Halloween Fun!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a wild one! It was a full day of spooky fun. The kids had their Halloween parade at school that morning then Halloween class parties at the end of the school day. Home for naps then it was time for trick or treating in our neighborhood! Talk about candy overload... 

It was Clare's first Halloween and sadly her costume didn't come together because I never tried it on her. I went to put it on that evening and it was too small!! I couldn't pull it over her head. Fail. She was suppose to be Piglet and quickly I threw on Grace's Minnie ears from last year and found a red dress. She looked cute! William was Frankenstein and Grace went as Supergirl to school then a unicorn that evening. Both costumes were very cute. The Supergirl costume was a little easier for school changing, which is why she had two. 

Before school

Frankenstein and Supergirl in character!

William's class parading by

Grace's turn to parade by

William's class. FOUR Elena of Avalor's!

Grace's class

 I helped with Grace's class party. I was in charge of decorations. Easy! Thank you, Target. The other moms put together some super fun food options! Check them out below! Vampire donuts, ghost bananas, "dirt" pudding and skeleton marshmallows. William's class party I wasn't able to technically attend. His teacher only allows the moms putting together the party and the spaces were full by the time I got to the list to sign up :( I stopped in at the end any way and got a quick peek of the kids in their spider hats! Too cute!

Grace's Halloween party 

William in his spider hat after his party

William's last Halloween parade and party day :(

Halloween night was fun. We fixed chili and invited people over to visit after trick or treating. Our neighborhood is overrun with people trick or treating... probably because our neighbors bring in frozen yogurt, cotton candy machines, and all sorts of decorations. It is the place to be. Giving out just normal candy is practically faux pas around here. We are in that group. We only get candy to hand out. But the kids were brave and went up to a couple very spooky houses. They loved it! A great time had by all and always fun to see how excited the kids get over the holidays. Already looking forward to next Halloween!

It's Minnie Mouse!

I didn't get the costume memo

Unicorn trotting

Kids in line for candy

Minnie made a run for it!

Fall Fun

Quick! Get a picture before we all sweat profusely!

Before we get into the Christmas season, I thought I'd wrap up our fall. It passed so quickly - even in the 90 degree heat. We went to a pumpkin patch in Orlando (see above and two sweaty pictures below) and brought home tons of pumpkins over the weeks leading up to Halloween.

Red faced running the hay maze

Soaked from sweat on the hayride

Then William and Grace's school fall festival was in mid-October. I helped with the silent auction portion of the festival, but donated my time early so I could enjoy all the games and rides with the kids. We had a lot of fun as usual!

MSEE Fall Festival

Pony rides

Face painting and balloon animals

William (2nd) and Grace (3rd) on the train ride

The same weekend of the fall festival we had a baby visitor in the house! Miss Kay came to visit from New York with her mama, Kristin. Kay is 2 months old, so she worked out great as a test baby Clare! William and Grace couldn't get enough of her. William wanted to be so helpful and would lay next to her to keep her company. And Grace is very interested in everything the baby is doing. She wants to touch and hold the baby. I will need to be vigilant with baby Clare because they definitely wants to be "hands on." 

They love Kay

William wanted to make Kay laugh

Kristin and I flew up to Virginia after her Orlando visit with all the kids in tow. What a great visit! We stayed for a week and had beautiful fall weather each day. We had plans galore and of course, no trip to Virginia is complete without some crazy story...

Me and the kids stayed with my friend Erica for a couple nights and the first day we went to Cox Farms - one of my favorite fall activities. William and Grace LOVED all the slides and hay stacks. I can't believe I survived the day with all the running around they did and my inability to chase so quickly being 31 weeks pregnant. They had a blast though. Kristin brought Kay and my other friend Lauren brought her two kids. They were adorable and as you can see below - the most well behaved children at the pumpkin patch! SO funny! Really - everyone was a champ and we didn't lose anyone. Cox Farms is a high in demand field trip spot and I heard many a mommy yelling, "Where's my kid?!"

Cox Farms at the end of the day

And so the crazy begins. That night of our Cox Farms trip I got to visit the maternity ward at Fair Oaks Hospital because I was severely dehydrated from getting sick repeatedly that night (they said I probably ate something bad) and thus was having contractions. I got hooked up to three IV bags and waited for the sickness to go away and the contractions to stop. Grandma Doreen got to sit there with me at the hospital and thankfully Erica put the kids to sleep. SO thankful to have had their help!! I got back to Erica's at 3 a.m. and Matt had to get up to Virginia a day early because I clearly couldn't chase the kids the next morning. I wasn't sick anymore, but super worn out.

By the next afternoon I was back to normal though and so began the rest of our trip! We stayed in D.C. and got to visit the sites. We did the Museum of Natural History, Air and Space, Matt took the kids on the carousel on the Mall, saw the pandas at the National Zoo. We even did a night tour of the monuments - though I was quite slow. The Washington Monument at night from the Lincoln Memorial is incredible because of it's reflection in the Reflecting Pool. Matt and I even had a night out courtesy of Grandma Doreen at Fiola Mare. The waitress didn't realize I was pregnant and brought me free champagne... what a tease.

Grace at Natural History Museum

Night tour of D.C.

We took family pictures in Old Town that day and then had dinner with Fr. Kleinmann in Tysons. The crazy continues that night because after dinner with Fr. K, Matt and Grace ended up getting sick! Grace was totally fine by morning, but Matt was pooped. Matt rallied and onward we went with our plans for Mt. Vernon with the Smythes. It was family day at Mt. Vernon. 

Mt. Vernon with the Smythes

Roasting their applies

An amazing week in Virginia with the kids. I love all the fun and different activities we can try while I'm back visiting home. A spring trip is already in the works!

All American boy and girl!

Pumpkin Picking

We are ready for the fall weather to hit Florida and all the exciting holidays that will be a first for William. Here we are picking out his first pumpkin. We had two visits to the pumpkin patch already. I am slightly obsessed with all things fall and didn't mind going twice at all, but the real reason we went back the next day was they only accepted cash and I only had a few quarters on me to buy the smallest pumpkin available. The pumpkin patch was a little worrisome for William and the volunteer at the patch reminded William that in a couple months this will be the least of his worries once he meets an old man with a white beard wearing a huge red costume. Santa! The second trip was a success though and William came out with a great big pumpkin.

William's 75¢ pumpkin - the perfect size.

I don't know how I feel about this pumpkin patch...

Here we are with the final pumpkin pick.
I actually didn't coordinate this picture.
The volunteers arranged it!