Finally Halloween has come. I was trying to come up with a theme for the kids to be this year, but we all kept disagreeing on what to be. I tried to get Adriana to be Tinkerbell and the boys be Captain Hook (since we already had that costume) and Peter Pan, but that wasn't flying with the kids. So I finally decided I would go ahead and let Adriana pick out her costume since she was going to be my hardest. So she picked out a Cinderella dress....of course! So not what do I do? I was going to try to find Joey a mouse costume and he could be gus gus, but I really didn't want to have to buy any more costumes. So next came my second hardest, Andrew. He changed his mind hourly on what he wanted to be so I had to wait until the last minute because I knew if I bought him anything he would no longer want to wear it by the time Halloween came around. So I looked in his closet to see what we already had. A cowboy, buz lightyear, spiderman, and Captain Hook. So I asked Andrew what he wanted to be and he kept telling me a cat. Well I finally told Andrew that his Captain Hook costume was a prince outfit, which was something else he wanted to be........woohoo he bought it! So now I have a prince and princess. Let's see what Joey has, a cow and a dragon costume. Yes a dragon will do. So now we are the fairy tale family, a prince, princess, and fierce dragon! Wow we really have a theme! Now if I had some nice clothes for Chris and I and some crowns we could have been the king and queen........ha!
Anyway here is a picture of the fairy tale bunch!
After we finally got costumes all on, we headed down to mainstreet St. Charles to begin some trick or treat fun with friends. We met up early with my friend Debbie and her kids Chase and Reece, and my friend Christine and her kids Gabriel and Lilly. We did manage to get a picture of my kids with Chase, but Gabriel was being a little shy and decided to stay out of the picture.
So off we went for trick or treating. It didn't take long for Andrew to get the hang of things watching his big sister. Along the way we also ran into my friend Whitney and her daughter Ava. We stopped for a break and a picture of the kids.
The tired prince and princess took a break and sat on the rocking chairs.
And the princess giving momma her best pose!
After trick or treating down on Mainstreet we went home to grab a little dinner and rest a bit before going out again.
As night fall set we got ready for more candy. Adriana was so excited and ran to almost every house. Andrew was starting to get tired and had to be dragged along the way. Maybe it was because his hands were constantly stuck in the bag of candy too. Joey was so excited and wanted to walk to everyones house. I would only let him walk when we got to the driveways, which he really wasn't liking. Although he didn't get the trick or treat down, he definitely had to smile down pat which scored him lots of extra candy.
Here is a picture of the kids ringing the door of a neighbors house.
Now whats a family to do with six bags of candy? Well the Halloween fairy comes and takes it all away! But of course she doesn't leave the kids empty handed. They each got a small gift she left for them. This saves mom and dad lots of money in dentist bills:)
We had a great night and can't wait to do it all over again next year!
Adriana and Andrew laying in the leaves. You can tell from my kids squints that it was a sunny day out!
And Adriana laying in the leaves:
Joey was much happier sitting with his pumpkins and scarecrow. 
Adriana picking her pecans.
Even Daddy was hard at work!
Andrew was doing great until Great Grandpa started up the tractor then we lost him. Here is Andrew sitting on the tractor, boy was he in heaven!
So we had a great time picking pecans and I now have a big bucket full of them. So I will look forward to doing this again next year without the element of surprise of not knowing what I'm doing! Thanks again Great grandma and grandpa Weber!!!!!
And we even got to ride on him which was even better for Andrew. I never saw him behave so well as he did riding on Thomas! I tell you it was worth all the money spent on the tickets to see how excited he was! 
The kids sitting in their seats on the train.
They also had a lot of extra activities to do after we rode the train. They had a spot where you could get Thomas tattoos put on:
There was a small train the kids also got to ride on:
There was a ballpit to play in and a couple of inflatables to play on:
There was a tent set up where you could play with several different train sets along with arts and crafts to do. We spent a lot of time in this tent since there was so much to do.
The kids all had a great time and Andrew is still talking about it. Honestly, I was second guessing myself with spending the money on the tickets, but after seeing his face that day it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a heart beat!
Adriana and Andrew doing a little dancing.
Getting a tasty little Halloween treat.
A picture of the class all being such big kids and eating together so well.
Adriana had a great time and loved telling me about all the fun things she got to do before I got there.
Then we made our way over to the rope walk. Adriana sailed across it with no problems,.
Andrew on the other hand wasn't quite as coordinated.
But no fears because sister was there to help him out.
Of course the falls still happen, but he is quick to yell he's alright.
Then he wrestles down his sister for not keeping him from falling.
Next they made their way over to the zip wire swings. Adriana LOVED it and spent a good twenty minutes on it. 
Andrew went down a couple of times but decided it wasn't for him.
The tire that just goes around in a circle was a better speed for him and Joey.
Hi Mommy! Look what a big boy I am!
They spent a lot of time going through all the mazes, but I wasn't about to go in after them so we lack the pictures of those fun activities.
Last we found another set of swings the kids wanted to try, you know you can never try too many swings out!
And we ended our trip with a hayride through the crops. 
We had such a fun day. And before we left Adriana told me she just loves going everywhere with her best friend Andrew because he is so fun to play with. Thats what makes all these trips so worth it!
After our drive through Cades Cove, Chris and I decided to take the kids on a hay ride back through the park. The kids thought this was so much fun! We counted 113 deer we saw as we drove back through, thats amazing! But no bears this time. We did see a coyote, but I wasn't able to get a picture of it in time. 
On Friday we headed back out to Cades Cove to go horseback riding. On the way we did stop to see three bears. I believe it was a momma bear and two cubs. I really didn't even attempt to get that close to the bears. The pictures aren't that great of the bears but you can at least see two of them.
Here we area getting ready to go horseback riding. Kids were supposed to be 6 years old, but since Adriana has been riding since she was 3 years old that went ahead and let her go. Heck, she could probably ride better than a lot of people anyway. And she did awesome. Her horse was a hungry one and kept walking off the trail to go eat but she did good keeping control of him and getting him back on the trail. I was a little worried at first but she rode him around like a pro. Heres a picture of her climbing up on her horse.
And her sitting up on the horse.
Here is Chris, Adriana, and I riding away on our horses. 
Our last tourist stop was another small waterfall and beautiful view. The picture hardly does it justice. But here it is anyway.
And one last picture of Chris and I.
Friday night Chris and I spent packing everyone up and getting our vehicle ready to leave the next day. So Maw Maw kept the kids entertained playing bingo with them.
And so our vacation comes to an end. And sadly we head home for our 10 hour drive. But Maw Maw and Paw Paw made sure the kids left happy and gave them each a halloween goody bag. So we had a 10 hour drive with kids hyped up on chocolate.......thanks again Maw Maw and Paw Paw, we owe you big time!!!!! That was probably the longest drive of my life!!!!!:) Here is a picture of Andrew devouring his chocolate:
