Who Can Resist a Party?!

This past weekend, Kate attended a birthday party for one of her preschool friends at the Life and Science Museum. I sent Mark along since he had never been before. Kate (and Mark) had a blast! The party was complete with face painting, a Dora pinata and cake, and an afternoon filled with fun and excitement exploring the museum. After being gone for 5 1/2 hours, the duo returned home with numerous pictures and videos. Here are just a couple that highlight the event.

From Under the Sea to Never Never Land

The girls had a great time trick-or-treating this year and thoroughly enjoyed Halloween! Kate transformed herself into Ariel (her favorite princess), complete with her wand and tiara, while Lauren became Tinkerbell for a magical evening! (Thanks to our friends who loaned us the wings... Lauren lit up the sidewalks as she walked.) Although the girls enjoyed going door-to-door, Kate spent most of the night watching all of the kids come to our house, admiring the vast array of costumes. Lauren, on the other hand, had difficulty at first with others taking our candy. She started to cry, yelling "Nooooo! That's my candy!" We were able to distract her enough to empty the candy bowl and enjoy the evening. Fun was had by all.

(Kate has already informed me that next year she wants to be Belle!!)

Pumpkin Day

Although this event occurred about a week and a half ago, I felt it was still worthy of posting. The girls, Grampy (Rich), and I attended Pumpkin Day at the Farmers Market. The events of the day included a pumpkin decorating contest, the biggest pumpkin, and kids activities (face painting, moon bounce, etc.). Although we didn't partake in the kids activities (the lines were too long), we did witness the largest pumpkin and some of the winners in the pumpkin decorating contest. Believe it or not, the largest pumpkin there (not in the contest) weighed (?) pounds!! (Take a guess at the weight)

It took quite a while to pick out our pumpkins. Kate gravitated towards the odd shape ones with bumps and lumps. She sees beauty in everything! We also had the opportunity to see the "pumpkin blow-up" that Kate asks about each year, as well as come home with an orange pumpkin, a white pumpkin, and two small tri-color pumpkins. Fun for the whole gang!

Crib Diving...No Longer an Option!

About a week and a half ago, we heard a loud "THUD" about 15 minutes after putting the girls to sleep. Lauren had decided it might be fun to climb out of her crib. Although it startled her, she was okay, no broken bones or bruises. She assured us that she would stay in her crib the rest of the night, which she did. HOWEVER, she repeated the act the next night as well. (We never experienced this with Kate, so this "crib diving" was new to us.)

So, the next day we headed out to purchase a mattress for our daredevil. Since Lauren has a timetable all her own, her room has not been redecorated. Kate allowed us to paint her room and decorate prior to moving into a "big girl bed." Hence, Lauren is in her same room, nothing changed, just a mattress on the floor in place of the crib. (We did order a bed for her this weekend.)

We must say, she loves her big bed and has actually slept longer in the mornings than she did in her crib. I guess it's well worth it!

Having Fun at the Beach - Family Photos

As our families continue to grow, the hope of getting all members to look at the camera and smile begins to fade. In fact, it generally takes at least 5 tries to get the four of us to take a decent picture, let alone 10+ people! But...we continue to try and do the best we can. So, here are a few family photos from this year's week at the beach.

Having Fun at the Beach - Part 1

We returned Sunday from a week at the beach in Emerald Isle, NC. We spent the week with Grampy and Grammy (Rich and Carol), Aunt Maureen, Uncle Patrick, and cousin, Peter. Grandpa and Grandma (Dad and Pat) and Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (Biz and Doug) also visited for a couple of days during the week. The girls were fortunate to be able to spend time at the beach with all three sets of grandparents.

Rich and Carol rented a beautiful house right on the beach with its own pool. Most of our days were spent on the beach playing in the sand, splashing in the ocean, collecting shells and taking dips in the pool. We did venture out one day for lunch at a local seafood restaurant and then an afternoon of exploration at the aquarium.

We had a wonderful week filled with fun, sun and quality time with family!

Due to the numerous photos taken, I figured I would spread them out over a few days. Enjoy!

Back to School

Kate returned to preschool following Labor Day and has a week and a half under her belt. She is going three mornings a week this year and is so excited to be back! Although, only two of the girls are returning from last year's class, she still gets to see past classmates on the playground and before and after school. (Walking with friend, Ryan, in the below photo)

This year, the kids eat lunch at school as well, so of course, we had to buy a lunchbox. Kate was so excited when I came home a month ago with an Ariel one from the Disney Store! Now, she excitedly packs her lunch in the morning and holds "Ariel" in her lap the entire ride to school.

Let's hope the excitement for school continues for the next 20+ years!