Brown and Barnacle Bash

Whew! What a week! It went by way too fast but it's our own fault for filling up the time with so much fun stuff! So what did we do?

Monday we had fun running and climbing and sliding and swinging at Crockett Park.

We also sang and danced and giggled at Hannah's Music Playhouse Class. (We especially loved dancing with bells to the Can Can by Bach!)

We wiggled our toes and our noses and everything else in between to silly songs in the car.

We decorated pumpkins:

(And experienced a little artist's block as well, I guess.)

Loved on our uncles and aunts.

Wednesday morning we read a great book about fall leaves called Fall Leaves, Fall! then we acted out poems where we were fall leaves or trees. Afterwards we went on an expedition to look for different colored leaves to collect to make some leaf art. We glued contact paper onto poster board and then let the kids stick their leaves all over the paper while we listened to Vivaldi's Autumn. The kids loved it! (Okay, Corban discovered some chocolate and was much more interested in asking to eat some than sticking his leaves on the paper no matter how much we tried to make it look exciting-- but once he'd eaten lunch he had a lot of fun! Moral of the story-- don't try and have your child do art when they're starving! :) )

A sampling of our collections:

The busy artists:

A finished product:

Of course we had to share Walden Farm with Corban so we headed off Thursday afternoon for more farm adventures. Corban LOVED all the animals and especially digging in the corn crib. Hannah was thrilled to be back and even tried out the tire swing this time!

Playing in the "farm truck" together.


The sweet Barnacle family:

We also enjoyed much fellowship over many meals and the kids even had a delightful picnic one day when the weather actually warmed up!

Friday night was Halloween and time to trick or treat! Corban had been telling everyone at home how he was going to go trick or treating with Hannah. He informed anyone who asked that he was going to be an m&m (which he picked out himself from a rack of costumes) and Hannah was going to be a star! I think it was just as exciting for him as he thought it was going to be. It was a beautiful night and the kids both beamed with smiles and loved saying"Trick or Treat" and "Happy Halloween!" at each door we stopped at. Hannah's favorite part was peering through the glass doors into people's homes and pointing out what she saw-- especially if they had pets. She also loved looking at all the glowing jack-o-lanterns.

Our two excited trick-or-treaters:

A highlight for us adults was drinking tea and laughing till our cheeks hurt after the kids went to bed at a hilarious video series Bryan brought to share with us-- "Flight of the Conchords." Rachel and I also got to go out on a couple outings without the kids while the guys hung out at home with them.

Saturday the Barnacles headed out for home (a long 12 hour drive which Corban actually managed in one day this time!) And us Browns picked up the pieces of all the havoc of our fun filled week and tried not to be too depressed.

I think we've bounced back now and are getting back into the swing of normal everyday life-- just in time to turn around and face the whirlwind of holiday season! :)

We're on the lookout for lots more fun to be had the next time we get together! We love all you Barnacles so much! Thank you for braving a 12 hour drive with a toddler to spend your fall break with us and for all the joy and fun and love you always bring along with you!