We had a quiet Halloween night at home this year. We felt like we did Halloween last weekend because we went camping and trick-or-treated from tent to tent, went on a hayride, walked a haunted trail, entered a scream contest, and watched a scary movie. So tonight was kind of just a bonus. Both kids have always enjoyed passing out candy as much as collecting it, so we just made a quick trip around the scariest parts of the neighborhood.
Cal was chosen by his class and teacher as a Good Citizen for his class for the first 9 weeks of school. He was chosen for exemplifying the 7 McCoy Cowboy character traits: respect, responsibility, pride, citizenship, integrity, cooperation, and one more that I can't remember (effort, maybe?). He was recognized in front of the school at an assembly, and the 5th grade performed. He had parts in the performance playing the recorder and big wooden xylophone thingies that I also don't know the name for.
Kayla's chosen activity this semester is ice skating. She takes lessons every Thursday evening. She has learned 8 new skills, and her favorite and most advanced move this session is spinning. I love seeing her all decked out. The first week she just skated in her clothes from school. Then she realized she needed a jacket. Then she fell and we added the gloves. Then one week she didn't wear socks to school, so we had to buy the tall ice skater socks at the skate shop. She decided to wear them every week, so now we suddenly have an ice skating bag we haul in every week. Add in a couple of juice packs and her sticker necklace that gets added to every week, and she looks like a serious skater as she arrives with her bag full of equipment.
We have learned a lot over the last few years about the fair, what we think is the most fun, and how we like to spend our day. We start with the petting zoo. James really likes the mean ostrich who flails around wildly while he eats, then tries to bite your finger off. Most people heed the warning signs and feed him from the shovels or cups they provide. Not James . . . .
Here's the "surprising" bite he got from the mean ostrich.
The kids like to go on the scary high rides that the old folks are too scared to go on now. So Cal and Kayla stand in line and ride together while we sit and wait, amazed at how big and brave they are.
We're even more amazed that not only are they not fighting, they are actually enjoying and taking care of each other!
As we left the park, Jordan Pruitt was playing! Kayla was very excited. 
We went camping at Lake Ray Roberts. It was just a quick "one-nighter", and the highlight was the campfire. The kids roasted all the hotdogs and marshmallows for everyone.
