October

I was worried that when we moved to a small town we would have fewer opportunities to do fun things with the kids but October has set out to prove me very wrong. Every week our calender is full of great Fall activities and each of the kids (except our poor perpetually Left Out Lucy) has a special activity just for them. I love it, Andy is exhasted, and the kids are now going to expect every month to be as jam packed as this one.
Here's a peek at what we've done and what we have planned.

Last week Julia went to a fire safety program put on by the local firefighters. It would have been perfect for Ace but his class didn't have a bus so they had to cancel their trip. That turned out okay because it was Julia's first field trip so it got to be all about her. Also, I got a glimpse into her preschool world and was happy to see that she has made a lot of sweet friends and her teachers are as awesome as I've heard they are.

Saturday we went to a birthday party at a small hands-on science museum downtown. Everyone had fun (even if Hayley refused to smile the entire time)

Sunday was military appreciation day at the zoo so we got to go for free. With a family of 6 to pay admission for, we will happily battle the crowds if it means saving all that money so we were there bright and early (which means 10:30 for us). We spent 5 hours seeing every animal, keeping all the kids happy with snacks and drinks and lifting up child after child so they could get a better view of the animals. Then we missed the last train ride of the day because we had to go get tokens and were not in line in time. That means that the previous 5 hours were instantly forgotten and all they will remember from our trip to the zoo is that we missed the train. But, I have pictures. See, they were happy, it was fun!

Hayley had a field trip today to learn about the Civil War. I'm not sure what she learned but I did hear every detail about the bus ride, the picnic lunch, and that she learned how to play MASH on the way home.

Ace is going to "sleep with the sharks" at the aquarium with his scout troop and his dad on Friday and Saturday we are packing up and heading to my hometown for the State Fair. I've been looking forward to that for the entire month so I hope the kids love it as much as I did!