More Halloween Goodies

A while back I had bought a set of window decal paints (http://www.amazon.com/Paint-Peel-Window-Art-Kit/dp/B0017KYP7Q).  We've had a good time making some Halloween window decorations (and other things too).  You paint an outline in black, let it dry and then fill in with the colored paints.  When it dries, you peel and stick on the window.  Pretty cool!  I plan to make some Thanksgiving and Christmas decals too.  I used a picture from a coloring book to make the witches hat.  

Cole made a very colorful cupcake window decal.  

I also decided to get a little crafty with the desserts that I made for the MOMS Club Halloween party.  I made some nutter butter ghosts (Nutter Butter cookies dipped in almond bark - yum!) and some 'Wormy Burgers' (Nilla wafers, frosting, and gummy worms).  The kids loved them at the party, of course.  I also put together goodie bags for the little trick-or-treaters at the party.

I like Halloween, it is so much fun for the kids dressing up and they get so excited to go around and get candy.  OK, so I'm not so crazy about the pounds of sugar we end up with afterwards, but overall it is a fun time.  It's a good reason to get dressed up, have fun and eat some candy.  

Here are a couple pics from the Halloween party that Cole went to.  Adam gets to dress up for school on Friday instead of wear his school uniform.  So he's going to be a fireman for school (I didn't think his Darth Vader costume would fit with their non-scary, friendly costume theme...).  And we already had a fireman jacket and hat, so a fireman it is!  

The kids are counting down to C-day (candy day)

Cub Scouts

We went to Adam's first pack meeting since he was officially signed up in cub scouts.  He has already earned his first award.  He has been working so hard on his cub scout handbook memorizing all the things he is supposed to know.  

So of course like a good mom I had to take pictures of him getting his first award.

Here he is with his new tiger cub immediate recognition award (the white plaquard on his shirt).  So as he finishes more achievements he'll get beads to hang on this.  He was very excited to get it.  To bad I couldn't get a better picture!  :)

I'm sure this will only be the first of many!

Pre-Halloween pics

I enjoyed playing some more with the camera to see what kind of pics I could get of the kids while they were playing with the Halloween decorations that we were putting up this week.

I was pretty happy I was able to get some decent pics.  They turned out pretty cute!

We went pumpkin picking this week too, the perfect photo op!  I love fall in the mainland and I especially love fall photos - the colors are so gorgeous.  But since we don't have fall colors here, pumpkins are the next best thing.  Here are a couple cute shots of Cole out picking pumpkins.  (Adam was not happy he had to be in school while Cole went to the pumpkin patch!)

He smiled so nicely for me when I asked him to sit with the pumpkins!

"Here's a good one mom!"

Photo fun

Last month I finally got myself a DSLR camera, after more than a year of reading up on photography and just learning what I could.  I kept trying to do the techniques that I was reading up on in photography but was bumping up against the limitations of my point-and-shoot (although it was a nice prosumer one with a lot of user control).  
So I got a Canon T1i with the kit lens and also got a 50mm f1.4 lens.  I tell you, I didn't realize what a difference a DSLR would make but it does!  I LOVE the 50mm lens.  I can get photos with that lens that I would never have been able to capture with my old camera.  The kit lens is great too because the wide angle is wider than my old camera.  
This photo of Cole looking into the telescope was taken at nearly dark, he was looking at the moon.  I never would have gotten anything with my old camera.  You can see him clear as day in this pic on the DSLR.  

Also, I love the dreamy backgrounds (brokeh) that I can get with the 50mm lens.

I've been having a lot of fun just seeing what I can do with it.

Also, I LOVE shooting in RAW.  It makes adjusting the photos in Lightroom so much better.


Did I mention that I LOVE this new camera?

Turtle Bay Staycation

Last week, friends of ours were kind enough to get us the military discounted rate at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore, which is even much better than the resident room rate.  So we all went on a one-night mini vacation.  I tell you, we packed a LOT into 24 hours of fun.  Pool fun, beach fun, food fun, we had it all.  Here's the photo recap.  

Camping in Oct

It's great that we've found a great group of families to go camping with here.  We went camping at Ho'omaluhia botanical gardens again earlier this month.  It was right at the start of our fall break week from school, so it was a good way to kick off the break.  
The boys and I got to camp early Friday afternoon since Adam had a half-day that day.  It was really overcast and looked like it could rain at any minute.  So my goal was to get the tent up as soon as I got there.  Good thing I did, because it started raining fairly hard as soon as the tent was up.  Good timing!  I put off unloading the rest of the stuff until the rain quit.  By the time Dan got there after work, we had a nice dry setup all ready for the night.  The rain rewarded us with some beautiful waterfalls off the nearby mountains, I'd never seen that before when we had camped there.  It rained on and off all evening, but it was a good time anyways!  

The kids, as usual, spent most of their time playing with the fire.  

Of course, fire is even more fun as it gets darker outside...

And it's still fun first thing in the morning (I told you they spent a LOT of time with the campfire).  I joked at camp that I should throw out all the TVs and put in a firepit in the backyard instead.  The kids did not think it was funny.  

I love early morning in camp.  Here's a shot of Cole still trying to wake up for the day.  Great thing about a tent, the camera is always within a short reach to grab a cute shot.

Mostly, THIS is my favorite reason I love mornings in camp.  The morning light is beautiful on the mountains.  It just makes you want to sit back, drink your coffee, and enjoy the view (which is exactly what I did).

Later in the morning, we took a walk along the drive into the campsite and the roadside was filled with ripe, red strawberry guava bushes.  They were sooo tasty!  The kids (and adults) were stuffed with guava by the time we made the short walk back to camp.

Cole and I took a walk down to the lake to see the ducks.  We didn't have any bread to bring with, and Cole fed the few Cheerios we had to the koi fish along the way.  When we got to the ducks, I told Cole to sit down quietly and maybe the ducks would come check him out to see if he had any food.  So he sat and waited rather patiently, but the ducks were not fooled.

Farther down along the lake, some tourists gave us some of their bread so he could feed the ducks.  He finally got brave enough to let a big, white duck eat out of his hand.

Here is a pic I snapped of me and Cole as we walked back to camp.  We stopped to take a break since I had inadvertently taken the long way back.  But Cole was a good trooper and walked almost all the way back (I carried him up the big hills).

So another successful camping trip under our belts!