Halloween Trick-or-Treating

Time to go Trick-or-Treating!

Mystery Mountain Dew 2019 - Mtn Dew VooDew

Mountain Dew has invited us to uncover the mystery of a brand new Mountain Dew flavor.
My brother let me know about the new release, but despite having a Dew Finder, neither he nor I could find it anywhere. Lucky for me, Jacob was near a location that had it and picked up a few bottles to share!

Matching the shirt colors to the label. Very nice. Let's taste it!

Making lots of people smile on Halloween

Today is Halloween and we're going to Michigan. We're flying through 2 airports today including a 2:30 layover in St Louis. That means we're going to run in to quite a few people. I see a perfect opportunity to make a lot of people happy.
Even though we're flying, the kids are dressed up in their halloween costumes. Talk about planning ahead, these Mickey pumpkin parkas are from over a year ago from our visit to Shanghai Disneyland. Alli however didn't want to be a Mickey pumpkin. And thanks to her daddy, both her Mickey parka and Mickey pumpkin pail have magically been transformed into Minnie Mouse versions of everything.

National Candy Corn Day - October 30th

Today is National Candy Corn Day. Do you like candy corn or hate it?
Theresa is in the "like" category. And to celebrate candy corn, their shirts matched the colors of the candy. White, orange, and yellow.

According to Theresa the only good candy corn is from Brach's. When I went looking at Target, the only one I could find were these. Instead of being super saturated fake colors, these are derived from natural sources.

National Oatmeal Day - October 29th

It's National Oatmeal Day today. Oatmeal is versatile and can be a tasty breakfast or a dessert.

National Chocolate Day - October 28th

National Chocolate Day is a day I can certainly get behind. And I think the rest of the family is on board as well.
To celebrate we grabbed a whole bunch of different chocolates and tasted samples of each.

Alli, why are you dressed up like Elsa?
Alli - Elsa loves chocolate!
That's very true. Great thinking.

Alli turns 42!

I've been wanting to do this kind of a trip for a while, but we've had alternate plans every time we visit. Finally the opportunity presented itself to celebrate this important Disney milestone. Back when Ian turned 42 inches, I put a different hat on him for each of the different rides he was tall enough for.  Now it's time to celebrate Alli!

A Disneyland visit with Ruston - Part 1

It's Sunday and that means we're at Disneyland! There's going to be a lot of firsts today, so I'm really looking forward to it. It's also really exciting because Uncle Ruston is going to be joining us, making it even more special.

Pumpkin Pie Kit Kat and Pumpkin Pie M&Ms

Today we're celebrating Pumpkin Pie. Not pumpkin spice, that's something different. I've seen so many pumpkin spice things this season.
Both Kit Kat and M&M have released pumpkin pie versions of their candies. Alli and Ian made spooky paper people to go with the halloween themed treats.

The Kit Kats are new to us this year. The kids tasted the M&Ms last year, but why not try them again.

Latte Oreo Thins

A new Oreo flavor? Actually they came out earlier this year, but I guess we never did taste them.
These cookies are flavored like a latte. Let's dig in!

And like usual, we'll sample it with the item it's intended to taste like. Theresa's home coffee maker makes an excellent latte. Lots of foam and some very distinct layers of milk and coffee.

National Breadstick Day - Last Friday in October

Mmm. Freshly baked bread. There's not much that can be better than that.  Maybe fresh bread with butter on it. Add parmesan cheese as well and you've got a very tasty treat.
Today is National Breadstick day, but where should we get them from? A long time ago, Olive Garden used to make delicious breadsticks, but for the past few years, they're over-baked and under-seasoned. We've tried Pizza Hut breadsticks before too, and Ian just says "no thank you".
So my favorite breadstick since at least college has been from Little Caesars. Theresa and I would each get a bag and have it for a meal.

A midweek visit to Disneyland with family!

Our visits to Disneyland are pretty exclusively on weekends. But every once in a while a good opportunity presents itself and we go on a weekday.
Theresa's cousin and his whole family are visiting Disneyland this week! T is out of town for work, but I was free, so I got off work early, grabbed the kids and left for Disneyland!

National Color Day - October 22nd

National Color Day? Really?
I told the kids about it in the morning and when I got home from work, this is what they created. A very colorful quilt with lots of different stories on it.

National Nut Day - October 22nd

Today is National Nut Day! The kids and I love all kinds of nuts. This is the first time we've had this many all together to try.

There's 10 different kinds for us.
From left to right, top to bottom. Pistachios, Walnuts, Peanuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pecans, Macadamia Nuts, Brazil Nuts, Pine Nuts, and Cashews. Whew!

A Halloween Disneyland visit with Pumpkin Mickey and Minnie Hats

Time for another Disneyland visit!
Every year we get a family picture in front of the giant Mickey pumpkin. It's nearing the end of October and we're starting to run out of time!
Today I've themed our hats to match the Mickey pumpkin. Both mine and Alli's purple Minnie pumpkin hat are from Tokyo Disneyland. Ian and Theresa chose the ball cap style pumpkin hats with Ian's being the 2018 Disneyland version, and Theresa's being the 2019 Disneyland version. I have so many fun Halloween Disney hats, but even we don't visit enough for me to cycle through all of them. I have a feeling that Christmas is going to be the same way.

Halloween Oreos

Halloween is nearly here! Oreo has released some special cookies for the occasion.

 

National Kentucky Day - October 19th

October 19th is National Kentucky Day. Now what do we know about Kentucky.
Back in 1792, Kentucky was a part of Virginia. It split from Virginia to become the 15th State. Known for horse racing, bourbon, bluegrass, and of course Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Six Flags Magic Mountain - A fun day of thrills with Jacob

Disneyland is certainly my favorite theme park, but if I want thrills, I know I need to head to "The Thrill Capital of the World!" Six Flag Magic Mountain holds the world record for most rollercoasters in an amusement park (at 19). Both Jacob and I love doing the big thrill rides, so a few times a year, both of us will take off during a weekday and come enjoy the park.

National Pasta Day - October 17th

Today is National Pasta Day! Not to be confused with National Noodle Day or National Linguine Day. When I told the kids, they were excited. They love pasta. First they decided they wanted to eat the white pasta at Olive Garden. We were just there yesterday celebrating Alli's birthday, and they had all-you-can-eat pasta! I'm a little full of fettuccine alfredo right now.
What other kinds of pasta do you guys like? Ramen!!!
Sounds like a good dinner to me!

Happy Birthday Alli!

How could 4 years have passed so quickly?!? Aren't you still my little baby girl that we brought home from the hospital 3 years and 363 days ago? In that post all those years ago, I ended by saying "I wonder what adventures will be in store for us next." I couldn't have imagined all the amazing things we've done together. And it's been really fun seeing you go from infant, to toddler, to little girl who's in to playing dress-up and pretend. And is also super brave on big roller coasters!
Let's get this party started!

Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula taste test

Halloween is here and with it comes special Halloweentime cereal. These Monster cereals originally came out around 1971, and have appeared seasonally ever since.

Missing are two characters, the Fruit Brute and the Fruity Yummy Mummy, which have been discontinued.

National Dessert Day - October 14th

National Dessert Day you say? That's something I could get on board with.
After eating their dinner, I asked the kids what their favorite dessert would be on this National Day of Desserts. They both picked something that I don't think either of them have ever tried before.

Out of all the cookies, ice cream, cake, or whatever, both wanted something Reeses. We might be going on a bit of a Reese's kick (more on that in a post closer to Thanksgiving).

Halloween Bath Bombs

The kids had a great time making bath bombs with Gram and Pop Pop a few weeks ago. With some extra time on our Saturday the kids and I are again making more bath bombs. But this time the kids wanted to make Halloween ones, colored with orange, green, and black.

National Farmer's Day - October 12th

Today is National Farmer's Day and so today we will celebrate the hard working men and women who help make the food that comes to our table.
Let's go to the Farmer's Market!

National Sausage Pizza Day - October 11th

It's National Sausage Pizza Day! And pizza is always better with friends!

Mystery Pringles 2019

Earlier the kids tried to solve the mystery of the missing Oreo flavor.
We'll continue our sleuthing with these Mystery Pringles chips.

Mystery Oreos 2019

Well gang, looks like we've got another mystery on our hands.
Two mysteries actually. Thanks Gram for the magnifying glasses.

We'll start with these Mystery Oreo cookies.

National Noodle Day

It's National Noodle Day and you know that we love pasta. Sure we could go out to Olive Garden for noodles, or even cook some dry pasta, but these National Days always have me wanting to do a little bit extra. It's been years since I've made my own pasta, but I figured today would be the perfect day to bring out the pasta roller.

A Birthday Celebration at the Sherman Oaks Castle Park

Happy weekend! And today we're out in Sherman Oaks celebrating a friend's birthday party!

Normally we'd be at Disneyland at a castle, but that's okay. We're still at a castle! Castle Park with mini-golf, an arcade, and batting cages!

National Apple Betty Day - October 5th

Today is National Apple Betty Day. Now if only I knew someone who has a bunch of apples...
Oh wait. I do know someone who still has a fridge full of apples left over from our Oak Glen Apple Orchard visit.

National Taco Day - October 4th

Today is National Taco Day! Whenever I ask the kids where they want to go eat, there's a good chance they're going to say Taco Bell. That's because they love love love the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos crunchy tacos there.
And it's awesome Taco Bell is doing a special promotion! 2 Doritos tacos and 2 regular tacos for $5! And it comes in this awesome gift box!

Making our own Bath Bombs

Knowing she was coming out for a visit, my mom was looking for some fun things to do with the kids. The kids have received bath bombs as gifts and they love them. I read that you can make your own, so Gram set off to figure out how to do it.

National Homemade Cookie Day - October 1st

Today is Homemade Cookie Day!
We're very fortunate that our Aunt Rita has a delicious homemade cookie recipe, and we're even more fortunate that she's made a big batch of cookies for us and frozen them in individual balls. That way we can cook as many as we want whenever we get the urge for a hot and fresh cookie!

Apple Taste Test 2019

Last weekend we were in California visiting the Oak Glen Apple Orchards. While there, Theresa brought home 10 different kinds of apples so that we could do a big apple taste test. Those 10 apples came with us on the airplane for our Colorado visit!