Happy Halloween!

Well, it wasn't as warm as last year, but at least the long stretch of rain stopped in plenty of time to allow for some fun trick or treating.

As you can see in the pics, Maya was a beautiful princess bride (donning a recycled version of Jen's prom dress from high school), and Kai was a handsome fire fighter.

Considering Kai just had surgery earlier this week, he spent most of the time cruising in the wagon, getting out at each house to get his candy.

After one time around the block, Kai was ready to go inside to warm up and play with his trains. Maya, however, insisted on handing out candy with Daddy and Uncle Rick.

Maya and Her Pink Teeth!

Soccer Mania!

This was Maya's first time ever playing "formal" soccer. She had a blast! We too got a kick out of watching 8 kids chasing a ball around the field. Her very young team made so much progress during the season and really had a great time out on the field. Maya can't wait unti the Spring season.

Handy Manny and the Pumpkins!

Today, Maya and Kai pretended that they were Handy Manny as they "fixed" their pumpkins by driving golf tees into them using their toy hammers. Maya even decided to make patterns using her golf tees (you know the kind...red, black, orange, white...red, black, orange, white). Needless to say, this activity offered many minutes of entertainment.

Afterwards, they ran around the yard and played with leaves. Oh how I love beautiful, warm, fall days.

On the Horse Trail!

I actually took these pics while riding Sunny. They are all of the back of Collen and Kai on Rain. Maya and I were just steps behind. I think the trail is just beautiful!

The Horse Trail!

Today, thanks to our friend Colleen, the kids and I got to go horseback riding on the beautiful Horse Trail just minutes from our house.

I walk our local trails often, but I have to say that there is something so tranquil and beautiful when seeing the same woods from the the saddle of a horse. Maya and I rode tandem on a gentle horse named Sunny while Kai and Colleen rode on Rain.

Sunny was so "in tune" with us today, never attempting to trot or canter to catch up to the quick lead of Rain. Towards the middle of our ride, I finally talked Maya into giving trotting a try. After a gentle kick, Sunny took off in attempts to catch Rain. Maya clenched my waist tightly and giggled the entire way. As soon as Sunny realized that we were more than comfortable with this, she often initiated a trot for the remainder of our ride, making Maya laugh every time.

Kai loved the ride as well. He loved the motion of the horse and never flinched, even when his horse got a bit spooked by a random chipmunk or the sight of her own shadow.

We rode through the beautiful fall colors for almost two hours before arriving back at the trail head. The kids never once asked "are we there yet?" and were actually a bit disappointed that our ride had to come to an end. They helped brush the horses and gave them treats at the end of the ride.

Thank you Collen for such a magical day!