October fun! (And Sunday hikes)

 Between hike, sleepovers, and Halloween, October was a very busy month!  We enjoyed some beautiful foliage and unseasonably warm weather, and our continued tradition of Sunday hikes helped us make the most of it.

The boys love staying over with Grandma Karen and Grampa Dave. We even went on a Sunday hike up in Ogden.

We hiked around the mouth of Ogden canyon to overlook a waterfall and play around with these very, very old cars.

Did you know there was a visible comet passing by the earth in October? Well, if you missed it, it will be back in 80,000 years!

We visited one of our favorite spots: the wetlands/bird refuge. a nice easy walk around the boardwalk at sunset! There was a shocking number of people doing family photos here at golden hour. We were the only ones there not dressed to the nines.

Arthur got to go on a pre-school fieldtrip to a pumpkin patch, which he loved. He is a big fan of Halloween and all the macabre decor that accompanies it, though he has found a few things too creepy even for his tastes. He draws the lines at giant spiders and spooky music in the fog.

Fall break really snuck up on us, but we took the opportunity to take a bit of a road trip down to visit our dear cousins in Grand Junction, CO. They didn't have fall break the same week end as us, so while they were all at school on Friday we headed over to Colorado National Monument.

My children might be smiling in a few of these photos, but there were a lot of complaints. They were none too pleased to have been pulled away from video games in the basement out into the pre-rain cloudy, chilly hike.

We found some great places to climb and explore, and Laszlo found a heart shaped rock.

We managed to scale up this little rock wall in the canyon, into a hidey hole that must have been a trappers cache at some point.

We opted to take the scenic route home and, while driving through the monument is beautiful, it was quite rainy up there. Driving twisty canyon roads with cliffs on either side in the rain is somewhat exhilarating. 

The rain did clear up enough for some over looks and a family photo or two.

We did a school trick or treat event for fun, but mostly the kids just had a fantastic time playing with cousins, mostly Fortnite, and fighting about how unfair life is (and by life, I mean Fortnite.)

We went to the Hogle Zoo trick or treat the weekend before Halloween, which despite the 'tude from some of the children, it was quite nice. We went near the end of the event, so we were getting handed absurdly big handfuls of candy.

Arthur loved all the Halloween decor. He saw this giant skeleton and said, "OOH YEAH! That's what I'm talkin' about!"

Our final Sunday hike of October was up Mueller Park Canyon. We didn't hike all the way to Elephant Rock, but we did a fair distance. Paul even admitted it was a pretty nice hike.

It was cloudy and cool, but the autumn colors were still quite nice. This canyon might be the most beautiful spot in Davis County, I highly recommend it, assuming you can snag a parking spot.

We did our best to squeeze in all the traditional Halloween activities, we opted to paint smaller pumpkins together and carve only the two bigger pumpkins. We even busted out the glitter. Yes, glitter. I had to use hazmat protocol to prevent it from spreading throughout the entirety of the house,  but I managed it.

Our crowning carving achievement was this little beauty: Audrey 2. I sketched it out on tissue paper and Lee carved it into the pumpkin.

Paul and Laszlo had their first ever piano recital right before Halloween, and they both did an awesome job. They just started lessons in September, so it was really impressive how fast they've picked it up. And they got to dress up in costume, which makes it a little extra special.

I volunteered at Arthur's class party on Halloween and it was very cute, a lot of fun, and we got to share with all his little friends his favorite book: Monsters Don't Wear Underpants.

Thanks to Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dave, we have some awesome trick-or-treat photos and they let Laszlo borrow their Red Ryder BB Gun to complete his look:

Whew! And if you think October sounded busy and hectic, just wait till you hear about the rest of our year. Apparently we like to be so busy we can barely keep our heads above water.