Catch up time

 The girls and I just got back from a fun weekend visiting Amy and Seth in New York.  But before I do a post on that I wanted to catch up on the fall.  So here is our October, November and early December in pictures.

Madeleine and Jim ran in the annual Glendale Firehouse Run

Madeleine getting a manicure and a pedicure at a birthday party.  That was big excitement.

Playing in the leaves and pine needles.  The girls wanted to sweep the leaves up as you can see the broom in the background.

Tommy getting cozy on Gracie's bed.

Picking out our 2012 pumpkins.  This might actually be the best pumpkin patch shot we have ever had.

Trunk or Treat at North Glendale.  The kids had a blast seeing their friends and getting candy at all the cars.

Tommy on Halloween

Hadley's class party... she decided to dress as Princess Merida after she found out another friend was.

Madeleine's class party

Carving pumpkins... Hadley was the only one interested in helping.

Madeleine as Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  

Hadley went back to her original Alice costume for trick or treating.  She had also dressed as Dorothy at the Kirkwood Halloween Walk.

Tommy as the cutest lion.  

Madeleine and her soccer team.  They had a fun season.

Hadley at an ice skating party

Caught this on the camera Thanksgiving morning.  Madeleine said Tommy thought she was the Mommy because he kept bringing her books so I told her to read to him.  He sat right down on her lap.  Then she realized how frustrating it is when he only lets you get through a few pages before he wants a different book 

Tommy on Thanksgiving.  He enjoyed walking LuLu around the house

The girls enjoyed dressing up.  It was a very coordinated effort.

Hadley with my old American Girl doll all dressed up for Christmas. 

Three asleep in the car on the way to the annual Pig Roast at our friends

Madeleine couldn't wait to try and climb a tree there this year after seeing the other kids do it last year.

Hadley found some new friends to ride with on the hayride.  Their blanket must have looked cozy.

Tommy and Jim on the hayride.

Madeleine enjoyed sitting on the back with the other kids

Visit with Santa at the Glendale tree lighting.   This is after he arrived by fire truck.

Tommy was not interested in Santa so Mrs Claus tried to read him a book.

Visit with Santa at Viz breakfast with Santa the next morning.  Tommy was still not interested in Santa but this time I got a picture of it.

The girls loved seeing him though.

Celebrating Uncle Todd's engagement on an unseasonably warm day in December.   Congrats Todd and Maribeth!

This might be our best family picture ever!  We need to pose with Todd and Maribeth more :)

A bike ride in December!  Yes, it was warm enough to wear shorts at 9 in the morning.  Crazy!

Tommy loves the water bottles.

Apple Picking

Finally wrapping up September... the last weekend we went out to Eckerts for apple picking and what they call the fun farm.  The apple picking was a little too late in the season but the girls enjoyed the wagon ride to the orchard and picking a few apples.  Then the real fun began... carnival rides, pig races, a huge tunnel slide built into a hill, a pony ride, a jumping pillow, etc...  It was a fun fall day.

Proud of finally finding a good apple

Stretch... you had a reach pretty high for the good ones.

One of Madeleine's finds

Tommy enjoyed the wagon ride

Eating freshly picked apples on the wagon ride.  Madeleine could probably live on apples.

First ride of the day.  Every time they came around Tommy would get very excited and wave.

Madeleine had really been wanting to a ride a horse.  This was her first pony ride and she was all smiles.

Hadley was a little unsure at first but then loved it.   Tommy even went on a pony but I didn't get a picture because I was holding onto him.

The jumping pillow.  This was a big hit.  Would be a great picture if it wasn't for the two taking pictures in the background! 

Loving the little train

Spinning apples... Tommy ended up going on this too.  He was so upset as we watched them load the apple and the ride attendant said he could ride.  He appeared to enjoy the spinning.

The Happiest Place on Earth

So I'm still way behind and catching up on September.  The girls and I had a very fun trip to Walt Disney World in September!  We met up with Holly, Tara and Abby for a long weekend.  Holly and I have had a bit of bad luck in our recent travels together... Tropical Storm Beryl, Hadley getting sick on a camping trip with a hail storm, 100 degree and stormy camping at Kentucky Lake... but this trip was great.  The only time we got wet was leaving the Magic Kingdom one afternoon.  The girls did great and had so much fun.  It was really neat to take them while they are still so in to the princesses.   I also enjoyed catching up wtih my friends who I don't get to see often enough.  I think Jim and Tommy enjoyed some good bonding at home too :)

First stop, Epcot for breakfast with the princesses.    Neat to see the park before it really opened for the day.

Breakfast with the princesses was definitely a highlight of the trip.  Nothing like seeing Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White at breakfast.  Then they got to do a princess parade where they walked around the restaurant with the princesses and Hadley held Ariel's hand.  She also told Ariel she was her favorite princess.

After princesses, we lined up to meet to Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto... that was 11 signatures and pics before 10 am!

After Epcot in the morning we moved to Hollywood Studios.  We love the Toy Story movies and Madeleine was so exited to the see the Army guys.  She wanted them to move for her but they were in toy mode.

Jake and the Neverland Pirates is one of the girls' favorite shows so it was a nice surprise when they got to meet him.    Then we saw a Disney Junior show that had Jake and the other characters from the show in it. 

Posing for a picture with Mickey's hat.  Holly made the adorable shirts the girls are wearing.

Love the film slide at Honey I Shrunk the Kids, not that the kids know what film or Honey I Shrunk the Kids is.   They did love playing in the play area though.

At the end of the day, we got pictures and autographs with Buzz and Woody. 

The girls also loved riding the parking lot tram.  Who knew that would be such a hit.  

Classic Disney Main Street picture with castle in the background... only way I could get Hadley to participate was by doing silly faces.

While spinning on the tea cups, I spotted Alice and knew we had to meet her as Hadley planned to be Alice for Halloween.  This is Alice explaining to Hadley that it is very important to have the black headband to dress up like her... Thanks Alice, that cost me another $10 at the Disney Store.

Madeleine and Holly on the Dumbo ride. 

One of the girl's favorite rides was Aladdin's Magic Carpets with the spitting camel. 

Our last day started with a morning at Animal Kingdom.  Hadley and Abby had to have the baby Simbas they are holding.

We ended the trip by going back to the Magic Kingdom.  Again a classic Disney shot with some interesting poses. 

The Goofy roller coaster was Hadley's favorite ride.  Unfortunately she was a little too short to go on Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain.   Abby was a tad taller and really enjoyed those rides!   Madeleine didn't like the roller coasters but did love the Buzz Lightyear ride which we went on 4 times.

Waiting for the Main Street Electrical Parade.  The parade and fireworks were a great way to end the trip!

Biking, School and Family

So much to catch up on so I'm going to start with the rest of August.  The end of August meant the beginning of school.  Madeleine started kindergarten at North Glendale and Hadley went back to KECC to start in the Duck room.  The school year is off to a good start for both girls.  Madeleine is really becoming more independent now that she is a kindergartner.  She loves playing outside by herself and is working on her kindergarten spelling.  Hadley is really enjoying being a duck.  I also signed up to be the co-president of the KECC PTO.  It is been a lot of work so far but will hopefully slow down now until after Christmas.   Tommy is busy busy busy.  He loves to climb and run.  He has quite the scream when he doesn't get his way.  It is so fun to see him interacting with the girls and playing more and more.  He also loves to be outside and has started bringing his jacket to you and then going to the front door.

We also got to enjoy a brief visit from Amy and Seth at the end of the month.  They stayed with us while in town for a friend's wedding.  We spent a fun Saturday with them going to the Botanical Gardens and to lunch on the Hill.

Amy and Madeleine at the Botanical Gardens

Hadley at the entrance to the Children's Garden... more playground than garden

Concentrating on walking down the rope ladder

Tommy and Madeleine splashing in the water

Hadley decided to try and take a shower in the water area

These sheep are always a favorite picture taking spot

Hadley and Seth being silly

Madeleine's First Day of Kindergarten 

Madeleine started to get a little nervous at this point and I started to get nervous  that I wouldn't be able to hold the tears in

Saying good-bye to Madeleine by her classroom.   Now she says good-bye to Jim at the crossing guard... already becoming such a big girl

Hadley and one of her teachers on her first day in the Duck room.

Madeleine and me on a Grant's trail bike ride

Waiting at the intersection... looks like they are about to do a family cheer

Hopefully, I will have a chance to share some of our September fun soon.