Halloween '09 celebrations

Halloween 2009: let the parties begin!

Wow, this has been an eventful week!
On Thursday, Reese and I went up to the Pi house for some trick-or-treating and fun. It was wonderful: the girls had set up cookie decorating, candy apple stations, and they were all so sweet to hand out candy from their rooms. Three of my pledge sisters were there with their kiddos (plus other alums I didn't know), and it was such fun to see them and catch up!

Reese and Nico meet Ford.


Reese exuberantly loves on Nico.


No, really, Reese, you can take those hands off my adorable face now! (some of these photos courtesy of Monique--thank you!)


Making the rounds and scoring some candy...are they not the cutest cheerleader and Sleeping Beauty you have ever seen? Also, do those horizontal stripes make me look fat?


And following Ford around...


This was excellent trick-or-treating practice--R totally knew what to do last night!


Nico and her hot mama! Must say, being at the Pi house brought back memories--but so different to be there with our little ones! It was really fun.


Nico wants to interact with her paparazzi.


On Friday, R's preschool class hosted a party for the parents. David and I had a total blast! The kids were all in costume...


They sang 5 songs for us and did some dancing.



Then we ate lunch, had story time and went outside to watch them attack the pinata. What a fun party! And so wonderful to have a little glimpse into R's day at school. They are learning so much, and she seems to be having a terrific time in the process...

Which leads us to last night, the big All Hallow's Eve itself!
Reese was Sleeping Beauty again, for about 15 minutes. Then she had a change of heart, tore off her clothes and decided she wanted to be something else.


Thank goodness we had Mary Blake's darling witch costume!


Daddy had already prepared to be SB's prince, so he stuck with it. But Greta was ready to go in her coordinating witch's costume...


Here's a family shot. I am emphasizing the Buddha belly with an aptly placed pumpkin face (thank you for creating it, Becky!)....


We had the BEST time trick-or-treating...we went over to our neighbor friend's house and met up with about 3 or 4 families...then we hit the streets of RW as a big group. It was great to move as a huge group. There were 10 kids, and the big girls took the lead with R, holding her hand and ushering her from house to house as the parents just trailed along. This, my friends, is the way to trick-or-treat! It was pretty dark and my camera is crap, so my pics didn't turn out great.
Here's the group, heading out after a pizza dinner...


Reese, joining in the haunting fun!


Did you know it's not very much fun to have gestational diabetes while all this delicious HW candy is lying around? Oh, the guilt every time it passes the lips! And the annoying need for enough self-restraint to select just one (or two) pieces of chocolate at a time...
And next up, moving houses and Thanksgiving! Not sure how much I'll be blogging (and when on earth do we have a triple posting day on the Babble?? Woot woot!), but I will check back in as the big things happen!

Home Sweet (New) Home

We did it! We closed! And finally, we took R over to see the new digs.

She was so excited! We've been driving past it, wondering aloud if that house just might have a pink room in it. Finally, she started saying, "Let's go drive by our new house." I guess our subtlety isn't what we thought it was...

Walking up with Daddy. First time in the house!


Walking into the great room.


She found it! The much-discussed pink room! Can you tell she likes it?!


Trying out her new room...it passes the test!


Somersaults in the playroom!


Running around the back yard.


Playing on the swing in the front yard.



The house definitely got the Reese seal of approval. She's had a ball showing her new room and playroom to family visitors! Come by and visit us soon--we should be moving within a few weeks!

Do you believe in MAGIC?

Here it is....the long-awaited Disney World post!

Are you ready for some pictures?! I'll break it down by day...

Day 1: we arrive, spend part of the evening at Epcot.

Reese is beyond ecstatic to see her cousins. Georgia and Mary Blake watch out for her in the crowd.


The daddies get conned into shoulder rides! Posing with the kids.


Bain makes faces on the monorail.


R and MB model the beautiful new dresses Poppy got them in "France" at Epcot, G joins in the fun in a pre-dinner pic.



Day 2: Magic Kingdom! We rode SO MANY fun rides this day, can't even list them all. I was extremely impressed that there were so many things for R to ride and do at MK--plenty of stuff for the 4 and under set. And also third trimester visitors.

Posing on Main St. in front of Cinderella's castle.


R & me in front of the mosaic murals inside the castle.


We rode the tea cups!




R met princesses! We got lots of pics of her with Cinderella, but none of her with Belle or Sleeping Beauty...will have to wait on the Disney professional pics on that one.



Sporting the Minnie ears! And the ridiculous Sleeping Beauty bling!


Preparing for It's a Small World, which turned out to be R's very favorite ride. Also, the world's most unflattering angle from which to shoot a photograph.


The girls, regrouping over lunch...


Gigi and Poppy, on the jungle boat ride.


Day 3: Hollywood Studios: we rode a few rides here but the highlights for us were some of the shows. Particularly, the Muppets 3D movie.

Reese tries out Minnie's footprints.


And meets Donald Duck!


That night, we got all dolled up for a big dinner with Prince Charming, Cinderella, and crew, then went off to Mickey's Not-So-Scary HW party.
G as a super cute kitty...


MB, too!


Bain, the tiger Jedi warrior. (Cousins had a really cool feline theme going on)


R, aka Sleeping Beauty, trying not to be late for the big dinner!


Making P-Charming's acquaintance.


A pic with the man of the hour.


And Cinderella, too.


The wicked-stepwomen made an appearance. First, the step-mother with the kids.


then, the guys. (Watch out, D--she's got her eyes on you!)


And one of the step-sisters with G. R refused not only their photograph, but also their autograph!


She seemed a little worried about them coming around to our table, frankly.


After dinner, back to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's par-tay! MK stayed open from 7pm til midnight just for the party. So we rode lots of rides, new ones and favorites. Plus, there was trick-or-treating at various points--lots of fun for the kiddos.
Reese and David rode the race cars--R drove and D worked the pedals--the car was on a track so there was little damage to be done!




R, D and B rode Dumbo's flying ride!


Day 4: Animal Kingdom (aka Mommy stayed at the hotel and got a massage): can't really report much since I wasn't there, just passing along a few cute pics

Daddy and Reese met Pocahontas--a real highlight, according to Daddy. Ahem. I'm surprised there wasn't a pic of the him with P on the camera....


On the safari ride with Gigi and Poppy.


Bain's excited!


The process of meeting Minnie....




Thoroughly Disney-fied....


And darn happy about it!


What a great trip! We had an amazing, fun, fabulous time--almost as much fun as R had! She keeps telling us, "I want to go back to Disney!" Some day, my dear...and last night at bedtime, she told me she was going to have dreams about Disney.
I feel like I'm leaving out so many details, but loading and sorting through those pics wore me out for now. We made so many wonderful memories and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! The Disney experience sure is a wonderful one....