October Catch Up

After Pam and Rose left we had a few weeks to prepare for our next visitors.  Here is what we did while we waited for them.

Warning...this is a recap, we are not that boring and did do other things between this time but they were not captured on film memory card.


Played, played, played.  Here's Gracie showing off her fancy sunglasses.  She LOVES wearing them out here, possible because it is always sunny.

Gracie being a beauty star

We took our first trip to a local pumpkin patch.  It was, literally, just that.  Nothing like Vala's back home, nothing.  They had their pumpkin patch, banana trees, a couple of tractors, an education tent and a dirt parking lot.  The dirt here is red and super loose.  When it catches the wind or your shoes, it sticks to you like flies on poo.  We were super dirty by the time we got home.  Lesson learned, don't wear anything you love, or like, or cannot get dirt out of.  Gosh, I'm making this place sound as we had a horrible time.  It really wasn't a horrible experience, it was just different.  I swear we had fun!  Gracie loved riding the hayrack ride.  That was her favorite part.  She couldn't get over the tractor pulling us.  We found a couple of pumpkins to bring home, took some photos sitting on tiny pumpkins and gourds, and sweated (is that even a word?) our butts off!  It was a fun experience for her but nothing like Vala's is for kids and parents alike. I missed that place a lot this fall.

Gracie on a pumpkin.  She loved seeing all the punkins! 

We love when Daddy is home on the weekends.  I enjoy the little break from constantly being Mommy, and I enjoy seeing the two of them together.  Here they are one weekend making breakfast.  Gracie's speciality, pancakes!  She loves helping her daddy-o!

Pancake master :)

Then we celebrated our first Hawaiian Halloween.  Gracie was Jessie the Cowgirl from Toy Story 2/3. At first we couldn't get the costume on her, then one day, Daddy did it.  I tell you, he is amazing in more than one way.  She loved wearing the hat around the house and she wore the costume with joy!  Yeehaw!  You can imagine my excitement that she dressed up.  We were invited to our friends' home, the Adams Family, for a Halloween party and trick-or-treating.  Sidenote: I thought to myself, how often can you say that you spent Halloween with the Adams Family?!  Pretty cool, right? :)  It really happened folks.  We had a blast with the other families and their kids.  It was a beautiful night, and since the weather is so awesome at night here, most people sit out on their porches to hand out candy.  Little knocking was involved.  The fun and memories will be with us forever.

Gracie and her pals ~Dylan, Kamryn, Chase, Kiera, and Sophia

First house we hit!  She was so cute saying "Trick-or-Treat" and made sure to say "Thank you".

Funny story...we were locked out of the house and while waiting for the group to return, a family walked by and asked if "Iron Man" (seen in the bottom right corner) could take a picture with Jessie.  It was odd, but cute so we obliged.  Then another family walked by with a Buzz Lightyear and Woody.  I pointed them out to Gracie because she is a real fan!  The mom then wanted a picture of Woody and Jessie together.  It was so hilarious and adorable!  The two sat their sweetly as us moms/dads snapped away and laughed at how cute it was.  I think Gracie felt a little famous.

October is now long gone and we have done quite a bit more.  Next post to come will be our 2nd pair of visitors, Tina and Brandon.