Meet the Flintstones

And....the big reveal, this year's costumes are The Flintstones!!!

We have already had a weekend FULL of Halloween madness...and it's not even over yet! On Friday, we kicked off our Halloween weekend and went with our friends and their daughter, Lanie to go Trick or Treating at all of the shops in the Seven Bridges shopping center. It was so much fun and they had a great time getting all of their treats. It was a nice day, but a little chilly, so after we got our treats, we left there and went over to Ava and Mia's house because they were having a Halloween party. Nate's hands were frozen and so it was nice to go somewhere warm. At the party, they continued to stuff their little bellies full of Halloween snacks. On Saturday, it was the Annual Lansing Halloween parade where even Fred and Wilma got dressed for the occasion. Despite having a great family costume theme, we did not take home the prize. Mommy is really going to have to turn it up next year!!! We are in it to win it!!!! I have a whole year to come up with next year's winning idea. In case you are wondering, we lost out to a group dressed in Christmas stuff and riding around in a sleigh... Tomorrow we hope to get into our costumes one last time to go Trick or Treating around our new city!

(Note: pictures are not in order, it's just been too exhausting of a weekend for that kind of organization...)

Here are Pebbles and Bam Bam in daddy's office getting ready to video chat him to show him their costumes before going out Trick-or-Treating in Woodridge

Ten feet of PVC, Two Yards of faux animal print fabric, One Radio Flyer wagon, Two bottles of wine and One late night for the parents....and you have the Flintstones car!

No car would be "road ready" without a license plate...I don't know what you think, but that plate looks expired to me. (And if you are saying, "Did she look up the actual dates of the stone age??" Absolutely...thanks, Wikipedia!)

Pebbles

Fred Flintstone pulling Pebbles and Bam Bam in the annual Lansing Halloween parade

Riding in the parade in style

Nate loving it!

Fred and Wilma..thanks to Fred for spray painting my hair in the front yard before we left for the parade.

Pebbles Trick or Treating in Woodridge at all of the local shops

Getting a picture in front of the Fire Truck

Charlotte and Lanie hanging out by the firetruck

Bam Bam enjoying some of his treats

Charlotte deciding she would rather walk..she graciously gave her seat to Lanie...I don't know...I might see a future love match in that wagon!

Note the bone in Pebbles's bow...it's the details, people!

Huh???

Why are we at Home Depot...in a wagon...buying PVC???? Could it have something to do with our super awesome Halloween costume theme?? I guess you'll just have to wait and see....Only Dennis the Home Depot guy and I know for sure :) And..not that Dennis is a regular Clinnin Family Blog reader, I'm sure...but special thanks to him for helping make my crazy idea an (almost) reality.

Boo at the Zoo!

Continuing to take advantage of our family membership to Brookfield Zoo...we went with our friends, the Simich Family, to Boo at the Zoo on Sunday! Even though the Bears lost and the weather was sketchy...it was a great day! We had so much fun walking around the zoo and seeing all of the kids (and adults) dressed up in their costumes. We didn't dress up for our zoo trip...we'll be sporting our costumes at several events coming up....stay tuned! My only hiccup for the day was when I was off taking pictures of Charlotte and Emily...someone (cough cough...dad) was supposed to be watching Nate. Nate was happily sitting in the stroller dumping an entire bottle of water all over his shirt and pants. It was in the 60's that day...but very windy. Poor Nate was soaking wet. Of course I didn't have a spare outfit because you have to pack light to go to the zoo or you are toting around 12 bags of stuff. Luckily, the gift shop had a 12 month sweatshirt..but no pants. Right outside the penguin house, I stripped him down, took off his wet clothes and put the sweatshirt on him. I then wrapped him in the blanket I had and tucked him back into the stroller. I took his jeans into the bathroom to try and dry them with the hand dryer..but my efforts were futile.. He just sat snuggly in his little blanket..no pants and fell asleep.

Hanging on the frog

Taking a break from all of the fun

Where's the Polar Bear??

Holding Hands...using the buddy system

Charlotte and Emily hugging it out

Smile and look at the camera...okay, we got it half right

Charlotte and Daddy checking out the wolves

Looking for the ostriches

Nate right after the water incident (and the water bottle)..I like to think his facial expression says, "Mom...I'm wet and it's groooooosssss."

Nate right before mommy decided to buy a new shirt and go sans pants

(Now that I look at this picture, people must have actually been disgusted thinking he peed himself and then I let him sit on the sea turtle in the penguin house)

Pumpkin Picking

This one looks good!

Charlotte took her pumpkins very seriously

My little pumpkins!

Charlotte would not take those huge mittens off...

I found one!

Cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Mommy and her cuties!

Snacking Gangsta-style

Here's a few pics of C-Dawg having some snacks and watching Max and Ruby....cause that's just how she rolls.

The Clinnin Infirmiry

This week has been awful....ugh. Both the kids and I came down with a terrible cold that started on Monday. We have been miserable together...coughing, sneezing, etc. Nate seemed to have it the worst, but Charlotte took the lead on Tuesday. I managed to go to my first photography class this week despite not feeling well. When I came home that night..Charlotte had a 101 fever. So, we have been holed up in the house hoping the river of green boogers would stop. To top it all off, Kevin was in St. Louis Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe it was better that way...at least he wasn't here breathing in our germs. Yesterday, we went out in the back yard for a few minutes for some fresh air. It wasn't long before Charlotte was begging for me to "put me in a nappy..." Let's hope today goes better!

Getting some fresh air

"I'm Batty for Mommy" So true! He is a momma's boy...and I LOVE it!

Maybe he's sick because I let him walk around outside in socks. He is still a little unstable in shoes, so to avoid him falling on his head on the concrete, I let him run in socks.

I've had enough! I want to take a nap!

It didn't take Fenway and Rupert long to adjust to "Suburban Life" and having a yard.

Beanie Baby Bonanza

So, when I was in college...it was during the big Beanie Baby fiasco. I, like many others, got totally swept up in the whole idea. I was sure that one day, these little bags of beans would buy me a house, a car or a luxurious vacation...or maybe even a fat retirement :) Then, the big Beanie Baby bust came. I said, "well, at least I can save them for my kids one day." That day came this week when my parents pulled them out of the crawl space and gave them back to me. I had them so nicely preserved in ziploc bags...they looked as good as the day I bought them. Here are some pictures of Charlotte and Nate enjoying my busted fortune....

Char had a great time telling me what each of the animals were

His shirt says, "Lock up your daughters" Hilarious!

Happy Birthday Rupert and Fenway

Today is Rupert and Fenway's birthday! Yay! Kevin has been gone since Sunday and we are going crazy...so, having a birthday party seemed like a great way to break up the monotony. My friend from Iowa and her husband own a "Pet Boutique" called Two Bostons in Naperville, so we decided to go there and grab a birthday cake and some presents. Today is actually Fenway's birthday...since Rupert was a rescue, we really don't know his birthday, so we celebrate them both on the same day :)

Charlotte finally getting the hang of smiling for me

Charlotte at Two Bostons trying to decide what birthday treat to get

Which toy says, "Happy Birthday" better?

Obviously, a two year old does not understand that a doggie birthday cake can't be eaten by humans, so we had to go to the store and get a cake for the kids to help celebrate too...which one is which??

Nate and Charlotte getting ready to sing Happy Birthday (Yes, Nate drank some red Crystal Light)

Such cuties...they love each other!

Rupert and Fenway enjoying their cake!

Char and her doggies

Before the party, we had lunch. I saw Charlotte taking all of Nate's food off of his tray and I said, "Charlotte! What are you doing!" She said, "Natey wants his pumpkin placemat!!" and she put all of the food onto the placemat on the floor and lifted the whole thing onto his highchair tray. So cute, she looks out for him and makes sure he has what she thinks he wants.

Outside putting up some more Halloween decorations

Rugged and Handsome....so true :)

By the way, there was a big hint to Charlotte's Halloween costume in these pictures....who can guess it???