Hulk To The Holidays

Another year and another beautiful fall season.  This season is by far my favorite as it kick starts holiday festivities.  Halloween comes first.  What fall would be complete without the pivotal pumpkin patch experience.  Surprisingly we only made it to one this year.  Gone are the days that I try to drag my kids to every pumpkin patch within 50 miles of our home.  I have found through the years that one experience of hay and corn is plenty and now reserve my pumpkin purchases for a store with substantially lower prices:)  The kids enjoyed finding their pumpkin alter egos while Bennett thoroughly enjoyed running around the wineries.  One of wineries had a stage the kids could dance on after the music duo left.  Funny thing is, the next time we went to that winery, Bennett decided to relieve himself, off said stage, in front of everyone.  But that is a story for another day.


The big kids had a Halloween parade and party at school before Fall break commenced.  Connors face lit up when he realized Mom came to see them and Wonder Woman sparkled her way through the parade, party, car, house, etc.  A girl can never have enough sparkle.

Fall break started with a visit from Nan and Papa Hutch.  We waited to carve pumpkins until they arrived.  They picked out their pumpkin, cleaned it and settled on a stencil before carving their big orange masterpieces.  Frankenstein, flowers and Superman were completed just in time to light up the night on Halloween.

 
 
It was then time to don our costumes before we hit the streets to collected sugary treats.  Corynn once again sparkled as Wonder Woman, Connor was the Dark Knight(and he said it in his best Batman voice), and Bennett was the big green guy Hulk.  My parents even got into the Halloween spirit and dressed up.  "Nice Eggs," was heard a couple times as we roamed the streets of St. Charles:)

  

After Hulk smashed his way through Halloween it was time to start our Christmas holiday off right with a trip to Branson.  We packed the car and picked the kids up early to begin our trek to Big Cedar Lodge and Silver Dollar City.  Even though it was only the first week of November, Branson was decorated to the hilt with lights everywhere you turned.  We checked into our Cabin and waited for our friends to arrive. 

Between building fires, nature hikes, mini golf, swimming and sleepovers, I don't know who had more fun; the kids or the big kids.  

After waiting in line for almost an hour to get into Silver Dollar City, it was finally time to explore what this winter wonderland was all about.  They didn't miss a mark with decorations.  The park was filled with trees, Santa's, snowmen and more lights than I have ever seen in one place.  This place could put the Griswold's to shame.  We rode on rides, ate tasty treats and basked in the glow of Christmas everywhere we turned.  I am not going to lie, it made me want to decorate as soon as I got home, but I resisted the temptation(barely).

 

 
Soon our time at Big Cedar came to a close.  We packed our bags, snuffed out the fire and enjoyed a few more moments around the decorations.

Sweet Dreams!!