Let the Halloween Festivities Begin!

First step was a visit to the St. Luke's pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkins to carve.  Fortunately there were pumpkins galore to choose from.  I think we looked at every pumpkin before we settled on "the ones".

Then a play date with our wonderful neighbor friends ended up in a big pumpkin carving party that was super fun.  Ella was settled on carving a cat pumpkin, done.  Addison started off wanting a dog then changed her mind 10 times and finally decided on a "W".  I realized we don't have pics of the carved pumpkins, but we'll capture those on Halloween.  

 Ella dove right in and was unphased by the goo!

 Addy the carving pro.

Addison carving with her neighbor BFF Will.

 Then the annual trip to Zoo Boo.  Best part of this trip was that it was the 1st time they got to wear their costumes!  Addy is a member of Gryffindor from the Harry Potter book series and of course Ella is Elsa from the Frozen movie. 

 If you will remember back to our San Antonio vacation last year when we went to the wild animal park and the zebra head in the car that made Ella terrified of zebras - well, I think that she is trying to overcome her fear by riding the zebra on the carousel at the zoo.  It was a BIG step.  In the past she has refused to even look at them at the zoo.  Even sitting on the back of a fake one is impressive. 

Happy 8th Birthday Party

 Addy got to celebrate her actual birthday with a trip to College Station, but Sunday she got to celebrate with her friends.  It was  "Magical" party!  I was originally thinking a small girlie  get together, but she really wanted to have a magic show at her party, so magic show it was.  The magician was super and a fun time was had by all, young and old. 

Addison's 1st Aggie Game

Let the brainwashing begin in full force - Addison went to her first Aggie game on her birthday.  The game on the field was terrible, Aggies lost miserably, but Addison seemed to have a great time.  Michael took Addison and they got to experience some of the on-campus pregame festivities we've never seen and then they stayed through halftime.  Unfortunately the game didn't start until 8:00 PM so it was a long night, but she says she had a great time and wants to go back!

Michael had read about the new cannon we have to go with the new stadium setup and actually saw it.  It is pretty serious.

And here is a little game day "selfie" in the stadium.  I think that she has the gig 'em down pretty good!

Yarwell Kids

We love our neighbor friends and they are the cutest group when they get together.  They pretty much act like brothers and sisters at this point.  So fun having the kids run between the 2 houses.  My house is oddly more calm with the 4 of the vs. my 2 alone! 

Rowan

My job is not glamorous and very few people have a clue what I do even after I explain it to them, but most people understand when I tell them I work for an offshore drilling company.  Few perks come along with working for an offshore drilling company, but one fun opportunity is getting to go on one of the drilling rigs.  Not something your average Joe gets a chance to do.  One of the rigs was in the Sabine Pass Yard for some repairs and inspections, so my group took a trip to visit.  Was actually my 3rd time on a rig, but I think that this may be the 1st photo I've taken on one. 

 Group photo on the helideck.  The structure directly behind us is one of the legs on the rig.  Bethany with a mildly crooked hard hat..

Photo from the yard with the rig in the background.  The rig is in the water jacked up about 10' above the water line.  It is a big chunk of steel that can still float somehow.  And in this one my hard hat is really crooked.  Nice.

Orange

 The first Friday of October was a "fall break" for HISD so we decided to make a quick trip to Orange to visit with Granny.  We were all excited for the trip, but Ella and her lack of calendar concept seemed extra exited and asked about the trip daily for a solid 2 weeks.  There were a lot of conversations that went a little something like this
Ella:  "When are we going to Granny's?"
Me:  "Next Friday"
Ella: "Tomorrow?"
Me:  "No, not tomorrow, next Friday"
Ella:  "In two days"
Me:  "Sure, whatever, yes, in two days"
So finally our trip to Orange was here.  Us girls had a great time shopping, park playing and relaxing.  Highlight for me was possibly dinner at Casa Ole!  It was also fun when Ella found the pictures on Granny's coffee table in the living room and we went through a lot of pictures that I had not seen in a long time.  Always a good time in Orange - we love you Granny!