Trick or treat, smell my feet.

If you can't already tell from the pictures, Simone was a cupcake and Cullen actually had two costumes - a firefighter (like Uncle Drew) and Bucky Badger.  Cullen wore the firefighter costume to his school party, Bucky Badger to Grandma Ione's, the firefighter costume again for trick-or-treating and Bucky Badger as his Halloween PJs.  

For the past week, we have been teaching the kids proper Halloween etiquette:  "Trick or Treat" followed by "Thank you".  As we stopped at the various houses on our street, the kids were doing great.  That was, until we stopped at Mike and Jeanie Abraham's house.  Mike Abraham proceeded to tell Cullen the age-old rhyme "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat".  Cullen laughed as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard (and it actually might be).  After that, Cullen continued to repeat the silly rhyme and the etiquette went out the door!

Simone loved riding in the wagon for our trick-or-treating adventure.  Cullen started the night walking, but as his legs grew tired, he joined his sister in the wagon.  Simone loved accumulating candy.  I'm not sure she realized that all of the stuff people were giving her was edible.  Cullen also loved the candy.  He was good though, and didn't eat any until we got home.  I think the highlight of Cullen's night was actually answering the door as his cool older friends Julian, Jackson and Molly came by.  Sometimes, passing out candy is just as fun.

I would also like to give a shout-out to Mimi and Andy at the Onalaska fire department.  On Friday afternoon, Mimi picked up Cullen from school.  Since Cullen had his firefighter costume on, we lined up a visit to the fire department to see Firefighter Andy Barnhardt (our babysitter's husband).  Andy gave Cullen the royal treatment and he was voted an honorary firefighter for the day.  That's the perks when you are a super cute 3-year-old dressed in costume.

Girl talk.

Duck. Duck. Gray Duck.

Everything is fun.

Everything is fun:
Hiking.
A map.
A wastepaper basket.
Couch cushions.
Books.
Trikes and bikes.
A kazoo.
Crazy chicken hat.
Puppies.
Bathtime.

Futball

We call is soccer.  Other countries call it futball.   Whichever word you choose - it's a fun sport!  We signed Cullen up for YMCA youth/parent soccer.  Just like his t-ball experience, it wasn't really a team - there were no official soccer games played.  The kids worked with two coaches who led us through fun games and drills.  Cullen learned to dribble, pass, shoot and score.  He loved running around the soccer field with his buddy Parks.  The most important rule was remembering "no hands".  And the coaches did a great job of mixing games like Freeze Tag and "What Time Is It Mr. Fox?" in with the learning drills.

The program not only teaches sports, but also the YMCA's core values:  respect, honesty, responsibility and caring.  At the end of every drill, the coaches will spend 5 minutes talking about the importance of the key values.  When Coach Sam asked the kids to give an example of what "caring" means, Cullen piped in and told her "don't carry the ball with your hands."  He was right, but not quite....

 

Fall Fun.

What have Cullen and Simone been up to - you might ask?  The answer is:  fall fun.  The pics speak for themselves.  Enjoy.