Fall Fun

Natalie took her first field trip a few weeks ago! Her class (and the class above) boarded buses and went to a local farm. Given that this was her first field trip, no way was I going to miss chaperoning it! A lot of other parents also felt the same way; there were so many parents that the big joke was that we should put all the kids on one bus and all the parents on another! Actually, many of the parents (myself included) ended up driving separately - a plan guaranteed to save our sanity and our eardrums and get us back to work on time. 

Thus, we were quite the sight making our way down the freeway, two buses with kids all in car seats or booster seats, followed by seven or eight minivans / SUVs. That's a field trip, Texas style, ya'll.

But we eventually made it to the farm, had the obligatory potty stop(s) and started seeing, petting, and feeding the animals. Much fun was had by all!

The class was even (sort of) willing to (semi-) pose for something approximating a picture. You be the judge:

Before leaving the farm, they even got to go on a hayride!

Next up on the Fall Fun List was Halloween. Like last year, we went to the TCU dorm event. This is fast becoming one of our favorite fall traditions - the students are so sweet and put so much time and effort into their decorations, Natalie loves being on campus, and it's so cute to see all the other kids dressed up. And the candy, oh, yes, the candy (more on that in a minute).

First, time capsule back to last year:

And here's this year (same costume: when you're golden, you're golden, you know?):

Natalie is in Daddy's arms here because the dreaded SuperFrog mascot dared to make an appearance:

Our friend Charlotte also hosted her Toddlerween Halloween party in a local park. Unfortunately, the party fell on one of the truly cool weekends we've had so far (now we're back to comfortable 88 during the days, so weep no more for us, dear friends. Except, maybe do. Because, you know: seasons?). Anyway, it was chilly, but the kids had a blast!

  Group party shot, sort of:

So, I mentioned the Halloween candy. We came home from the TCU event with a fair amount of candy. And unlike last year, Natalie was highly interested in it.

So we settled on one piece a day for a few days. However, the genius of the TCU Halloween event is that it was about a week before Halloween. So by the time Halloween came, the candy wasn't quite so new and exciting anymore. Since we'd done our trick-or-treating at TCU, we'd decided we weren't going out again. Better, we managed to convince Natalie that Halloween was the night where you give away all your candy (I mean, why else would people be coming to your house all dressed up, right?). We'd bought some bagged candy, too. So we started with that - and it was rocky going with the first few groups of visitors. But after that, Natalie got totally into it and we stealthily added her candy to the bowl. And by the end of the night - who'd have thunk it! - all the candy was gone. I know this totally won't work next year, but, hey, we'll take what we can get.

Last, I attended the family and friends Shabbat at Natalie's school:

In conclusion: Fall fun - rock on with your kitty cat on: