This weekend felt a bit rocky. We had a really fun first ever Trunk-or-Treat on Friday and, of course, a wonderful time at the much-anticipated Glow at the Gardens, but Lydia had some sort of stomach bug and I was kind of in a funk. Hoping this (Halloween) week can start off on the right foot. I can’t believe it’s finally here!

Dempsey was off from school Wednesday and Friday and we made the most of it with a trip to the zoo and he got to go to another pumpkin patch! Then his school hosted a Trunk-or-Treat on Friday evening. All four of us dinosaurs walked over and had a great time! We voted for this Inside Out trunk and the one next to it that had a animatronic clown in the back (Dempsey was MESMERIZED) and walked back home with two buckets full of candy. After the kids went to bed, we watched GBBO and I am certain I never want to make phyllo dough from scratch 😅

Watched two full movies on Saturday and boom, the day was done! 😬 Joey and I were up before the kids, so I got started on a fun spooky breakfast and he got them up and downstairs before heading out to pick up coffee at Coffeegraph again. It’s our new weekend spot! Dempsey got a kick out of his bat waffles and hey, they tasted super good too! Lydi was having none of it and seemed pretty off, then she threw up mid-morning 😞 We had plans to go see a movie and weren’t sure if we should bail or not, but Dempsey still wanted to go over to Grandma’s so we took them and told Lori to text us right away if she wasn’t okay. Anora was so so good and really surprising, actually! I had no idea it was going where it went plot-wise and it was a lot funnier than I had expected but also, really sad. I’m a huge Mikey Madison fan and she was amazing in this. We picked up the kids afterward and Lydi was definitely not feeling well. Basically spent the rest of the day resting on the couch. After we got them bathed and to bed, we fired up Parasite. What can I say, it’s just a five star masterpiece.

Lydia had finally managed to eat some dinner the night before so we were hoping she’d turned a corner but she was a mess all morning on Sunday. At 10:45, she was so cranky and tired, Joey just put her down for a nap! She did make it through some pumpkin painting first at least. Dempsey drew his own design and Joey helped him carve it 🥺🥺 And he helped me paint my Frankenstein’s monster face. I love how they turned out! Once Lydia woke up from her nap, she seemed way way way better. She ate a good lunch and was back to her old self, woo-hoo! Not going to lie, the rest of the day was a rush of making salads, finishing laundry, trying to get a tired Dempsey to rest, both adults showering and me making dinner way too close to the time we needed to leave for the Botanic Gardens 😱 That puff pastry pumpkin on top of our chicken pot pie was definitely underbaked but what can you do?

Glow at the Gardens! No joke, Dempsey has been talking about this for months. He really is my son 😂 We got there shortly after 6 PM and had no trouble finding a parking spot, so that was a good start. My little Stage 5 Clinger wouldn’t let anyone but Mommy hold her, so we had a nice little bonding time 😅 She was literally chattering away and singing “this is Halloween, this is Halloween!” the entire time. She’s too funny! Demps seemed to have a blast too. He got spooked by a walking tree, saw his beloved Headless Horseman and even high-fived a skeleton guitar player 😂 And Lydia blew the Headless Horseman a kiss 🤣🤣 They were so tired and loopy by the end, but it was worth it. Dempsey fell asleep in the car on the way home and the first thing he asked me this morning was “are the decorations still up at the Botanic Gardens?” He’s too sweet. Till next year, Glow at the Gardens!

Dempsey turns 4!!!! We had such a good and fun weekend, celebrating our blue-eyed, Bluey-loving boy and I have the pictures to prove it. Not only did we have such a sweet party for him on Sunday but we got to celebrate with his class on Friday, then fit in some Halloween fun between. It truly was the best weekend. I can’t believe our boy is 4!

I got a much much much needed manicure on Friday and how cool is the orange chrome?! I’m loving it! All of the kids have been bringing popsicles for their birthdays, so Dempsey wanted the same and go figure it was the first chilly day of the year. We enjoyed our popsicles in the classroom instead of on the playground 😉 So sweet to hang out with all the kiddos and the school got him a legit gift (I don’t remember receiving presents in school 🤔), so it was a great celebration (minus the part where Joey’s truck died in the parking lot and needed jumped 😬). Afterward, we picked up our girl and had carne asada tacos for dinner before heading out to check out the “Halloween house.” They changed it up a bit this year but that ghoul on the roof looked so cool all lit up and blowing in the wind. Got the kids back home and into bed before firing up GBBO.

Saturday started with coffee from a new place down the street. It’s Indonesian-owned and the pandan latte I got was definitely the most unique I’ve ever tasted! I also made some pumpkin pancakes for us all on the griddle my mom passed over to me last week. Six pancakes at a time, yay! Afterward, Dempsey and I built some dinosaurs, Lydia ran around and Joey baked Dempsey’s birthday cake! It smelled sooooo good.

After the cakes were out of the oven and cooling, we headed into Golden to ride the Haunted Harvest Express at the Colorado Railroad Museum. I was worried it would be cold, but it wasn’t too bad. We made it there just in time for our train ride 😅 Afterward, we visited a few booths, watched the miniature trains ride around the track, walked through the haybale maze, got Dempsey a face paint dragon (he spent the rest of the day re-sticking that googly eye on his forehead 😂) and letting the kids eat just way too much candy. Lydia passed out on the fifteen minute car ride home and even let me lay her down in her crib before sleeping another two hours!

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, finishing up the cake, filling up balloons, eating ramen and then I set up a spooky bath for the kids. Lydia ran in and immediately started undressing, so I guess she was excited 😂 Got the kids to bed, then went downstairs to clean up a bit, wrap some presents and decorate for the party!

Happy 4th Birthday, Dempsey!!!! He said he wanted balloons in bed like last year, so we dumped them on 😂 His party was at 10, so we had plenty of time to open presents, feed the kids, pick up food for the party and get ourselves dressed beforehand. I’m not sure how excited he actually is to ride his new bike, but he hopped up there easy enough! His party really was such a nice time. We ate, we opened presents, we hit the piñata (Dempsey’s favorite part!), we sang, we ate cake and we played hard. He got some really cool stuff from everyone, including his first Hot Wheels track, some light up blocks that he’s been playing with non-stop, clothes, games, books, a light up scooter and a remote control car that transforms into a track to shoot smaller calls off of. We had such a fun time with all of it after everyone left! Cooked us up some spaghetti and Dempsey was literally “mmmm-ing” over it 😂 Ended the night with a game of Bluey Trouble that devolved into kids standing on the dining table?? Who knows! Got those babies to bed before watching SNL and crashing into bed ourselves.

Three was such a wild and tumultuous ride but I am really looking forward to four. I think it will be all attitude, more independence and hopefully the sweetest sibling moments 🥺🤍 I can’t wait!