Trick-or-Treating in Ocean Lakes! 2009

Drew and Mikayla are all dressed up and ready to go Trick-or-Treating! This was a new experience for our family and for our children. Normally, we go to fall festivals, and Drew and Mikayla don't really "trick-or-treat" except at my mom and dad's house and my grandma's house. This year, they had the most fun trick-or-treating all through Ocean Lakes Campground in Myrtle Beach with Nana and all the cousins!!Belle, Mikayla, Drew, and Trey pose for pictures in their costumes.Haston is dressed and has joined the others for pictures.Now, we are off!! Our caravan included four golf carts, with Chris, Julie, and Julie's mom leading the way. They were followed by Nikki, Tracey, Trey, Haston, and Drew (seen above). Next in line was Craig, Mikayla, and I, and Jason, Angel, Nana, Belle, and Ella brought up the rear. Look out, Ocean Lakes - I'm not sure you will ever be the same after this... Our golf carts split up once we got into the camper section because there were so many people and it was hard to stay together. We had Drew get onto our cart, and we moved from campsite to campsite as a family. Here, Drew can't believe what he sees at one of the campsites.
Mikayla is not real sure about this campsite's decorations as you can tell by her face. Drew, however, is taking it all in! I had to walk into this with Mikayla or she would not have gone in. Right after I took this picture, I turned around and there was a man dressed as a mummy right over my right shoulder. I almost stepped on him as I turned around. Mikayla didn't like that at all.

Drew and Mikayla trick-or-treat at one of the campsites.

Mikayla said she didn't want candy from this campsite - I don't think she cared for these decorations, either. But, you can see as Drew gets his candy, the decorations are not going to stop him.

Trick-or-Treating at another site.

After 3o minutes of trick-or-treating, Drew and Mikayla's baskets were overflowing with goodies. They had the most fun watching other people and looking at all the different costumes and decorations. Sylvester, the cat, was walking all around and we kept passing him every time we turned up different streets, and I think that was Mikayla's favorite part. Nana has talked about making this a yearly tradition for all of her grandchildren. Drew and Mikayla would be thrilled to go to Ocean Lakes every Halloween.

Halloween 2009 at the Beach!!

In October, Nana and Papa Fred invited all the kids and all the "grands" to the beach over Halloween weekend to celebrate Papa Fred's birthday and to trick-or-treat at the beach. Nana, Papa, Craig's Uncle Ovid, Fred's daughter, Nikki and her family, Fred's son, Dig, Craig's brother, Chris and his family, Craig's brother, Jason and his family, and our family had the most fun spending time together and watching the kids play!! I wasn't sure if Ocean Lakes would ever be the same after having all of us there at one time, but all the kids played exceptionally well together, and the adults had wonderful conversations!! I have a lot of pictures of this trip, so I will be making more than one post.One of the things that the kids, Craig, and I were looking forward to was carving our pumpkins. We took two pumpkins with us (one for Drew and one for Mikayla, of course), with the plan to carve them right on the beach! One of my friends from school shared that she and her family had done the same the year before, so the kids couldn't wait! Mikayla and Drew look on as daddy does the carving.

They told daddy just what they wanted, and he produced the perfect faces for their jack-o-lanterns!

The finished product!!

They fed the pumpkin seeds to the seagulls!!

We had so much fun on the shores of SC!! More pictures coming soon...

Enchanted Tracks!

On October 24, 2009, Craig and I took the kids to Enchanted Tracks!! The kids and I had gone with friends the year before, and they had a ball so I looked up the dates and made plans for our family to return. It is held at the Pavilion Recreation Center in Taylors, on the field in the middle of the "tracks" - train tracks that is! Hence the name - Enchanted Tracks. It is a family friendly fall festival that includes games, inflatables, food, drinks, a train ride, an Enchanted Trail with characters, and more!! There is nothing scary about it so it is just right for small children. Drew and Mikayla both love the Enchanted Trail!
Mik and Drew get candy from Shrek...

and an apple from Snow White!!

Mikayla and Drew also enjoyed getting their faces painted this year. Last year, the line was too long for this and the balloon art so we missed it.

Drew gets a spider and a snake.

Mikayla gets a rainbow and a crown. Is anyone surprised by either of their choices??

Waiting for the train ride - watching it enter the station!! I didn't get any pictures of us on the train because we were all riding. Mikayla sat with me in front and Craig and Drew were in the seat directly behind us. We laughed the whole way around the track.

Drew had lots of fun playing the games - especially this "spin the wheel" game, and the putting game!!

The very last thing we did was get in line for balloon art! Drew and Mikayla were thrilled about this - Craig and I not so much because it was a slow moving line. By the time it was our turn, there were only 5 children left. The balloon artist, however, made it very much worth our wait.

Mikayla holds her toothbrush that he made for her - he told her it was perfect for her because she was missing teeth. Mikayla thought that was sweet of him!

For Drew - a "monster" costume, complete with a head that sports one eyeball, a long red tongue, and arms and "claws" that Drew could move using the pieces he is holding in his hands. In all my life, I've never seen balloon art like that. It was definitely worth the wait!! We had so much fun as a family at Enchanted Tracks and we can't wait to go there again!!

Happy Halloween!

Okay, so this will be my last post about Halloween for this year. We have been so busy, it took me awhile to get them all completed.

My friends Nanda, Tracie, Roxanne, and Barbara invited Drew, Mikayla, and I to their church for their annual Fall Festival on Friday night. The kids and I went last year after they asked us to, and Drew and Mikayla couldn't wait to go back this year! We always have the most fun when we all get together. Of course, Mikayla had a ball with Bre and Emily and Miss Katelyn, not to mention Jacob and Austin. Drew also had a lot of fun with Bryson and Dawson, and Jacob, and Austin, and Philip! There is always so much to do, and I enjoyed talking to my friends over our dinner of hot dogs, slaw, baked beans, chips, and dessert.

Drew and Bryson ride the "hayride" after "trunk-or-treating" a little bit.

Mikayla and Breanna "truck-or-treat". Mikayla wasn't real sure about this skeleton.

Drew comes down the slide on one of the inflatables. This is the same inflatable that Drew scared me to death in right before we left...story to come later.
Emily, Mikayla, and Breanna ride the "hayride" with my friend Loretta. We all love "Retta" - she is a mess!

Mikayla and Breanna participate in the cake walk...

so does Drew. He won when it was supposed to be the adults' turn. Imagine that! Of course Barbara kept saying "Alison, don't you say anything to that boy".

After we left the church, we went trick-or-treating at Mimi and Poppi's house, where Drew and Mikayla scared their Poppi.

Then we headed across the street to Grandma's house so Drew and Mikayla could trick-or-treat there. This is actually their Great-Grandma (my dad's mom) and they love going over to Grandma's house anytime!

Boy, we sure have been busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Did I mention I love this time of year, and all of the fun things I get to do with my angels??

Another Fall Festival

On Wednesday, October 29, Drew Mikayla and I were invited to the Fall Festival held at my Grandmother's church. Her church is a lot like ours - small with an older population. My friend Carol and her daughter Brooke had planned to join us, but ended up not being able to. Poppi and Jennie decided to join us instead. Drew and Mikayla had fun playing games, "trunk-or-treating", and playing on the inflatables. All of us enjoyed some hot dogs and the music provided by different gospel groups. We had so much fun - thank you Grandma Nell for inviting us!!

Drew and Mikayla pose with my Grandma Nell - their Great Grandma Nell. This is my mom's mom - I'm not sure how happy she will be with this picture...

Drew and Mikayla enjoyed playing all of the games. They even went through and played them again, but just for the fun of it, not for the prize/candy.

Happy Halloween x2

Drew, Mikayla, and I had been invited to attend a fall festival on Saturday night that was being held at the church where they play Upward. So we went home after Jadyn's party, and got ready to head out the door again! They had "trunk-or-treat", games to play, hot dogs, balloons, and more! We had so much fun, and we were able to see many friends!

My "Raggedy Ann", and Black Knight "Ninja" wait to play a "spin the wheel" game!Mikayla and Brooke pose with their "flowers"!

Happy Halloween!!

The kids and I have been going, going, going since last week all in anticipation of Halloween. Last Thursday, we met my friends Nanda, and Wendy and their kids at McDonald's for supper. The kids (all 9 of them, when all was said and done) had a ball playing together on the playground while the mommies talked! After they played for awhile, Nanda, and I (along with Tracy and Carol who had joined us at McDonald's) took our little ones to The Enchanted Trail in a neighboring community (Wendy was not planning to take her three). Carol is the one who heard about this, and invited the rest of us to come along. We couldn't wait to see what this would be like, and the best thing was we didn't have school on Friday so it didn't matter how late we were out!

The Enchanted Trail was a neat fall festival held at The Pavilion in Taylors - one that I recommend visiting if you live near here. We got to pet animals, play games for candy, play on some inflatables, go through a trail in a "forest" where Disney characters gave the children candy, and ride on a train. There was also a costume contest, balloon animals, and much more. This was the best 10 dollars I have spent in awhile. Drew and Mikayla had so much fun - they have already asked to go back. This may become a yearly tradition for us!

Mikayla and Drew finally pose for a picture, just before we rode the train. Please notice my daughter's "bunny bucket". I didn't think to take their Halloween bags, so Nanda let us use two they had. Mikayla didn't think a thing about it!

Mikayla and Bre pose for a picture. Can you tell they are dancers?

All the girls...Mikayla, Emily, Breanna, and Brooke

The boys...Drew and Bryson (just a little out-numbered).

My 2 precious angels riding the train. Mikayla sat with me and Drew and Bryson were in the car in front of us. Nanda and Bre were in front of them, Tracy and Emily were behind us and then Carol and Brooke!

All of our children were very well behaved (that says a lot when there are six of them), and everyone had a great time!

Trick or Treating at Mimi and Poppi's

After we left our church Wednesday night, we continued with our yearly tradition of trick-or-treating at Mimi and Poppi's house and my Grandma's house (which is directly across the street from my mom and dad). We always have so much fun there, especially at Halloween and Christmas because my dad and mom have many decorations. I didn't get many good pictures of their Halloween decorations this year, but just to give you an idea they have: two caskets, a cemetery with a strobe light on it, black lights, skeletons, a scary looking face that looks as if it is coming out of the wall, and a light up witch that looks like she is really flying on a broom. Of course these decorations are all in good fun. Poppi gives Mikayla candy after she says "trick or treat".
Poppi tried on Mikayla's wig, and I just had to get a picture!
Drew helps Poppi give out candy to some trick-or treaters.
Mikayla and Drew pose with Mimi (dressed as Aunt Jamima) and Poppi.
Mikayla and Drew pose with Aunt Jennie. We had such a terrific Halloween, Mikayla is already asking when it will be Halloween again!