The Pollard Place: October 2018

At the beginning of this month, we were so blessed to be able to take some family pictures. The last time we got family pictures done was before I was pregnant with Adeline (actually I was, but I didn't know it yet). I found a lady online that had a great price and I loved her photos, so we went for it and I'm so glad we did! She was very patient and kind with the kids, and even brought a dinosaur toy that made sounds to make the kids smile and laugh. A lot of what our pictures came out as are candid photos of us talking and laughing. I'm so in love with them and can't wait to blow them up and hang them all over my house!

Also at the beginning of the month was Brayden's birthday! He decided to have a costume party, so that meant that this Mama had to be ready with our costumes by the first weekend in October haha. It was a little rough but we made it work! This year Henry wanted to be Peter Pan (I may have persuaded him a little bit so we could do a family costume haha) so Adeline was Tinkerbell, I was Wendy, and Rusty was Captain Hook. The party was a ton of fun! I love watching Henry play with his little friends.

Henry's turn with the pinata!

Learn and Play at the mall did a fun thing with a school bus. They let us all get on a bus and they drove around and read a book while we rode. Henry was so excited and thought it was so cool. I thought it was adorable and we had a great time! Then we went in and made a little school bus out of Popsicle sticks.

I knew that we were going to lose our Thanksgiving Point membership this month, so we went a few times to try to get our fill before we weren't able to go. Once we went for a music time and Henry and Della were so cute together. I love that now she is getting old enough that they can actually play together. Then they played at the water table and I put Adeline in the little chairs and she had the best time! It was so fun and I think it is such a clever idea.

Della couldn't wait for me to unwrap this cookie before she started eating it haha

Rusty's work did another pumpkin patch activity this year and it was so much fun! I love pumpkin patches! This year they went to Jaker's, which is where I took the kids last year on Halloween and I loved it so much! This year it was so fun too. They had hot chocolate and donuts for us, and everyone got to take a pumpkin home. The Bartons met us there, and so did Mom, Dad, Jessica and Aaron. The kids played in the corn pits and on the slides, we did the corn maze, pet the animals, and did the hay maze.

Last year at Jaker's and this year! I can't believe how different they are!

Afterwards we went to get some dinner and Rusty all of a sudden remembered that he had scouts... in like 10 minutes. And we were 15 minutes away from home! So he took my parents' car and left us to get our food. Jess and Aaron crammed into the back and we drove home. At the restaurant there was a weird man that was kind of staring at us and sitting very close to us, especially with the whole thing being empty. Henry looks at him, and then looks at me and says (in a loud voice) "Mommy, why is that mean guy looking at us?" HAHA. I could not believe it and I tried to do damage control but it was already done haha. Luckily the guy had a good sense of humor and smiled... and then kept staring at us.

Have I mentioned how much I love the Learn and Plays?!? They are seriously so amazing, and they are free. I love it. Another one we went to this month was about campfires. They had a little circle set up around a pretend campfire where we read a book about camping. Then each child got a cup and some pieces of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper to glue on it to make a little fire. Then they had a stick and a cotton ball so it looked like they were roasting a marshmallow. For the treat they got a baggie with mini marshmallows, teddy grahams, and a mini chocolate bar. SO CUTE.

This year we went to Touch a Truck in Orem, like we did in Seattle a couple of years ago. I was so sad we missed it last year so I tried really hard to make sure we could make it this year. Phyllis and Kirk happened to be coming out that weekend so we decided it would be a really fun thing to be able to take them to with the kids! They all loved it and everyone had a great time. I think the highlight was the fire truck for Henry and the police motorcycle for Adeline. And both kids really loved the city bus.

It would not be October without carving pumpkins! This year we all went to Jessica's house and had a little party. She made some different yummy soups and even made some games for Henry. We listened to Halloween music and carved our pumpkins while the babies painted theirs. Mom brought glow in the dark paint that seemed like such a great idea, until we got home and realized it didn't wash out of clothes. We ruined a few articles of clothing haha.

Cornbelly's! Who knew that this place was so amazing? Well, actually a lot of people because it was really busy. But I had no idea! They are so many fun things to do here. We went for a day and ended up loving it so much we bought a bounce back pass for cheap so that we could come back another time. There were all kinds of play sets, zip lines, carnival rides, a hay ride and a corn pit. They even had a corn maze that we didn't even attempt to get to. But I think my favorite part was the little kid village. They have all of these little playhouse structures that are decorated to look like different things in a city. They had a grocery store, a gas station, a school, fire house, police station, ice cream shop, vet clinic... and a castle with dress up clothes for knights and princesses! I mean, come on! The kids LOVED it here and that was when we decided we would have to come back again.

Henry and I rode this ride together and I got so sick haha. It was the worst ride and it never ended.

Watching the dog show

We saw a dog show while we were there and Henry got to pet one of the dogs!

Another staple for October is Apple Cider Day! This year Rusty got me the first cup of apple cider because last year I didn't get any haha. And he got the second cup for Aunt Connie who also didn't get any last year. The kids did tractor rides, we all got to visit and catch up, and had tons of delicious soup! Rusty ended up going up to herd the cattle and I was so impressed with him on that horse. He knows what he is doing! In fact, my uncle asked what experience he had and when I told him none he was shocked. Then I was looking at him coming down a hill thinking, "Man look at that hotty!" and then he ran into some branches from a tree hahaha. I could not stop laughing.

While we were in town for Apple Cider Day, the kids and I stayed a little longer so that we could be with my parents for Beckie's birthday on Monday. It was a difficult day, but it was not as terrible as I had imagined. We spent the day talking about all of the happy times, and it seemed like because it was a celebration we didn't have to feel guilty about just being happy about the person she was instead of being sad that she wasn't here. There were definitely tears shed and a lot of regrets shared, but it was refreshing for one day to just be able to celebrate her. Mom and I and the kids went to Taco Bell for lunch and then went to WalMart to pick out her birthday presents. After we took her presents to her grave, we donated them to a women's crisis shelter in Provo. We met Dad at the grave with balloons, a pumpkin pie, Mountain Dew, and a blanket for a picnic. We sang happy birthday, cut the pie, and then we all made a toast to Beckie with Mountain Dew and poured some on her grave for her. At the end, we wrote messages to her on a balloon and sent them up. Then we met Jessica and Aaron and Rusty at Olive Garden for dinner.

Mom and Dad got tickets for Lagoon so one Saturday we met them there for the day! Henry had even more fun than last year and Della did too. They loved riding the rides. Henry liked some that were a little crazier than last year, like this Octopus one he did with Rusty. Adeline loved this one with little whales and got the BIGGEST smile on when she was riding it. I could not contain myself it was so cute.

On the teacups!

Before we left, I had the primary program practice at the church. When I got back Henry was in my room on the bed watching a show. You could tell he had been crying. He said his neck hurt, and when I asked Rusty he said that Henry rolled off the couch and landed weird and cried a lot. We debated taking him to the doctor, but figured we would let him sleep on the way to Lagoon (he was up really late the night before) and then see how he felt. At Lagoon he felt fine, except for when we would lift him up under his armpits to put him on or off a ride. Then he would cry. So, we spent some time there and then left early so that we could take him to an Insta Care. Turns out, he broke his right collar bone. Poor guy. He was such a trooper through it all (I mean he spent the day at Lagoon!), and was smiling while at the doctors office. He is such a little sweetie.

For playgroup, I reserved the church gym so that we could have a Halloween party and costume parade. It was so much fun! We set up some tables, played Halloween music, and had different activities for them to do. At the end the kids all walked across the stage in their costumes!

We got to go on a date! Woo hoo! We went with Kyle and Bryndee out to dinner and then went to a Haunted House. Haunted Houses are not my favorite, and I may have screamed many times but it was fun to get out. Rusty and I talked after and realized that we just don't really enjoy that very much. There was so much gore and nastiness that it just didn't feel good. We didn't take any pictures of our date but I asked Kyle to hold my phone while I went to the bathroom and found this haha.

Hike it Baby does a really fun Pumpkin Walk where the kids get to go on a walk and find pumpkins that are hidden along the trail. Then they get to take them home with them! We went again this year, and this hike is so beautiful. The leaves just cover the walkway like an archway and it looks so gorgeous. The weather was great and the kids had a great time!

This year we also went to Gardner Village to see all of the witches! We met my parents there and grabbed lunch before. Henry liked trying to find all of the witches and walking around and seeing the silly things that they were doing. The highlight for sure though was that he got his face painted like a dinosaur. When he saw his face in the mirror he was so excited, and kept asking to see it again! He thought it was the best. Adeline got a little glitter pumpkin on her arm, and she was less sure about it haha.

We were running out of time to do our bounce back to Cornbelly's so we picked a day and decided we were really going to go. Well sadly, this day happened to be really freezing haha. It was not nearly as fun as the first time, but we got to go and spend some more time there. And this time we saw a magic show and some crazy motorcycle people! We also rode the little cow train that we didn't get to last time.

Oh the Candy Cannon. We waited in the cold for this cannon to shoot candy out and they shot it somewhere else, and we didn't get any candy haha. Henry was pretty disappointed.

At last it was Halloween! This day was waited for with much anticipation haha. Henry was so excited to finally go trick or treating! We started the day off by going with our Hike it Baby group to a retirement home and kind of reverse trick or treating with the residents. They all loved seeing the kids in the costumes. At first, Henry was upset about giving away the candy, but then he really liked it and couldn't wait to get to the next person. Adeline was the same! It also gave us a good opportunity to talk about how they aren't scary, even though they might look different because they are older. I didn't take any pictures, but I got these two from someone else.

Then in the afternoon we went to downtown Provo and trick or treated from all of the stores on the main street. Then we went to Kyle's sister's house and had chili and then went trick or treating! Henry loved knocking and saying trick or treat! Oh, and he loved the candy too haha.

Henry's Highlights

Got a little sticky hand and says "Sticky Blat!" all of the time. I have no idea what it means.
He comes running around corners, and always with his hips first.
He says yes really fast. Like, twice the speed of other words haha.
Always askes, "How are you doing??
He calls the bar the granola bar and I cannot get enough of it.

Adeline's Adventures

Della does knuckles now and her little fist is so tiny my insides melt every time
She signs please and food
Adeline ALWAYS wants shoes on. All of the time.

Della can find her bellybutton! But most of the time she won't because she doesn't feel like it
One of her new favorite things is to take the shelf out of the pretend kitchen and climb in and close the door haha