Halloween Visit From Grandpa

 We were so lucky to have my dad come out for a couple of days during Halloween.  Kaitlyn was so excited to have him come, and asked every day for weeks when we could go decorate his bedroom for him.  Since he was coming for Halloween, she wanted his room to be scary for him.  We put bats, spiders, snakes and skeletons around his room, and a little teddy bear to make it extra spooky. :)  The day he arrived, Kaitlyn dressed up in her witch costume and was sure he wouldn't know it was her and would be scared by the witch.  Luckily he responded appropriately when we picked him up at the airport, and she had to take off her witch hat to show him it was just her. 

He was only here for 3 days, but we fit a lot in.  Here are some picture highlights of what we did:

 Grandpa did several fix-up projects, and was kind enough to let David 'help'.  He also planted some bulbs and seeds in the backyard with Kaitlyn's help.

Kaitlyn was excited to see the special flower sprinkler Grandpa brought - just like the one at their house!  Before we took him to the airport Friday, they spent a while running through the water in the backyard.  I love David's sucked-in tummy. :)

We went to the Pumpkin Patch the day my dad got here, and it was perfect timing.  All the kids were still in school, so it was pretty empty.  Kaitlyn and David had a great time playing on all the blow-up toys without waiting in lines.  They LOVED the huge slide - I was shocked at how unafraid David was with it (I don't know why - he's not afraid of anything -- except nursery...).  They went up and down over and over.

 (Can you tell David loves tractors/trucks?)

We had a fun Halloween.  We carved a pumpkin the night before - Kaitlyn drew the face, and Grandpa did the cutting.  Once again, Kaitlyn wouldn't have anything to do with cleaning out the pumpkin. I tried to get David to help, but he didn't like the feeling either.

 The finished project:

We had a little party before going trick-or-treating:  web balancing to find numbers in order, and a creepy dinner (mud and worms (pudding/oreos), hot dog mummies, and 7-layer dip spider web).  

Kaitlyn dressed up as Rapunzel this year.  She got the wig in Utah this summer, and decided soon after that's what she wanted to be for Halloween.

 David was a Flintstone.  Kind of a mix between Fred and Bam-bam.  It was so cute to watch him trick-or-treat this year.  Once he figured out he got candy, he loved going up to the doors.  He would say trick-or-treat, and then reach out to grab a candy -- he didn't want them to put it in his bag for him - he needed to touch it. And only one piece, no more.  His "Tanku" (thank you) was so cute, too. 

Thursday we headed to the Fort Worth zoo for a few hours. The weather was perfect!  We were able to spend a lot more time than usual, since we weren't sweating away our energy.  The animals were more active than I've seen them.  David wasn't too interested in a lot of it - he just wanted to get down and run free, anywhere but where we were headed.

We had such a great time with Grandpa here.  The kids got spoiled silly, and loved every minute.  Kaitlyn started crying at the airport, and David wondered where Grandpa was when we got home. David skipped most of his naps, but that was pretty good preparation for daylight savings, right?  (It worked for Sunday, but this morning was an early 5:15...)  We can't wait to see everyone in a few weeks for Thanksgiving!