Happy Halloween! It was a big exciting day here, and we took lots of pictures. I'll post more tomorrow when I am not so tired.

Kenton was excited to have his picture taken with Emily, who is one of his favorite engines. I think his favorites are any of the ones he owns. The day out with Thomas was so much fun. He's still talking about it today!

Today was the big Thomas the train event. It was fun but exhausting. Kenton was sound asleep about ten minutes into the drive home. We rode the train with Nana & Papaw, then there were lots of fun activities to check out like a bouncy house and a hay bale maze. Nana and Papaw did a little shopping, too, since the organizers of the event provided so many convenient opportunities for spending money.

The Boston Marathon was today--the Boston, Georgia mini-marathon, that is-- so we loaded up the kids and drove over to check things out. In addition to the race, they have other fun stuff like arts & crafts vendors, games for the kids, and a parade. We looked around town and then went in to Boston Bar-B-Que to have lunch just as the parade was starting. We had a table in front of the window and parade went down the street right in front of us, so we could see everything but got to be inside in comfy chairs and out of the wind. It was great! Kenton and Edward ran out and picked up a few pieces of candy tossed from the parade while we were waiting for our food. We finished our meal just as the parade ended and the restaurant started to get busy, then went over to let Kenton play in the bouncy house for a few minutes. It was $2 well spent. After ten minutes or so of intense running and bouncing, he was exhausted and ready to come home and nap. Tomorrow we're meeting up with Nana and Papaw in Cordele for the big Thomas the train event. I can't even imagine how excited he's going to be!

Kenton apparently got chilly during his nap today and decided to cover himself up with the curtains. Maybe the blanket was too heavy.

You may notice that Beary is not among the pile of stuffed animals in his bed. After nearly two weeks of constant togetherness, Kenton and Beary appear to have parted ways. They have not spent any time together for the last two days, and Puppy (who can be seen lying next to Kenton in the picture) is Kenton's new best buddy. We're not sure what came between Kenton and Beary, but we're still hoping they can work things out.

Kenton practices his candy-eating skills in preparation for Halloween

The Methodist Church downtown had a fall festival tonight and we walked up and checked it out after I got off work. Kenton had a great time. Emery didn't get much out of the festivities, but she sure looked cute in her pumpkin hat! She also had on her cute "Mommy's little pumpkin" shirt, but I didn't think to take her bib off before I snapped the picture.

The weather here was actually kinda cool today--temps didn't get out of the 60s! It felt like fall being out this evening. We don't get much fall here in south Georgia, so we enjoyed it.

This morning Kenton woke up around 6:30, and my wonderful husband got up with him and let me sleep. When he did sent Kenton in to wake me up a couple hours later, this is what I opened my eyes to. It's hard to wake up in a bad mood when you see this much cuteness first thing in the morning.

Kenton and Bear are still best buds, and Bear continues to go everywhere we do. He trekked to Tallahassee with us today for some lunch and shopping, then rode in the stroller with Kenton when they took Lucy out for a walk this evening. Bear also sits at the table during all meals, and stays safely cradled in Kenton's arms when we go anywhere in the car. It took a lot of talking for Edward to convince him that Bear did not have to have his own car seat, but I think he's accepted it now.

Our blue-eyed baby girl

Kenton has a baby. He picked up this bear on Saturday from the pile of stuffed animals in our living room and has been parenting it ever since. He takes it everywhere, feeds it bottles, burps it, and changes its diapers. While he demanded a real bottle to feed his baby, the diapers are imaginary...at least so far.

Emery can hold her head up pretty well these days, at least for short periods of time, so we decided to let her try out the Bumbo chair. She did pretty well in it, but got fussy after a few minutes. I don't think she minded sitting up so much as she's just spoiled and thinks someone should be holding her all the time! Kenton thinks that any time the camera's out he needs to be in front of it, so he was putting on a show as we were trying to get a few good pictures of Em.

Granny Cardin sent a Kenton a Halloween package that arrived yesterday. He was very excited to receive it. He loves stickers, so he immediately wanted to put those all over his arms, and he was really fascinated by the jack-o-lantern necklace with the flashing light.

Kenton got to pet several animals at the fall festival on Sunday. This particular goat was his favorite because it moved a little slower than most of the other animals. As you can tell from the look on his face, he was pretty excited by the whole experience.

I had to work today, but Edward took Kenton and Emery to the fall festival at Pebble Hill Plantation. There was a petting zoo, farm machinery, and lots of other things that a 2 year old boy finds very interesting. Emery wasn't as impressed--she slept through most of the festivities.

We also went to Lowe's tonight after I got home. Kenton usually goes in and checks out the riding lawnmowers, which he calls tractors. They've started putting Christmas decorations out in the store, though, so tonight he was torn over which he wanted to look at. Finally he realized he could stand by the lawnmowers and see the Christmas decorations. He leaned against a lawnmower and looked at me and said, "I touch the tractor and see Christmas, mama." I don't think he could have been any happier.

Kenton loves the bathtub. There are usually more toys than water, and I think he'd play in there for hours if we'd let him. Despite all the toys that are usually in the water, his favorite tub playthings are two small cups that he fills up with water and dumps from one to the other. Apparently that kind of thing is endlessly fascinating if you're two.

For the first few weeks of Emery's life, I was convinced she looked like me. I see now that I was wrong. Like Kenton, she's a little carbon copy of her daddy, but with my nose. I still think she's built more like me than Kenton is, but that may change as she gets older, too!

Happy October!