Halloween 2011

It's about time I sit down and post something, don't ya think?!  I have lots of material from July to now, but I'm just going to jump directly to Halloween.  Maybe someday I'll catch up on the other things. 

Olivia got an early start on Halloween with our Main Street Trick-or-Treating.  The local business put out bowls of candy for the kids to trick-or-treat.  Olivia and Grant (Linley's youngest) had a good time collecting the early morning treats.

 

Oh, you found Waldo!

Now on to the real Halloween Trick-or-Treating!  Okay, so I did lose my sanity again this year.  Something about Halloween and the thought that making costumes would be fun always over comes me.  This time I at least planned ahead and spent about a week working on the girls' dresses.  Yes, I made them both.  Somehow I thought I would be able to make a better costume for the same amount of money that I would have spent to buy costumes -- what was I thinking?!  Well, they were a little pricier, but they are definitely better than discount store costumes.

One thing I do like about  Iowa is that the towns specify when Halloween for their town even down to the time (5:30p-7:30p).  If you're really up for it you can Trick-or-Treat at least three nights in a row by traveling to different local towns since they mostly schedule on different nights.  (No, we are not hard core Trick-or-Treaters.  One night in the neighborhood and one Ward Trunk-or-Treat is enough!)

 

I did the hair, too, and I have a greater appreciation of why Disney named the movie Tangled.

Oh and our little Babe was a mouse, to go with Olivia's Cinderella costume, and because the costume was snuggly warm -- you never know how cold Halloween will be in Iowa. 

Yes, her hair glows!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween, too!

We had ourselves "A Slice of the Good Life"

One thing we have tried to set out to do here in Iowa is check out some of the small town festivals every now and then.  This summer it was Watermelon Day in Stanhope, IA.  We couldn't resist fun and LOTS of free watermelon - all you can eat! 

Rosy, watermelon cheeks!

And 50 cent tickets for the rides.  Where else can you get a deal like that?

We were surprised to run into our new neighbor at this festival as it was 30 minutes from home, but apparently her parents grew up here.  She's around our age, and she said these same rides had been around since she was a kid.

I always wanted a baby with curls.  I just didn't know I would  have to wait 3 1/2 years for them to grow in.

Gotta have a snow cone on a hot Iowa day!

And of course, more rides!

The funny thing was as we were leaving we noticed the two stickers on the back window of the truck right next to us.  You may have to click on it to see the one one the right more clearly, but they are for Texas and Ukraine.  The truck had Iowa plates.  Wow, it's a small world!

(For those who don't know, Robby grew up in TX and served a mission in Ukraine.)

One down, nineteen to go...

And boy was she excited to lose her first tooth!

More gaps on the way!

Everybody knows about Kelley, Iowa!

I have to preface this post with a story.  A few months back we called out an electrician for some repairs at the house.  I called our home warranty company, so I got the electrician they contract with.  The day of the scheduled repairs this middle aged man comes to do the work.  He was nice enough, he did his job, and then I sat down to write him a check.  As I wrote, I made small talk with him, you know, where are you from?  He tell me he's from Kelley, Iowa.  Not being a native Iowan, I asked him where that is.  He looked at me shocked, and said 5 miles south of Ames, as if I should know this.  Then he proceeds to say, "You've heard of the Kelley phone booth haven't you?!"  Uh, no, can't say that I have.  Apparently this important landmark is one of the few remaining phone booths in America.  It even has a facebook page.  Oh and by the way, the guy was the town mayor!

Well, we couldn't resist taking a 15 minute jaunt out of our way the other day when we saw the sign pointing to Kelley.  And here's the phone booth...

It's famous, you know.

The mayor told me that sometimes he will call the phone booth when he sees people taking a picture in it just to see their bewildered faces when it rings.  Too bad we didn't get one of his calls!

Berry Blast!

It has become a yearly tradition for our family to take a trip to the local Berry Patch to pick blueberries.  This trip is always fun, even if it is a little hot in the bright sun.  Here are the highlights in pictures...

(Note: I had the settings off a little on my camera.  It was so bright that day that I couldn't see the pictures on the screen very well and tell that I needed to make further adjustments, but even so, I really like a lot of these pictures.)

Summer time is great, isn't it?!