School Carnivals & Pumpkins & Trick or Treating

 What a fun day for a school carnival!   Rebecca worked at a booth, so Grandma got to watch little ones.   Here's Sparky the Fire Dog!

 Kenny wasn't quite as brave around this funny animal.

 Big brother always taking care of his little sister.   Loved the green wristbands that provided unlimited playing of games.  Preferred activity -- the "free" playground equipment.

 How ingenious.   "Needle in a haystack" game!

 Love the bouncy houses.

 On July 19, I decided I did NOT want to pull grass one more time from my 8 year old strawberry bed that didn't produce many berries this year.  I decided to till the entire bed and planted pumpkins.  I faithfully watered these little plants and had so much fun watching the pumpkin patch grow!

Westin and Camden came for a visit a couple of days and we finished picking the pumpkins.

  

 We grew 30+ pumpkins!

 A trip to the park.

 Last year I bought four little puny $1.88 mum plants at Home Depot just because I wanted a little bit of color at the end of the lane to finish the summer, and never expected them to come back.  Well, they outdid themselves and became a huge mound of lavender this fall!

 Helping Grandpa!

 How one 3 year old named Camden can scamper upon the bed of the rollback.....barefoot, no less!

 Success!  Grandpa, get him down before we have an accident!

 We went trick or treating around the Holton Square!  Notice the little pumpkin --- it's a hand-me-down and the first one to wear it was Christi Ellis Jung!  Aunt Marilyn was the creator.

The Hulk was checking out the pumpkin stem......right before he lost his balance and did a nose plant on the cement.  Thankfully his mask protected his face from what could have been a very nasty fall.  

 Mr Batman on a mission.

Catching Up!

 This picture represents the FIRST time Westin and Camden spent the night AT Grandpa and Grandma's all by themselves.  And for the record....they did great!

 Aunt Hazel and Richard's dad at Uncle George's funeral.  So good to see Aunt Hazel again, who lives in Texas.

 Visiting as only a brother and sister can.

 Kayla was the one that enthusiastically volunteered to mow with Grandpa.  Learning all the fine details of where the mower tires should be.

 Grandpa admitted that one hip was going numb.

 While Bryan and Lisa were off celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary, Joshua, Kayla & Tyler stayed with Grandpa and Grandma.  We had some big days.  We visited Dandelions in Topeka and each chose an arts and craft project.  It was really fun!  Each one chose a completely different project.

 A visit at Aunt Bem's only means fun and laughter.  Have you played, "Pie in the Face?"  Kayla literally fell out of her chair from excitement.  

 Jordy took a "pass" if he thought it might be getting close for the whip cream to fly!

 Saturday morning volleyball for Kayla!

 And soccer for Tyler.   This will always be the memorable occasion when after I urged Tyler to hustle to get to the soccer field faster, he replied, "I seriously will hurt my heart if I go fast!"  Oh Tyler, Tyler.  We love you!

 How does water get in basements.   Let me count the ways!  I am mystified how water has crept into our basement --- all for different reasons.  We recently had a huge downpour  (the same system that brought flooding to Ceder Rapids, Iowa).  The downspout feeds into a pipe that goes out into the yard with a pop-up cover to take care of extra water and that had gotten plugged.  I would sop up water in the inside coming from the window well and Richard would dip out buckets of water in the window well that looked like a fish bowl!

 The next morning Richard began the task of cleaning out the pipe and I was freaking out when he began pulling out this root, covered with mud that actually looked like a snake.  It wouldn't end.

 We took a picture of the tape measure to mark how long this gross root was, less anyone thought we were slightly exaggerating!  Yes, folks, it was 10 foot long.

Also in the gunk was this Leatherman tool.  I "think" Stephen gave this to his groomsmen at his wedding, and I "think" these would be Ryan's.  Wonder how many years they have been in the gutter?  I'm guessing at least 10!

Celebrating Birthdays

 Mr. Camden is now 3 years old!  I would have loved Grandpa Smiley to have been able to meet Camden since he shares his name -- Camden Wallace!  He's starting to look older!

 Opening gifts.

 The other little guys enthusiastically helped him examine his new trucks.

 Grandma - Camden - Grandpa

 Eli came for a Saturday visit and the treat for the day was pretzels and grapes.  Go figure!

 And then it was time to celebrate my birthday (even though I realize I don't have any pictures of me celebrating haha).   We all ate out together at Cracker Barrel then headed over to Jon and Rebecca's for an outside movie!  Savannah is waiting for the show to begin.

Joshua - he starts middle school this year!

 Waiting for the movie to start!

 And the treat for the night -- popcorn with toppings.

 And a few just went straight for the "toppings"   It was GREAT!

 Toy Story 3 was the movie of choice and the evening was beautiful!  Thanks Jonny for putting the tech stuff all together for a fun evening.

 Just like the "drive-ins!"

 Too bad they had to share a chair most of the night.

 Eli mowing the pasture with the pull behind!