Kilbane Happenings

So we sure had a weekend packed with fun! Saturday night the kids' school had their annual "Trunk or Treat". Everyone parks their cars at school and the kids go from "trunk" to "trunk" begging for candy! The kids love it because they get to see all their friends dressed up in their costumes, as well as get lots of candy! Since Wednesay is Halloween, we decided to carve our pumpkins tonight. The kids love this - in theory - but aren't big fans of he process. Kaitlyn doesn't like sticking her hand IN the pumpking at all, let alone touching any of the "goo"...and Brady just likes seeing it all lit up when it's finished. Kaitlyn did design her own "Jack-o-lantern" this year and Brady helped by telling me which shapes he wanted on his pumpkin face. The kids are really looking forward to trick-or-treating this Halloween. Kaitlyn and Brady with some of Kaitlyn's classmates: Grace, Lily and Grace W. The whole gang ...

This is Brady showing off his dance moves at Grant's Farm Halloween party this weekend!

Yesterday we took the kids to the Ringling Brothers and Branum & Bailey circus...and it was just that. I've been to the circus, but so long ago that I don't rememnber it! I have a feeling its changed quite a bit since they no longer have the "thee ring" format. They still have 3 areas of the stage, but they only use that for in between the big act and at open of the show and closing of the show. The kids loved all the acts espcially the "puppy" act! I really liked the lion tamer and the acrobats were quite impressive! Here are a few pictures from our night out! The juggling clowns - they allow people on the floor one hour prior to showtime for preshow festivities. Kaitlyn and her new spinning light Daddy and the kids...ready for the show to start The famous elephants The lion tamer - this was quite impressive!

Our Saturday mornings are filled with getting up early and heading to the soccer fields to watch Kaitlyn play on her Kindergarten soccer team. I love this about my Saturday mornings. While some people may miss sleeping in or even dread sitting outside in the damp, chilly fall weather... I really look forward to it. She really enjoys soccer and in only a year of playing has really improved and "caught on" to how the game is supposed to be played. Here are just a few pictures from yesterday's game. While the "pin" St. Paul Panthers didn't win (they lost 3-2 to the "purple" St. Paul Panthers), they played a great game and Kaitlyn almost scored a few goals. She is super excited to start playing indoor with her kindergarted classmates.

So with the weather really changing on us over the weekend, I decided it was time to get our pumpkins for Halloween. We live near a great place for this called Stuckmeyer's Farm. They have a big playground for the kids, wagons to take with you to pick out the perfect pumpkin as well as hay rides and a market to get other fall goodies! On the weekends, they have a whole fall festival with pony rides and bouncy houses and such, but going on a monday after school was just perfect for us. No lines for the hay ride and we were able to take our time and pick out our perfect pumpkins. Enjoy the pictures - I just had to dress my little man in his REDS gear (he's wearing his VOTTO t-shirt under his jacket)! So excited for the postseason...even though we live in St. Louis, we cheer on the Reds any chance we get (well, the kids and I do, Brian still cheers on the Indians). Sibling love....on the hayride Cutest pumpkins I've ever seen! My scarecrow... Getting Brady ...

With the change of seasons brings more things to do on the weekends. We experienced a huge cold front that dropped our temperature from 80 on Thursday to 44 on Friday! It rained ALL DAY Friday so Kaitlyn's soccer game was cancelled due to the condition of the field. We already had an Irish dance perfomance scheduled at the Our Lady of Providence Parish Fall Festival. It was quite chilly - but the kids did great and Kaitlyn especially did well! Here are a few pics from the performace. Getting ready for the reel Point on 6... She gets really into doing her light jig...tongue out and everything! Love it!

 Several months ago (long before going to Ireland was even talked about), Brian and I planned a trip to Orlando, Florida to Universal Studios. We thought it was a great time for the two of us to explore those "other" theme parks in Orlando - Universal Studios! We have been talking about it for a while and were really excited to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter since we are both big fans of the movies (and I have read all the books except the last one....if I don't read it, maybe the saga doesn't end??). We also found out afte planning our trip that the International Food & Wine Festival was starting at Epcot. We were at Disney World last year with the kids and we missed this by about a week! We were so excited that we were going to be able to check it out! There were over 30 food and drink stations around the World Showcase where you could sample differen types of food and drinks. They even had the food paired with what wine (or other beverage) would go ...

So you really think about how small this big, big world really is....unbeliveable! Today, I was reunited with a very good friend that I haven't seen or talked to in 10 years! It had been entiely too long! With the technology today, you'd think that we would have reconnected somehow, someway....but not until today. My sister and brother-in-law were meeting with a financial advisor and the name sounded familiar and I guess through conversation, my sister discovered that this advisor was the husband of this wonderful friend I have been out of touch with. With an exchange of phone numbers, email addresses (and blog sites) - POOF! We just had the best converstation (well, one that can be had where there are needy little ones in the background asking for a snack every 3 minutes) and it's like we haven't missed a beat! Katie - I'm so glad you called and I know that we will FOR SURE be in touch all the time. Looking foward to seeing you soon and having our families meet. ...