Fort Building

 For as long as I can remember in our marriage, we wanted to give our kids a tree house.  It's just such an iconic thing, and something maybe we both wanted as kids, that it's been something that we yearned to live somewhere where we could build one.  Alas, we have never been able to do so, mostly for lack of a tree big enough.  We decided that we could still do a house, even without the tree, and decided to build a backyard fort.  It was supposed to be something the boys could do together, but the girls joined in more than they did.  Scott posted on the yard sale pages for scrap wood, and was able to get enough pallets, 2x4's, etc, to make a decent fort.  It may not be Pinterest-worthy, or like anything we had dreamed of, but it filled the desire and has been something fun for the kids.  I need to post the after pictures, but here's some of the "befores".

 Boston learns how to use a hammer for the first time.  He thinks he's big enough to help too.

Spook Alley

 In March, the kids treated us to a Spook Alley.  They decorated the basement, including the Barbie house, and we walked through the dark, while they jumped out and scared us. 

 The "pumpkin" had a tea light behind it, making it glow in the dark.  We had 2 zombies, a ghost, and can you guess who Brighton was?  Hint: he's there, inside my mind.

One little, two little, three little Indians

 Warning:  The following post is NOT very politically correct.  Proceed at your own offense.

Question:  What's a boy and his dad to do on a Saturday afternoon with a bunch of sticks gathered and brought home from a day in the canyon?

Answer:  Build this, of course!

 With Thanksgiving coming up, the kids had Indians on the brain.  I came downstairs to the playroom one afternoon and found this tepee that Scott had built for the little kids.

Of course, you can't be a proper Indian dressed like a 21st century American kid.  So we got this little Indian Princess:

And these 2 little Indian Braves:

 

 And then a little Indian Papoose (not very willing, mind you)

 Then we had 4 little Indians:

And finally, FIVE little Indians:

Brave Wild Cat out on the hunt.  Looks like we'll be dining on wild snake and monkey for dinner tonight...

Later we'll have a pow-wow and do a rain dance, and hunt some tatanka.

How.

Slingshot

 Trust Brighton to find another use for the teeter totter Scott built.  He found that it worked great to attach the slingshot to each handle and slingshot the bouncy ball he won at Trafalga over the summer to the other end of the yard.  I was quite proud of him for his creativity actually.  And it didn't involve weapons of mass destruction either.

The first step is to attach the slingshot.

Second, add the ball to the pouch, and pull back.

 Ready, aim...

 aim lower.  (Boston is learning from the master).

 Fire!!!

 It doesn't work so well to catch your own slingshotted ball...

 Run it back to base to try again.

 Finally, Irelynd gets involved.

 It became a contest of who could fire it further than the other.  These 2 played with this for over an hour, which is a long time in their attentiveness.  It was a great way to spend a warm, late fall, Sunday afternoon.

Crazy hair day

 Remember Flock of Seagulls?  That was the inspiration for Keaton's hair this year...

 This was as crazy as Brighton could get with hair that's 1/2 inch long.

 Waverly was a Who, and Irelynd was Miss Bed Head.  Never heard of her?  That's because I just made her up.

Jakers Pumpkin patch

 We grew our own pumpkins this year, but we still had to make a trip to Jakers in Springville to visit the animals and play in the corn pit.  The first time we went was on a Monday night when it was cold and dark.  They closed just after dark, so we were only there for a short time.  We went back a following Saturday when the weather was beautiful.  Waverly has gotten brave with feeding the animals, especially the donkey.

Thankfully, it didn't bite anyone this time.

We had to take a ride on the hay wagon, of course.

The first time we went, it was quite chilly.  Everyone had on warm clothes...except Waverly.  I tried and tried to convince her to wear warmer clothes, and she insisted on her Fourth of July outfit.  Not only that, she removed her jacket to play in the corn pit.  Crazy kid!  She obviously has her dad's thermostat!

The second time we went was sunny and beautiful.  Perfect fall weather.  Boston went down the slide with Savannah while I waited at the bottom with my camera.  His face and huge eyes cracked me up.

Does any month have as beautiful color skies as October?

I sure love this kid!

And all of these ones too:)

Boston wasn't sure what to think of the corn pit.  He wanted to just eat the corn.  There were cupfulls in his pants when we took him home.

I love October and fall!