All About Halloween!

It has been so much fun getting ready for Halloween this year because Jackson has been just giddy about it. Once the stores started putting out their Halloween goodies Jackson has been talking about Halloween nonstop. I think he said "I love Halloween!!" about a thousand times so far. I have always loved Halloween too so it's been a blast sharing that joy and excitement with him.

We spent a lot of time decorating our yard with our fun spooky decorations and we've driven all over the neighborhood to check out everyone's silly and scary decor.

So much fun!

Night Eyes 2009

Jackson and I went to Night Eyes at the Blank Park Zoo about a week ago which was really fun. They decorate the zoo with lights, Halloween decorations, and they even have trick or treating all around the zoo. We trick or treated and then we took a ride on the spooky train. It was neat to ride the train at night. They had it all lit up with bright orange lights. Jackson really enjoyed seeing all the decorations and other costumes. He did NOT want to sit still or pose for pictures. :( Jackson wore his Optimus Prime costume but he didn't want to wear the mask for more than five minutes. I made the mistake of letting him choose his costume this year. ;)

Just Silly

Mark took this photo of Jackson playing around with a pair of Doggles....yes goggles for a dog. :)

Illumifest 2009

On September 25th we went to Illumifest near the WDM Library and had a great time. They had lanterns for the kids to decorate, food vendors, kiddie rides and even hot air balloon rides! Jackson was in awe of the hot air balloons and just wanted to chill in the grass and watch the balloons. It was a beautiful night outside and we had a great time.

SO much fun!

A few weeks ago we went to a playdate at a small horse farm not far from Des Moines. It was any preschooler's dream, especially for a kid like Jackson. When we pulled up we immediately saw a HUGE 2 story tree house, a swing set, a wooden train, a trampoline, about a dozen trikes and ride on toys, and animals galore! The woman that owns the farm was incredibly kind and amazing with the kids. The kids got to help brush a very handsome pony named Willie and got to go for a ride on THE sweetest pony cross named Emma.

I wasn't sure what Jackson would think about riding a horse for the first time but he was so very excited and once he was up on Emma he loved it. He got to walk around the barn and even do a little obstacle course with traffic cones. I wish I knew someone with a kid safe horse that he could ride occasionally. The farm also had a good ol' farm dog and two six week old kittens that ALL the kids were completely obsessed with. We had such a great time there and Jackson talked about it every day for over a week after we were there. They are going to start hosting birthday parties there and I think maybe we'll have Jackson's birthday there next year.