Weekending it

I'm voting for permanent three-day weekends. It's essential in order to fit in all the chores, a fun outing, and downtime to relax. 

Put it on the ballot!

We're still enjoying very pleasant fall weather this year which has made our weekends busy and fun. On Saturday we headed out to lunch to try a new place called Ugly Dumplings. They had bubble tea!! And Kip really enjoyed trying the new foods. Ivy, not so much, but she did take a few bites. The adults were instant fans.

After lunch we headed to the pumpkin patch to get about a dozen pumpkins for the pumpkin carving party we are going to host for some school friends at the end of the month. The place we planned to go was already closed for the season (!) so we hit up another place that was literally jam packed with people. SO CROWDED. Fortunately, there were plenty of pumpkins but we had trouble finding small/medium sized ones in a sea of massive beast pumpkins. First we loaded up the cart with the smallest ones we could find before deciding they were all too big. Then we opted to get smaller ones that were all a little warty-bumpy because those were the next smallest ones we could find. We ultimately determined those were all still too big and likely too expensive. So we ditched those back in the patch and settled on the small guys that were up in bins instead of in the patch. It was smart of Mandy to suggest those smaller ones since they will be easier to carve. We let Kip and Ivy each pick a bigger pumpkin for the house and Kip had his heart set on a MASSIVE green pumpkin he has some sort of vision for carving. 

We waited in line and ended up spending close to $250 on pumpkins. What a racket. I cannot even guess what the cost would have been if we had gotten the bigger pumpkins. We didn't do any of the other activities there since it was so crowded and everything was around $8-$10 per person. Instead we headed home and walked over the "South Amboy Day" at the park. 

They rebranded the "Irish Fest" this year to South Amboy Day. It made more sense. They had food trucks, art activities, business booths, etc. The bounce houses were free and we ran into friends so the kids went round and round on those for awhile. Kip even tried the climbing wall!! 

And Ivy had no fear on the bounce slide. 

We got ice cream, watched a weird puppet show, did spin art, other crafts, and face paint. It was a much better option than dropping hundreds at the pumpkin farm. And, we just walked home after!

On Sunday we had church and chores. The kids played outside in the afternoon and Kip lost a tooth right before bed!

Dan got to go to the Giants vs. Bengals football game at Met Life Stadium that night with a friend from Brooklyn. The Giants lost and it was a super late night but he had fun.

Yesterday...Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day, I had off of work and the kids had a half day of school. Ivy's class had Book Fair so I was able to go volunteer and see her and her class for a few minutes. It was really sweet. 

Unfortunately, Kip's class is going on Wednesday and I'll be in the city. It's tough for me when I can't be exactly even with them. Hopefully Kip isn't too bummed.

When Mandy and I picked-up the kids at around noon we went to Duck Donuts for a treat and then hit-up Spirit Halloween to see the spooky stuff. 

Mandy had a fun potions activity for them in the afternoon (I'll share a separate post on that) and then I got to go with them to watch them at gym. Kip is in Ninja and Ivy is in beginning gymnastics. (Sorry for the glare in the photos, they don't let you go inside the gym).

Fun weekend overall and look at me I posted before Wednesday!!