"Extra" Ordinary Day

We got the best surprise the other day. I was feeding Emmett breakfast and thinking of my "To Do" list which included cleaning the house and doing a few loads of laundry. Let's just say I wasn't too excited about the list. Then all of a sudden Nate walks in the door. Well more like he pranced through the door and said, "Let's go to West Yellowstone today! Hurry and get ready and let's get on our way." So that's exactly what I did. It was an awesome surprise. He just decided to take the day off after he donated plasma. (Well I don't know all the details since he wouldn't divulge them to me but I'm not complaining). He also had heard on the radio that Yellowstone was opened for free for a few days so he thought we should take advantage. 

 I got ready and we had the truck and kids packed and ready to go in under an hour. Amazing. 

The boys were excited to get on our way.

When we arrived in West Yellowstone and went to the gate, it was closed. We quickly looked on our phones and Nate realized he heard the dates wrong and we were one day early. Plus half the park was closed due to the snow anyways. We tried to figure out what to do in West Yellowstone but pretty much everything was closed.

So instead we fed both babies in the truck parked in the McDonald's parking lot. And Emmett had fun playing up front with Nate.

 And this is how Nate takes a picture of sis and I. He gives us no warning so hence my lack of eye contact and Kamryn's dazed look.

After we fed the babies and let them stretch their legs for a bit, we decided to go exploring. We drove up past Hebgen Lake. It was meant to be. We had a great time exploring and on our way we almost literally ran into four big horned sheep. Crazy. I seriously didn't even know these existed. 

Then we ventured onward toward Earthquake Lake which was created about 50 years ago by a huge landslide due to an earthquake.  

The views were amazing and we enjoyed every minute of it.

The babies were so good for 7+ hours in the truck. 

We saw a lot of this...

 And a lot of this...

 But next time we will make sure to change Emmett's diaper more than once. He drank abut a half a gallon of water (what else is a guy to do stuck in a car seat?) and he pretty much peed through everything. I couldn't even close his diaper up because it was soaked so much. Whoops. But the cute little guy didn't even complain, neither did sis. We sure have come a long way in just a few months. I think Nate can agree we are loving this stage of life right now!

Dressing Up

I honestly think my all time favorite part of Halloween is dressing up and seeing all the fun costume ideas out there. Even though I was a bit disappointed in the way mine and Nate's costumes turned out, Emmett and Kamryn were definitely the highlights of the night. So of course I have to post more pictures of them. (You'd  think they are the center of our lives or something....)

First off, I'm really not sure what's cuter than a big brother giving his little sis a kiss. Yep, right in the center of her face. He sure loves her. 

Our little teenie tiny Goldilocks girl. 

 Our cute little baby bear. He was destined to be a bear this year with his round cheeks and bright blue eyes. 

 This is a rare picture...they are both sitting together with no adult supervision. Very impressive babies.

And then it doesn't last too long. 

Since sis is so little, we had to put her in a doll stroller. She fit just right. Maybe we should have re-considered her Halloween costume and dressed her up as a cabbage patch doll...

 Waiting for the trick-or-treaters at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 And last but not least...these were Nate's pants. Awesome purchase at D.I. His legs went numb as he drove the short distance to Rexburg. 

13...

..Days of Halloween Fun!

  That time of year that I absolutely love is quickly passing us by. But thanks to Nate and I's annual tradition, we try and make the most of the year and do an activity everyday for 13 days leading up to Halloween. Let's just say this year it kind of snuck up on us and there were days at about 9:00 pm at night that we realized we hadn't really done anything. So a lot of our activities turned into treats and food centered around this season. (I'm definitely not complaining). Thank goodness for neighbors  and family who helped us eat the glorious food and snacks so we didn't inhale it all ourselves. 

So in no particular order...here's what we did for our 13 days of fun...

#13 Trying a New Treat. Nate brought home candy corn flavored Starbursts. I must say, at first I was like, "sick" but then they really grow on you and before I knew it, I was eating about half the bag.

#12 Visiting a Haunted House. I have do do these kind of things by myself because I married a pansy when it comes to haunted and spooky places. (Sorry Nate, you know it's true). Thankfully Beth, Ash, Amanda and I got to participate in the local Dr. Slaughter's house. It was fabulous and I must say a good scare. They always do an awesome job. The best part was watching Ash fall on her face. Loved it!

#11 Making and Eating lots of Pumpkin Bars. My all time favorite fall treat complete with homemade cream cheese frosting. Yum. 

#10 Enjoying the Fall Leaves as a Family. Emmett loved the leaves. 

 He had no time for pictures. He wanted to explore everything.

 And little Kay Kay enjoyed everything while in the stroller. 

#9 Eating Pumpkin Dip. Again made out of cream cheese and dipping crisp apples grown from mom and dad's in them. Nothing is better. 

#8 Watching a Scary Movie. Well not really scary because of the hubby. So we watch a Halloween movie. "The Private Eyes" with Tim Conway and Don Knotts. Super corny but there are some good laughs.

#7 Eating some Good ol' Hubbard Squash Fresh from the Garden of Ma and Pa's. Yummy! It seriously tastes like candy. Maybe it's because I cook it with a lot of butter and brown sugar...I mean a lot!

#6 How can we Forget About the World Series. It's obviously a yearly Fall tradition in our house. The best night was the final game because we Skyped with Brady, Amber, Benson, and Owen throughout the whole game. So much fun. Complete with Nachos made at each establishment. But I must say I was more jealous of the Nachos being served in the other Esplin household.

#5 Carving Pumpkins. Well carving one pumpkin. We were tired so we picked the easy man's way of carving and just drilled a bunch of hole in it. But I thought it turned out pretty awesome. 

#4 Making and Eating a New Dessert. Caramel Apple Bars. They were pretty good but I probably won't make them again. There are better things out there.

#3 Telling Halloween Jokes. Okay so maybe we were lazy and ran out of ideas. This was one of those nights where I tell Nate, "Quick, think of something we can do for our 13 days."

#2 Enjoying Some Caramel Dip with Apples. I highly recommend the lava dip you can buy at Wal-Mart. Very delicious and it doesn't harden up. 

#1 Celebrating Halloween with our costumes! My favorite day! We decided to go with a family theme this year and dressed up as "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". Luckily Goldilocks and Baby Bear were the cutest. I don't know what happened to Mama and Papa bear. They look like a Hybrid Mouse/Dog. I guess that's what happens when you run out of time and then your toddler dumps prune juice all over the carpet when you are about to head out the door. It made for some good laughs though!