A Winner of a Weekend (and season's end)!

The last weekend in October was also the last weekend of the season for Kings Island. On Saturday the 26th, the gray sky and chilly winds did little to keep the crowds away. Luckily, we were prepared with fall jackets, hats and gloves. We spent most of the day in areas we knew would not be as busy, like the lesser-known roller coasters and the dinosaur exhibit. Emma once again enjoyed trick-or-treat with the dinosaurs, and she even got to dig in the fossil sand box, which was closed during our last visit because it was too wet. The highlight of our day actually had little to do with the park though...while we were at dinner, Emma lost her front tooth! We left for our hotel shortly after dark, just as the crowds were picking up for the last night of Halloween Haunt. Emma was more interested in getting some pool time at the hotel than in being spooked by scary people, and so were we!**Sunday's weather was-thankfully-sunny and about 15 degrees warmer. We enjoyed many of the rides in the kids' area one last time for the season. However, the highlight of our day and maybe even the best event of the season was in the Hall-o-Palooza Kids' Halloween Area. For the past 3 years, Emma has entered the costume contest every fall visit to the park. All interested kids are given a chance to walk up on stage, have their costume announced, and hug Snoopy. However, only 3 kids are chosen as the winners for best costume. While Emma has always enjoyed taking part in the event, her store-bought costumes have never really stood a chance of winning. When Emma wore her Lalaloopsy costume for the contest earlier in October this year, she quietly said afterwards, "I can't believe I didn't win!" Then, Todd suggested that this time she wear the Popcorn costume she and I had made together for her Girl Scout meeting a few weeks ago (see earlier post). Not only was it homemade, it was unique. After several attempts, we knew this was the perfect formula for a winning costume. Even so, when about 50 kids showed up-possibly the largest group we've seen-we tried not to get Emma's hopes up. But, as luck would have it, the majority of the kids were wearing store-bought super hero and princess costumes. When the winners were announced, we could hardly believe it...Emma's Popcorn outfit, which was made of cardboard and quilt batting and cost next to nothing, had taken second place!!! As she stood on stage with the other two winners (a pretty impressive peacock and extremely unique poison ivy), she was grinning proudly from ear-to-ear, complete with the gap where her front tooth had been just the day before!

Halloween Party!

On Saturday Oct. 19th, Emma's friend Jessica hosted a Halloween party. It started at her house, with costumes (Emma wore her Lalaloopsy Doll costume), pizza, pin-the-face on the pumpkin, pumpkin decorating, and a spoon race. Then the girls received party pails with glow stick wands, which they used to follow Jessica's mom down the driveway to her grandparents' garden center next door. There they found a bouncy house and a pumpkin pinata to enjoy. The party ended with a Halloween Egg hunt in a darkened greenhouse (with a little help from the flash on parents' phones and cameras)!

Circleville Pumpkin Show 2013!

On October 18th, Mom, Dad, Jason, Emma and I met at our house and rode down to Circleville for the 107th annual Circleville Pumpkin Show. We met Aunt Linda at her house and headed into town in mid-afternoon. While we just missed the pet parade (one of many parades during the show), we were able to see some of the floats at the end of the route. We also walked around the pumpkin tower and displays of enormous and unusual gourds. Of course we couldn't miss seeing the giant 6-foot-wide pumpkin pie in the window of Lindsey's Bakery, one of the things I remember from going to the show when I was growing up! We passed up the fair food and found dinner in a barbecue diner, and we were not disappointed! Dessert at the diner was a melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cupcake which had won for its recipe on the show "Cupcake Wars". Lastly, just after dark, Emma and I enjoyed a ride on the ferris wheel, where we were able to view almost the entire show and its dazzling lights.**Grandma Coe did not come with us this year, but we did meet her back in her apartment a few miles away from the festivities. We shared pictures of the Pumpkin Show with her and she fed us pumpkin pie! It was a fun, beautiful day.

Fall on the Farm!

On Sunday October 13, we visited our favorite pumpkin patch, Devine Farms. Ever since Emma was a baby, we have visited the farm to enjoy the fall festivities. Together, we enjoyed the hay ride, barrel train ride, painting, the hay barn's tunnels and slide, a fun house, and the real tractors. Sadly, this may be the last year Emma can go to one of her favorite areas, the "Fun Fest" barn. Every year since she was two, Emma has enjoyed the ride-on toys, bean bag games, and corn box (like a sand box, but with dried corn). The same 48-inch height limit that HELPED her first get on new rides at Kings Island a few weeks ago also serves as the maximum height for the fun fest barn. Oh, well...that's just another occasion for me (Mom) to get sentimental! Emma's favorite part of the day? Meeting up with her friend Ella from school and going in the hay barn with her!

Daisy Darlings

Emma recently joined her friend Jessica's Daisy Scout troop, the Kindergarten-1st grade Girl Scouts. They meet monthly in Jessica's family's garden center. Their project for their meeting this month: make a costume out of things around the house, and design it to look like your favorite food! While Emma still claims that fish sticks are her absolute favorite, popcorn runs a close second, so that's what we went with. We did end up buying a couple things, like a cheap knit hat and poly-fill cotton, but the costume turned out pretty well, and so did her friends' costumes!