Sylvia's Playroom

OK, this is game of spot the difference:



Spot it? Right, one of these cute girls has TWO monkeys in each hand!

One of Sylvia's latest games, which she seems to find rather comforting, is to climb into a beautiful handmade crib which Grandpa Brad made years ago for Noel, then ask for all her stuffed animals and dolls to be put in with her. Deb took the perfect shot of this yesterday in the evening light, as we played in Sylvia's room.

Halloween

After the visit to the pumpkin patch, the hinkypunks couldn't wait to dig into their pumpkins. Mattias had to give his impression of a mad scientist doing experiments on pumpkin guts. Bleah!


Sylvia's cute little pumpkin was the perfect spot for Deb to carve the perfect face, and Sylvia was thrilled with the results.


Then on Halloween evening all the pumpkins went outside on a dinner table bench and lit up the night while everyone made ready.


And after much face painting, sword finding, hair fixing, and costume tightening, the band was ready! The hinkypunks went out with our friend Maritsa and her two boys.


We would post pictures of the loot piles they received, but we don't want to shock you, gentle reader. Needless to say, candy rationing went into effect at 12:01 AM, November 1st!

The Pumpkin Patch

The hinkypunks took a trip to the pumpkin patch about a week ago. In the west, we had never actually seen one, so this was quite the experience. The picture below may not show it, with the size we use to send to Blogger, but there are pumpkins as far as the eye can see!


We visited the barn area first, where they had picked out the roundest and best pumpkins. The boys were so excited to stop looking for the perfect pumpkin to pose for a picture, that Asher gave one of his best cheesy grins ever! Right here for your enjoyment.


Noel, on the other hand, almost instantly had her pumpkin picked out from the field and was happy to show it off for the camera.


After picking out all the pumpkins, everyone was ready for a visit to the animal pens, where they had donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep, and a huge Saint Bernard farmdog. The animals all ate well that evening, and the grass got a good clipping with help from these three!

Aztalan

In about 900 A.D., a city was started which would grow to about 15,000 inhabitants. This city was built along the shore of a large tributary of the Mississippi river. It had watchtowers, temples, many houses, and a huge wall. They withstood disease, crop failures, and invasion. But at about 1300 A.D., something made them leave.

I think it was the mosquitos.


Whatever the answer, the place is interesting to visit. It was called Aztalan by its discoverer, who hoped that it had been made by Aztecs. And with the step pyramid mounds it certainly looks similar.


The postholes for the walls were uncovered by archaeologists, and new posts have been added around part of the large site.


The grasses were very tall here, so one of the hinkypunk games was hiding in the grass and jumping out to scare Sylvia, who seems to enjoy the thrill of any scary game. The above picture is Sylvia hiding in the grass with Noel as they plan to turn the tables on Asher and Mattias!