End of October and Halloween 2008

Hayden and Mason's Chick-Fil-A Birthday Party
Our friends Hayden and Mason had their joint 2nd Birthday Party at the Chick-Fil-A in Smryna. We were very excited to go as we had not seen them in a while. The birthday party was a load of fun since they have a huge indoor play area for the kids. Maddox and the rest of them loved climbing and sliding and messing with all the stuff on the jungle gym thing. The funniest part of the day for us was when the Chick-Fil-A cow came out to wish the birthday girl and boy a Happy Birthday and get pictures of all the kids. Most of the kids were a little scared and we thought Maddox would be too, we were wrong. Maddox absolutely loved the cow. He would not get off his lap and kept chasing the cow trying to get a hug and more time with it. It was absolutely hilarious. We had a great time and I think Hayden and Mason really enjoyed their party. My how quickly they all grow...

Carlton Farms

We really wanted Maddox to get to pick out a pumpkin for Halloween this year and in doing research, Stefan found a farm in Paulding County called Carlton Farms. They are an organic dairy farm that has a petting zoo, hayrides, corn maze, duck races, and pumpkins to pick out. Since I'd been itching to get Maddox to a zoo of any kind, we decided to head out to the farm one Saturday afternoon with the Davis's. It was a lot smaller than we expected, but the people and animals were so nice. We were a little disappointed that they didn't have a pumpkin patch, but a bunch of pumpkins sitting out in the main area for you to pick out. Oh well, we figured the petting zoo would make up for it. It was really a lot of fun and the boys enjoyed it a ton. They had baby calfs, pigs, chicks, horses, and lambs in the petting area that the boys had a great time with. We then headed to the hayride unsure of what to expect. The hayride took us out to one of the open spaces and probably 20 full size cows came out to see us. They came right up to the ride and we were able to pet them and feed them hay which they ate right out of our hands. It was really cool and Maddox could not stop laughing at the big tongues licking hay out of our hands. Definitely a highlight. They also had an area to feed full grown chickens and pumps set up to race rubber duckies. Plus a big field to run around and around in...Maddox loved it. We really had a great time, but next year I think we'll try to find a pumpkin patch :).

Halloween

We weren't sure whether Maddox would be interested in Trick-or-Treating this year, so when we got invited to the Fuller's Halloween Trick-or-Treating and Party we thought that might be the perfect thing. We got to their place around dusk and all piled into a bunch of flatbeds set up as hayrides. Then we were driven to all of the houses (members of their family) where the residents came out and brough candy to us. It was really a blast. We had a great time as we didn't have to walk and carry a tired toddler around our neighborhood and it was great to share the experience with so many of Maddox's little friends. One of the barns was set up as a haunted house which the kids all loved. Finally we ended up at the starting point where there was a big party with tons of food and candy. We had a great time and are so glad to have been there. The only downside was that Maddox discovered Kit Kat Bars which are now a total addiction for him. I guess there are worse things...hahaha.