Fall Happenings

The local PBS station had been advertising a "Boo Fest" with games, snacks, George and the viewing of the new Halloween movie.  The kids really enjoyed it all and of course getting to wear their costumes.  Of course, brave Max woke up at 2pm with nightmares and ended up in bed with us.  In all fairness, it was a "Halloween" movie so there were a few sort of scary things (relatively speaking), I remember why I dislike the "Halloween" part of Halloween.   Not a fan of that stuff myself!

 

 

We got these a while ago but it was too warm or we weren't all around so this weekend it was finally time.  I kept waiting for it to warm up a bit but at 10am it actually dropped slightly below 30degrees so we had to bring it all inside.  Usually Nate draws the face and I cut but artistic Nate had some new ideas and the kids loved it.  He got the art part (turned out awesome) and I got the guts and seed roasting:).

Aliyah picked a pony, but didn't want her picture with it...

Max's "scary like his pumpkin" face!

He got really into getting the seeds out.

Max & Nate go to MN

Well, while for unfortunate reasons they traveled, Nate and Max had a great trip to MN.  Grandpa Harold is not doing very well, and since waiting around for a call to attend a funeral got depressing, and since he seems to be doing much better than expected, Ken and Nate thought it would be better to get a visit in while he was still doing fairly ok.  Nate really wanted Max to come too.  Max is probably old enough to remember him for one, and I think Ken and the rest of the family enjoyed a little break from the somewhat sadness of taking care of Grandpa in his last days.    They had such a great time.  The plane was awesome and he got to go into the cockpit!  Then they had a really nice visit with everyone.  He really enjoyed hanging with Milo for a few days and best of all he got to go to the Lego store in Mall of America and had some birthday money to spend.  They had a great time and I'm really happy they got to do this.  Visits with the MN Swansons are always a blessing!

 

 

 

 

Max is FIVE!

I told Max since it was his 5th birthday we could have a party with his friends but all he wanted was for Luke and Emma to come and go to the pumpkin patch:).  It was a very unusually HOT fall day but the kids had a great time pumpkin picking, on the hay ride, playing in the hay forts/slides and feeding the animals.  Nate did have to bring the AC's back down so we could all sleep comfortably but I think the weekend was a success.  He got a ton of legos which is what he wanted so he is one happy camper!

 

 

 

 

These of course are Aunt Ellie's pics!

 

 

 Happy to have Luke's help!

His dinner request was pizza!

His other wish was to go to Chocolate World so we made a trip Sunday evening after naps.

We haven't had the check up for the stats yet but there is so much to say about our beautiful boy!  He is so happy and as long as we kept him fed he's such a great kid.  He and Aliyah really play together a lot and very well (yes, there is still fighting, they know how to push each others buttons).  Max loves school and likes playing with his friends.  Most days he'll still take a nap (smart boy!), however, he is still taking those naps in his firetruck bed.  We have a real bed for him but he was so upset the one night we were going to switch them out he may stay in that thing forever!  He's finally starting to get up when he wakes up, though he'll still often just yell for us first.  Not sure why he never got up (Aliyah already does) but he just wants mama when he wakes.  He sleeps well, eats well and listens for the most part.  He's really a meat/cheese/fruit/veggie kid.  He's not into pasta or rice at all, though he will eat wraps and sandwiches.  He LOVES legos.  If he's not playing with legos he's playing with angry birds and occasionally will get his cars out still.  He also finally learned how to swing himself and on a nice day could tally up a good 60 mins of swing time if we're home.  He just loves it and I think likes that he can do it.  He enjoyed playing soccer this year but is really looking forward to baseball in the spring.  He's amazing playing wiffel ball in the back yard so we'll see if it hold true to the real thing.  He enjoys his cartoons and can play with the I Touch better than I can (though we limit it, which he's also really good about).  One of my favorite things is when he'll take a walk with me, either walking or still in the stroller at night jabbering the whole way:).  We're just so blessed to have such a sweet boy and can't wait to see what God has in store for his life!