Halloween Trunk or Treat

This year was really hard to find something that we could all agree on! I finally came up with the idea of recreating the costumes from the kids' favorite show The Backyardigans: International Super Spy. But Esther didn't want to be the "bad guy" Lady in Pink. So we all went as the good guys - super spies.

 Joe Cool here with his top secret briefcase.

 Jacob's tight lipped smile! He wouldn't give me a big grin. His cheek is all red from being out in the sun during a yard sale we were a part of all morning in the cold!

 We have a whole series of Esther's different poses. These were the cutest.

 Double trouble!

 A family of spies. Don't my boys look handsome? And Esther is a natural at sporting her secret agent look. I had so much fun putting everyone else's costume together that I nearly forgot about mine. Thank goodness for a last minute trip to the thrift store for an overly large faux leather coat and some black pants!

I keep wondering how long my kids will think it's cool to dress up together. Forever, I hope!!

Texas State Fair

We really enjoyed our annual visit to the State Fair of Texas!

Checking out the cars and Esther thinks she's a star!

 Jacob taking in all the action and noise.

 Taking a break.

 Daron took the older kids on the Texas Star ferris wheel. That thing is 20 stories high. So I kept my feet on firm ground and stayed with Jacob.

 The carousel is an antique from the 1920s, I believe.

 Jacob sat on a horse for a little while and was loving the wind blowing in his face. But he was so wiggly that I had to take him off and just hold him.

 Every year we see the Kroger Birds of the World show. It's a conservation effort as well as an educational and fun show about birds. They always have two that fly into the amphitheater from the ferris wheel. Here is Nathan giving a bird a donation. The bird took it and put it in the box.

 Big Tex - just days before he was lost to fire. RIP Big Tex...

 This year there was a Chinese Lantern Festival. There were gorgeous lit pandas, pagodas, dragons, walkways, mermaids, lotus flowers, fans, etc. It was really quite pretty.

 This dragon was made of China plates!

What would a lantern festival in Texas be without a herd of longhorn cattle?