halloween

swoosh – halloween came and went in such a blur!  here we are at veterans’ day already and again i have lots of pictures and posts to catch up on.

these girlies of ours are so fun and cute and joyful and smart and happy and . . . well, you get the idea.

one morning i decided to take the girls to a nearby pumpkin patch.  there were even pony rides there!  ‘ride horsey’ anabelle kept saying.  after packing the girls back in the truck to go get some cash (of course pony rides are cash only) so anabelle could ride the ponies, we got back to the pumpkin patch, unloaded, and she wouldn’t even touch one!  oh well.  instead she opted for this giant (i mean huge!) tiger slide.  no adults were allowed so she trecked her way up all by herself while i waited until she arrived safely at the bottom with a big grin and asking to go again.

 

by her third attempt she was so comfortable & confident she came down feet first on her belly giggling as she zoomed to the bottom.

   

then it was time to pick out our pumpkin.

   

found it . . . and she wanted to take a bite!

 

it was just a couple days before halloween and i was excited to find out that all the pumpkins were on sale.  we got out special one for just $2!

well, come to find out that it’s really a big squash so it doesn’t quite carve like a pumpkin.  when i couldn’t get the top off i decided on an alternative decorating option.  anabelle doodled on it for a few minutes and then was ready for something else.  standard two-year-old-ness.

looks like she’s definitely a right-y.  chris and i are both left-handed.  maybe emilymae will be a lefty too.

   

we started halloween day with a family outing to our gym. 
we love how comfortable anabelle is there & are so thankful that our girls are welcome to come along.  here is a little peek into our morning.

emilymae slept through the entire workout (thanks little one).  must admit that running and lifting in costume is pretty funny, especially when your outfit is covered in fringe.

after nap we headed out to the wild animal park. 
we pretty much had the place to ourselves which was perfect.

a few days before, anabelle and i were playing around making happy faces & sad faces.  well, i didn’t realize my happy face was a bit like a cheerleader ‘yeah’ face so these pictures below are how that translated to anabelle.

ladies and gentlemen – the happy face, by anabelle reece allain!

 

we saw elephants, giraffes, deer, rode the carousel . . .

 

made some more happy faces . . .

 

and then it was time for some trick-or-treating! 
anabelle did great.  she didn’t want to ring the doorbell but was happy to say ‘trick or treat thank you’ when someone came to the door.  she still doesn’t have sugar so she had no idea what people were putting in her little bag.  she was just excited that the little packets and boxes made fun noises when she shook them.  the next morning we put some of her favorite fruit snacks in her bag for her to ‘find’ and she was as happy as can be.  ok, maybe we’re lame parents in the ‘treats’ department but it works for us.

   

i texted this first picture to chris and joked that before he realizes he’s going to be helping her out with the train on her wedding dress.  to my surprise, he said he had already thought about that.  oh my! 
we are so very happy to stick with blanket caped super heroes for now.

 

such a fun evening with friends under a sky of stars
and the biggest brightest moon!

my friend stephanie and i were following behind our husbands and our big kids working on our multitasking skills of walking, chatting, and nursing our baby girls all at the same time.  not sure i ever expected to mix mama milk & trick-or-treating but it worked!  (sarah, we sure missed you!)

sweet little sylvia is just about a week and a half younger than emilymae.

 

happy halloween!

(didn’t realize i sort of looked like a cindy lou who)

i love having such a fun and happy little family.
hmm . . . what should we be next year?