Happy Halloween!

Mila at school, her costume was itching her (hence the shirt)

there were 3 Cinderella's in Mila's class!

And she wanted to add Tiger ears!

As good as it gets this year!

 Happy Halloween! The anticipation for tonight has been growing every night as Mila has been discussing Halloween at school. She had been talking about being a princess for a few weeks and then came home talking about trick or treating, so we were all excited for tonight. We were fortunate to be invited to a friends for a little party and they had a great neighborhood to trick or treat. Mila was so polite and gracious and enjoyed knocking on the doors to say trick or treat.. My heart just melted watching Mila and her little friends. What a special night.

Pumpkin Carving Party

After all the pumpkin patches we've visited the past few weeks we thought this weekend would be perfect to carve the pumpkins we purchased. Growing up in Colorado, our Halloween was usually visited by cold weather and sometimes a snow storm but here in sunny LA, we visited our last pumpkin patch in shorts, sweating as we found the perfect pumpkin to carve. Mila was a pro at cleaning out the pumpkins and was so patient as we cleaned, carved and put the candles in to see the finished products. We even toasted all the seeds and Mila absolutely loved them!

Halloween Bash at Kidville

Walking up to Kidville

It was 80 degrees so her outfit was perfect

I had to bribe her for her trick - kissing daddy!

We are getting ready for Halloween! Mila's been talking about Halloween for about a week now and I think a lot of the discussions we've been having are mostly because she's been learning about Halloween at school. Mila's so excited this year and I think it's the first year she will really remember.  She decided she wanted to be a princess earlier this month so we took her to the Disney store to pick out her costume. Along with her Cinderella costume, we picked up this little ballerina outfit which she choose to wear to the Kidville Halloween Bash last night. Mila practiced saying "Trick or Treat" and enjoyed the Rockin Railroad performance and open play. It's been a while since we've been to Kidville so it was fun to watch her enjoy the gym for a few hours.

Another Pumpkin Patch - Mr. Bones

When we originally researched pumpkin patches in the LA area I really wanted to go to Mr. Bones in Beverly Hills. Fab had no interest in going and wanted to get the more rustic, authentic and laid back feel of a true pumpkin patch. We ended up going on Thursday with a friend from Mila's school and while the weather was almost too hot... Mila and Witt enjoyed their time. I must agree, the first pumpkin patch we went to a few weeks ago was much better, I was still curious to see what all the hoopla was all about.  Mila enjoyed the pony ride, jumpy castle and slide but I think next year we will head north to either Underwood or Forneris Farms again.

Pumpkin Patch - LA Style

October is one of my favorite months of the year. Growing up in Colorado, the weather cooled by October, the leaves start to change, the air gets crisper and you can feel and see the change of seasons. I love apple cider, pumpkin bread, turtleneck sweaters and getting ready for the holidays. We usually spent Halloween bundled up in winter clothes, since Colorado would have it's first snow the night we would want to go trick or treating, so it's a little different spending this month in flip flops and shorts. We first took Mila to a pumpkin patch in NYC and had such a great time. The kids were all learning how to crawl and walk and being outside with the fall weather reminded me of my childhood. Last year we spent in Half Moon bay at a great pumpkin patch and fair but it was much more of a production. This year we decided to do something a little quieter and decided on a little farm 20 minutes north on the 405, called Forneris Farms http://fornerisfarms.com.
It was perfect for Mila's age with a jumpy pumpkin castle, a small hay maze, tracker maze, train ride and pony rides. They also had an amazing corn maze for adults that we wished we part took in, however we traveled with our friends who just had a little baby and were afraid it would take longer than expected. It was definitely a quieter place and nice to enjoy as a family..I wanted the big hoopla but I enjoyed what this farm had to offer. Mila picked out a white pumpkin to take home and we picked up some produce on the way out. Nothing like spending the day in a pumpkin patch in a summer dress with flip flops among the palm trees... oh the life in southern California.