Gardner Village Witchfest

 Last Sunday afternoon we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and do something fun.

So we headed over to Gardner Village where they do a witch display every October.

It's a beautiful place with lots of great places to take photos, so we took lots of photos! :)

Their faces just crack me up in this photo!

There are witches randomly displayed throughout the area.

There are also lots of other fall decorations. Lucy was all about posing everywhere. Sammy would do it a little bit. And Eliza wanted nothing to do with the camera.

Hopefully she cooperates next month when we do our family photos.

Another funny pic!

This is an old water wagon. Isn't it cool?

I love it when Eliza does "big" kid type things because she looks so little doing it.

Proof I was there. :)

This cutie just wanted to explore everything.

This was fun - ringing the big bell.

A witch and a devil!

 And another little witch!

And then there was this random elephant. I'm not sure if this is always there or not.

Such a pretty place!

Lucy hanging with her buddy!

Zoo Fieldtrip

Mid-October I got to go on a field trip with Lucy's class to the zoo.

These were my three little cuties.

This drinking fountain was at the zoo when I went as a kid. The sign nearby said it was first put in the zoo in 1965 and was recently redone. How cool is that?!

The zoo has changed a lot in the 1 1/2 years since I've been there. They made a new exhibit with lions and zebras and giraffes and it's awesome!

The elephants were cool too.

It was feeding time while we were there and it was really neat to watch how they eat with their trunks.

While we were there, we attended a class. The kids learned about habitats - specifically wetlands and deserts. We got to see a few animals up close including this tortoise. It was pretty cool.

We also saw the polar bear.

We played in the Eagle's Nest.

And climbed all over the lions.

Oh, yeah. And I was there too! ;)

Natural History Museum of Utah Fieldtrip

Now that Lucy is in school, she gets to go on the occasional field trip but Sammy doesn't. So when I found out about the free ZAP day at the Natural History Museum of Utah, I thought I'd take Sammy and Eliza on a "field trip" of our own. 

We parked down the road from the museum and rode the shuttle up. That alone was super cool to Sam! Inside it was crowded but not super crazy, which was nice. You had to have tickets and they were for a specific time, which I think helped. 

We looked at the bugs, animals, habitats, and geology displays first.  They were really cool and interactive. Then we got to the main reason Sammy was excited to be there - the dinosaurs!

Eliza wasn't too keen on having her picture taken! This picture cracks me up!

This was the look on Sammy's face, over and over again! He was really into it!

He was also super helpful - pushing the stroller when Eliza wasn't in it, holding her hand and guiding her while she walked. 

Sometimes going places with little kids is just exhausting and you sometimes wonder if it's worth it. This time, it was just a lot of fun!

The museum was really cool - I was maybe even more into it than the kiddos.

There was also a little kid area with some native animals at their level. This snake was pretty neat.

After we explored for awhile, we went out on the patio and ate our picnic lunch. There was a great view of the valley from there. I had just asked Eliza "Where's your belly?" before taking this pic. Isn't it adorable?!

Finally, a selfie to prove I was there too!

Eliza 16 Months

 This little cutie is 16 months old!

She is a hoot to have around too! She loves to laugh and smile. 

She has recently developed a love for a couple of baby dolls of Lucy's that she carries around a lot. She also loves to climb on chairs and tables.

She still sucks her fingers and she likes to touch her belly with her other hand while she sucks them. In fact, she does it so much that she hates onesies! She gets super mad when we put her in them. So now, I just don't do them up!

She loves to explore and she loves to be outside. The sandbox is one of her favorite places to be.

She is picky! Eliza loves anything sweet and will leave anything that isn't sweet just sitting on her plate.

She's started to dance and responds to what we say.  She doesn't talk yet but gets her message across with grunts and body language. She also had another tooth come in.

She loves dirt too!

Silver Lake

 About the second week in September we headed up to Silver Lake for our yearly walk around the lake to take in the leaves. 

We were a bit early for the leaves this year but it was still beautiful and we had a great time.

Grandma Van Hoose and Uncle Jeff came along too. The kids want to stop and look at every little information sign. It was pretty cute.

It's so fun to see Eliza doing big kid things like hike around a lake. Susie was trying to get her to hold her hand and she just wasn't having it.

The big kids took turns "being point."

Mommy and Eliza.

Spencer and the baby girl. :)

The whole family.

There weren't very many colorful leaves but the ones we did find were beautiful!

Such a happy little girl!

Check out those good lookin' kiddos!