OCTOBER

For Halloween this year, Aidan & Dylan both were Ninjas...
so was their cute baby bro, Jake.
Check out those cheeks!!!

Sadly, since the boys were with their dad this year, I don't have any ofAidan in his costume:(

Aunt Amy's pics will have to do. Thanks, Amy

Also, since I didn't have the boys this Halloween, I wasn't quite in the mood to go through all the hustle & bustle of planning my annual neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat. Luckily,one of the youth groups here stepped up to the plate for me. Since Halloween is usually our family's favorite holiday, we still wanted to make some fun memories. We tried going to my work's Trunk-or-Treat, but by the time we got there it was over:S

We then decided to go to Cornbelly's @ Thanksgiving Point.

After handing over a small fortune & my kidney(ok, that was a bit extreme, but DANG! that place is expensive), Halloween fun was had by all.

We tested out all the slides, attempted to walk through the belly of a monster (please look at the picture of the boys in front of it...Dylan's face is PRICELESS), shot corn husks, watched pig races, ran thru a maze (ha ha, it was the kiddie one since they didn't want to go in the cornfield), & played in the little kid area...until the blood, that is.

Yep, I said blood.

We were there all of 1/2 an hr when Dylan jumped off the wooden train & smacked his face. He was screaming bloody murder, which was befitting since he was gushing blood all over the place. The best part about this whole situation was that this place is outside in a big field away from everything, not very well-lit, & run by people that apparently have NO brain cells.

Keep in mind, Dylan is wearing his little white ninja costume. His face & hands are covered with blood. I have a considerable amount of blood on me since I scooped him up & ran to the front looking for any help whatsoever. Aidan, bless his little heart, ran & got napkins & was holding them to Dylan's nose & trying to calm him down. When I finally found a worker-- the lady selling tickets-- & frantically asked for help while still holding my bloodied-up baby (alright, so he is 6, but he is still my baby), the girl looked at me & said,

"um...yeah, we don't have anyone that can help you...

***awkward pause***...

um, I can give you a bandaid."

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!!????!!

This place charges more than it cost me to deliver my child (again, an exaggeration, but I'm ticked at this point) & there is no medical station!?! These people are beggin' for a lawsuit.

Of course, I am not of that nature & have some pretty strong feelings on the matter,

but that is neither here nor there...ugh!

The worker then offers up..."um, you could drive over to Thanksgiving Point. They might have someone that can help you." So off we went.

The thing is I don't know if the fact that there is hardly any light out there

(they only had a few flood lights for the whole field) or

if it was simply the grusome holiday that was being celebrated (Halloween),

but no one seemed to be phased by the blood all over us as we walked across the field &

through the parking lot.

I'm going to attribute it to the lighting, since when we drove over to Thanksgiving Point, the poor guy working there nearly tripped over backwards when we walked in.

Needless to say, by this time, Dylan had stopped crying & we simply went to the back & washed off in the bathroom. He had a cut on his nose & his lip swelled a bit, but he was ok.

I had another awkward moment after I got him cleaned & he went out to find Aidan as I continued to wash up. A woman came out of the stall and walked up to wash her hands & stopped abruptly. There was blood in the sink...not just a few tiny drops or red-tinted water...thick blood. She just looked at me since I was rinsing out the sleeves of my shirt. She just smiled & left...nice...it was kind of gross. I was still so bugged that I didn't care.

We probably should have gone back & played so that we could have ended on a happy note & I probably should have called someone to let them know that there were some definite potential hazards, but I was too tired. We ended up going to a drive-thru & watching a movie at home.

All in all, one thing is for sure, I can definitely say we made a holiday memory.

Here are some highlights from the month...includes the kids' parade at school & my friend's mom's ADULT party at night...and yes, I'm wearing Dylan's uniform:)