Kangaroo Zoo

Last Friday we went to my new favorite place: The Kangaroo Zoo. Anda is pretty sure that bounce houses are the greatest thing on earth. Observe this video of her reacting to mere pictures of the bounce house at Henry's birthday party.

We were going to do the First Fridays Gallery Stroll, but figured it wouldn't be nearly as kid friendly as giant inflatable slides, trampolines, and sea creatures.

It was really fun. I'm sure we will be returning in the future, if Dan can forget the trauma of his sprained ankle.

We've also started introducing Anda to the potty. In return, she is introducing us to her sense of style. Apparently, she got it from me.

Ward Parties

One benefit of having Dan in a student ward bishopric is that I get to choose what time I want to go to church. Another benefit is that we get double the parties.

Dan's ward had their party on Thursday night. Anda went as Quint from Jaws being eaten by the shark. She even had the explosive tank that (spoiler alert!) Hooper eventually kills the shark with.

I went as a pushy wife who loves pie and insists that she get to be a judge in the bake-off instead of her husband. Also, Dan is on a diet and being really good about it.

Dan judged the costume party instead. Labyrinth David Bowie won, but only because there were TWO Tobias Funkes and Dan felt bad picking one over the other. Anda politely applauded, even though she was a little disappointed not to win.

Our family ward party was on Saturday. Anda just went as the shark this time.

She got to plays lots of games and even got to pick out two cupcakes--one when she actually did the cake walk and the other when she got away from us and waddled all the way across the gym directly back to the cupcake table. She is her mama's baby.

We didn't do trick-or-treating this year. We figure we've got plenty of that in our future and everyone had enough sugar in their bodies already. All in all, it was a very successful month of Halloween.

The Great Pumpkin

We had to give Anda a pumpkin patch experience, despite how well my garden pumpkins grew. (They were tiny.) We didn't get out there until after sunset, so the pictures aren't great, but it was a cute place that we will definitely go back to next year.

I thought Anda might want to play with the pulp while I carved these bad boys, so I stripped her and stuck her on the table. You may observe her progression from apprehensive curiosity,

to tool usage,

to reckless abandon.

I'm not saying it was the worst idea I've ever had, but I am still finding pumpkin guts on my walls.

Halloween Parties

I was going to do one big Halloween post, but it ended up being too big, so I will break it down.

Dan and I were invited to a real live grown up Halloween party a week or two ago. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I was excited to have a party to go to. Despite the message our costumes may have sent.

The party was a lot of fun and we met some great neighbors.

The costumes were not high on my priority list only because we had a housewarming party the next day and I had spent the whole week cleaning and baking.

As usual, I overestimated the number of people coming (or at least the appetites of those in attendance), but it was a lot of fun. "Scene It" and "Rock Band" were big hits.

Particularly with Anda.

The following is just so that I can remember in the future, since I didn't take any pictures.

The funnest (that's a word) thing we did for Halloween was a spur of the moment trip to The Center in Provo. My sister wanted to check it out, but her friends didn't, so I said Anda and I would go look around with her. I went a few years ago and it was cute, but I didn't have a kid with me, so I didn't think much of it. This year it was awesome! Everything was decorated really well and the Alice in Wonderland room was adorable. The best part was when we took Anda through the spook alley. The girl at the front looked at us weird and asked if we knew that it was scary. I told her one of Anda's best friends is a severed head, so she'd be fine. I had seriously underestimated the community center's funding. That spook alley was great. Unfortunately, the jumping out and screaming was not as kid friendly as a severed head, so we went through most of it saying, "You're doing great, but we have a baby, so please don't jump out at us..." and "Ooooh, he's spooky, isn't he? Look how silly that is!" We will definitely be hitting up The Center next year.

New Video

Also, I have a new video. (Sorry Grandpa and Grandma--your names are harder to say!)

Party Time

This Saturday we went back to the garden at the old house to get a pumpkin. They actually grew!

There were three little ones, but we just took one. We needed it to paint at Thomas's and Henry's birthday party.

If this lady ever invites you to a party

you need to move heaven and earth to attend. She really knows how to throw them. It was a costume party (they were the Little Red Riding Hood story characters), but Anda's costume was too hot to put on her. Hopefully we'll get some pictures of her in it before Thanksgiving.

I didn't get any good pictures of the cute games and awesome food, but I got plenty of the most important component: the bounce house. I have never seen my child love anything as much as she loved that bounce house. If any grandparents are looking for a Christmas gift for her, a personal princess castle bounce house would be an acceptable stocking stuffer.

Between the bounce house and the delicious treats, Anda had no interest in leaving. Ever. She also had no interest in learning the difference between a cupcake and a cupcake liner.

Thanks for inviting us, Melissa!

Family Pictures

My sisters helped us take some family pictures this past weekend. I think they turned out pretty well.

Roseola is such a pretty word

Someone has been sick lately.

So we've been watching a lot of Sesame Street and Disney movies. And by "we" I mean "I," since it's hard to watch a movie when you are sleeping or writhing in discomfort. Or when you are only one and a half.

The good news is that The Princess and the Frog inspired me to make some of my own man catching beignets.

They passed the taste test and they are adorable, but the man catching assessment will have to wait until Dan gets home.

Video

While I'm playing catch up...

Can't get enough of Anda? Check out our YouTube channel here. New videos every ten months or so!

Saturday

Saturday morning at the Carters' started early and hard. But it ended with wheelbarrow rides once the chores were done.

Later, Anda's cousins came over to spend the night. I took the girls to the Harvest Hurrah in Spanish Fork. It looked like fun on the website, with face-in-holes,

a hayride,

and even caricatures.

We had a good time, but it was much smaller than I had been led to believe. Tylar was underwhelmed.

The boys stayed home and played video games, which doesn't make for fun photography. Bed time bath time impromptu splash fights do, however, so we will end with that.

'Tis the Season

Dan is starting her young. (Sorry, Dad--his passion outweighs mine, but I do root for the 'skins when they're playing.)

The merchandise doesn't seem to be helping either team so far this season, but pigtails are always cute.

And Dan can at least be proud that Anda can correctly answer "Where's the football game?"