onto Penn's Cave was filled with thousands of fun things to look at. The kids loved all the different kinds of rocks the best! 

Not a great picture, but it gives you an idea of the boat and entrance to the cave.

Addi was nervous. She said Dad protected her.

At one point, the tour guide turned out all the lights to show us how dark it gets. The kids were nervous. They did not like that part.

They named a lot of the different stone formations. Alyssa liked the "gummy bear" and "shark fin" the best. We even got to see two bats, which Lys loved, but Addi did not! 

The kids favorite part was when the tour guide changed the lighting to different colors. They thought it was so beautiful, especially the rainbow lighting at the end.

This is the other side of the cave. We couldn't venture out there because it was pouring! The boat would have filled up with water! I wish we could have. It was really beautiful and peaceful.

On the way home, we past this a couple of times!

Fishing at Montour Preserve

Alyssa must have asked to go fishing every weekend for 4 weeks, so we finally planned a trip. We found a beautiful place to go and bought all the gear we needed to take the kids.

On the way, Ben fell asleep. So when we got there, I stayed in the car with Ben for over an hour while Steve and the girls fished. I stayed busy playing on my phone! Once Ben finally woke up, we met up with the girls and Steve. The weather was perfect. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day!

Here's our single catch. The girls were pretty excited. If you zoom in, you may be able to see it.

Ben is obsessed with throwing rocks in the water. He did this the whole time.

I can't help but smile when I see this. He's sportin' his new hat and spiderman sunglasses.

Summertime Projects

Our Summer schedule usually consisted of going to the gym, running an errand or a fun trip, snack and show (or lunch if it was late enough) and then nap time for Ben. During his nap, the girls and I would do "learning time," reading time and then we'd try to fit in a project. Here's a lot of the projects we did this summer here in Danville.

Tape Art Resist

Toothpick Towers

Tinkerbell Necklaces and Rings

Magic Beads

(They did this like 3 or 4 days in a row. This is what Addi stuck up her nose - to be posted later!)

Mind Blowing Science

(This was done many days in a row too. Very popular with Lys.)

Painting our own Olympic Rings

(While watching the Olympics, of course)

Felt Finger Puppets

Decorating Cookies

Fourth of July Fireworks