pumpkins become jack-o-lanterns.

Time to clean out the pumpkins!

Cassidy giving her pumpkin a hug before we stab it and dig the innards out! 

Lincoln getting ready to carve. 

Their expressions look as if they're so surprised by what's inside.

And then they're mortified by the eeewy gooeyness of it. 

Look...I got one seed out!

Ewww...I got some goop on my hand. 

 I love this next series of 4 pictures:

Ok, I'm just gonna go in with my hand.

This is pretty icky, but I can get this stuff out. No biggie. 

Ok, maybe it is a biggie. This is icky.

Eeeeeewwww! Yuck!

Finally digging in to get the pumpkins cleaned out without all the drama of getting messy.

Matt's handiwork.
Lincoln's pumpkin is on the left: Captain America shield (in honor of his costume this year)
Cassidy's pumpkin is on the right: She wanted a big pumpkin eating a little pumpkin. Look at that poor little guy: "Please don't eat me!" 

Vertuccio Farms.

Upon doing some internet research, I found a variety of farms that one can visit here in the fall. There are no apple orchards and the only apple cider that I've seen is at the grocery store and is expensive. I'm not sure if there are apple cider donuts, which are really one of the best things about fall. I digress...

While my parents were visiting, we went to one of the local "fall farms". It had similar activities for the kids as the places we've visited in MI and IL. We were even able to buy our pumpkins there.

The kids on a barrel train ride. 

Trying to get the bell to the top.
I tried and could barely get it to the second line (from the bottom).
Weak, weak, weak. 

Lincoln on a tractor car. 

SpiderCass climbing the net spiderweb.

Cassie on the see-saw.

Even better -- Cassidy AND Papou on the see-saw!

Cassidy and Papou doing duck races. 

Go pink duckie, go! 

Walking through the corn maze. 

Yia and Pops on the train ride through the farm.
It was hot and we were glad when the ride was done so we could find some shade.
Shade is everything here as it provides great relief from the hot sun. 

The kids having some fun acting as tractor driver and vegetables!

Happy Fall! 

Lake Havasu City and the Grand Canyon.

With the kids attending year-round school, they have a 2-week break in October. Conveniently, my birthday also falls during this time, thus my parents took advantage and visited for 2-weeks in early Oct. During their first week here, we had a nice 4-day getaway, spending a couple of nights in Lake Havasu City (about 3 hours from here) and one night at the Grand Canyon (an additional 3 hours in another direction).  We sort of did a triangle of driving. It was lovely. We drove through the flat desert where there was nothing around and we drove through Flagstaff/Sedona, which was mountainous and more green than anything we've seen in Arizona.

We stayed at the London Bridge Resort in Lake Havasu City.

This is the London Bridge.
It was built in 1831 over the River Thames in London, England but was purchased in 1967 by Robert McCulloch. It was dismantled, moved, and rebuilt in Lake Havasu City, AZ, in 1971. 

Matt and the kids on the bridge. 

Pretty view of the lake with the mountainous backdrop. 

Us with my mom and dad.
We did a one-hour boat tour of the lake. 

View from the boat.
So different from being on Lake Michigan!

Canal where we saw people diving from some of the cliffs. 

The boat had about 15 passengers and we had the only 2 kids
so the Captain let Lincoln and Cassidy have a go at driving the boat.
That's Lincoln in the driver's seat.

Captain Cassidy.

Little sis and big bro on the shoreline.

An old London telephone booth.

After leaving Lake Havasu City, we drove to the Grand Canyon and spent the late afternoon/evening on one of the free shuttle bus tours, getting out at different scenic points to view the canyon. I can see why they call it Grand. It truly is. Our first look at it was breathtaking. I've never seen anything like it. 

The Gough's at the Canyon. 

The kids and I enjoying the views.

 

Papou and Yia Yia.

On our second day there, we hopped on another free shuttle bus route that takes you to a number of different lookout spots. This was the perfect way to see the canyon for the first time, and it was a great way to do it with "old folks and young kids". We read a lot about hiking, camping, biking, white water rafting, helicopter rides, etc.  Another time, perhaps. 

Yia and Pops with Lincoln & Cassidy.

Cassie liked "hiking" around the scenic lookout areas.

Big brother.

Little sister. 

This was the highest elevation. 

The kids and I at our final lookout point. 

Grandma's fall visit.

Grandma came for a visit toward the end of September. Her visit began with the tail end of Cassidy being sick and the start of Lincoln getting sick. Luckily, a few days off of school cured them both and none of the adults caught it - phew! Lincoln thoroughly benefited form having Grandma here while he was sick as she spent lots of time reading to him and watching superhero movies with him. Good times.

The temps were still pretty steamy during her visit, so we found an indoor activity to check out -- the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa, AZ.

At the entrance to the museum.

Grandma, Matt, Lincoln, and Cassidy discovering dinosaur fossils.

Lincoln looked most forward to seeing dinosaur skeletons. 

Cassidy's foot is a bit smaller than this dinosaur's foot!

Cool dino skeleton.

Even cooler cactus (in my opinion). 

Grandma, Lincoln, and Matt panning for gold. They did not hit the jackpot.

Cassidy using an old-fashioned telephone.
My parents have one just like this in their basement and it still works. So neat.

After an indoor activity, we were able to get Grandma to enjoy an outdoor activity. She joined the kids in the pool, which they absolutely loved.

rainbow.

The kids and I walked outside to play in the evening in late August and Lincoln beamed as he saw a rainbow in the sky. I think this may be the first rainbow the kids have seen so I had to grab a pic.

Rainbows make us smile. 

We experienced another -- double rainbow -- when we visited Lake Havasu City in October. I didn't have my camera handy, but it was surely a neat sight.