The Great Pumpkin

This past Halloween, Claire was a garden gnome and Gabby was a butterfly.  Claire had no idea what a gnome was before Halloween, but what better way to learn?

The pumpkin that we picked out this year with Nonni and B was huge.  So much so, that we thought if Claire kneeled down, she could fit inside.

Like she enjoyed her first Halloween pumpkin at 3 months....

But we didn't try it out.  Instead, we let the girls carve pumpkins.  They decided to do a spider and a cat.

They lasted about 10 minutes poking holes in their little pumpkin.  Then they moved on to eating pumpkin-colored cookies.  And the next thing we knew they were walking around like ghosts while their father did the carving.

The final result of all of their hard work:

Halloween Party for the Kiddos

My friend, Amy, one of the original 3 amigos, knows how to throw a good halloween party.  And she didn't let being 9 months pregnant stop her this year.

 As always, cute decorations and food.

The kids had a good time eating lunch, playing games (pin the nose on the pumpkin shown here) and we were even given the special treat of watching our most recently trained hula dancer, Jane, put on a talented performance.

PJ & Whitney Visit

Jason's brother, PJ, and his wife, Whitney, recently came for a visit.  We enjoyed their company, although we failed to take more than one photo with them.  One of the days they were in town, we went to Snoqualmie Falls.

While there, we enjoyed brunch at Salish Lodge, which was amazing.  Brunch has always been my favorite meal and this one did not disappoint.  Shown here, Jason enjoys chugging down his Tabasco sauce.

The girls were sad to say goodbye to their playmates, but we hope to see PJ and Whitney again soon.  (Especially since they will soon be adding a little girl to the family!  Hooray!)

A Cookies and Milk Baby Shower

In October, I threw a "Cookies and Milk" baby shower for two wonderful friends of mine who conveniently planned to have their baby girls within a week of each other.  Before you complement me on any of the cute ideas or decor, you must know that I pretty much copied my friend, Marilee on everything.  She always throws the cutest parties and passed along some tips so that I could plan one of my own.  My favorites were the chocolate milk bottles (purchased from Costco and labels removed) with the "Enjoy!" tags seen above.

Jason appreciated the "to go" boxes, so that we were not left with cookie jars full of temptations following the party.  Thanks to the guests that brought homemade cookies!

Me with the guests of honor, Hannah & Amy.

Some of the many friends that joined in on the celebration.

I guess the blonds had to form their own club....

Hannah and Amy enjoyed many great gifts and had a good time with friends!

Pumpkin Patch with Nonni & B

In October, Jason's parents came into town.  The girls always get very excited for them to visit and this time we all went to the pumpkin patch close to our home.

The girls headed straight for the petting zoo area when we arrived, then discovered other strange aspects to the farm, like pumpkin-head scarecrows.

They climbed to the top of a huge tower of hay (well, huge to them).

They became pumpkins and farmers.

They checked to see how they measured up.

They enjoyed their grandparents and each other.  As you can see, my children take photos very seriously.

In the end, we came home with a pumpkin that was bigger than Claire.  It literally weighed more than she does.  But that pumpkin viewing will have to wait until another post....

Colorado

In October, it was time for me to leave home again.  This time for Ouray, Colorado (AKA The Middle of Nowhere) for a friend's wedding.  

Juliana married a great guy named March that she met in medical school years ago.  He is originally from Thailand, so they had a traditional Thai ceremony, which was unique and fun.

The backdrop was beautiful, with water and layers of mountains behind them.

Lucky for me, I recognized one face among the wedding guests - a girl I had met in NYC many years ago, named Amanda.  It was fun to chat with her and the other guests during the weekend of festivities.

The funny thing about Amanda is that the first time I met her, we were eating at a small restaurant in NYC's West Village when Jay-Z and Beyoncé walked in and sat at the table behind us.  You can see them in the background here (might have to click on the photo).

Once Beyoncé realized that she was in our photo, she covered her face.  :)  The poor girl can't even enjoy an evening out to dinner in peace.

It was a random memory, but it felt like a small world to be able to reconnect with Amanda in Colorado many years later.

September Miscellaneous

In September, Jason and I went to the Dave Matthews Band concert at The Gorge Amphitheater.  The views of the Columbia River were breathtaking (though not well captured on my phone's camera).  Dave put on a good show and it brought back some good memories of concerts of the past, but being at The Gorge was our favorite part.
On second thought, my favorite part was watching the 90-year-old woman in front of us dance the whole time.  Her moves were awesome!  I tried to catch some video of it on my phone, but the lighting just didn't do her justice.

Since September was still sunny, the girls and I frequented farmer's markets and even treated ourselves to some delicious gelato one day.  This was one of those random moments when your kids make you laugh.  Claire wanted to feed Gabby the whole time and I savored the moment even more than the gelato.

Gabby had her class bear, Scamper, for a week.  She brought him with her on her outings, including the children's museum with Daddy.  But since Mommy was out of town during most of this, we had to put together a quick photo shoot for Scamper's journal the day before we needed to return him to the school.  Gabby had a fun time being silly.

Welcome to Miami

In September, I took a long overdue trip to visit my friend, Nicole, in Miami.  It was so good to see her, relax in the warm (and sometimes rainy) weather and mostly reminisce.  

While Nicole was saving the country at work my first full-day there, I enjoyed the scenery from her apartment and walked to the beach to enjoy a little sun-filled R&R.

The rest of our time involved a lot of "remember the time we...".  The two of us had so much fun being silly together in our NYC days.  We are convinced that no one else saw us as funny, but we had fun, so that's all that matters!

We were always hanging out with random famous people (pictured below: Robin from Gin Blossoms & Brandon from Jagged Edge).  We have random stories of getting on a tour bus after noticing Usher there, my free birthday party at Jay-Z's 40-40 Club, and getting into all of New York City's elite hot spots without ever paying a cent (and without ever drinking, I might add).  I am not sure how we did it - all I know is it had nothing to do with me and a lot to do with Nicole - but I am so glad that I had someone to create those crazy experiences with.

It was fun to see see Nicole again, bring out some dusty old memories and make even more that we can think back on when we turn 80!

First Day of School / Ballet

I realize that this is a bit anticlimactic since the first day of school was actually two months ago, but here are some pics none the less.   Gabby is now a full-time student.  She goes 5 days a week, from 8:30 - 3:00.  She LOVES everything about school.

After the first photo above was taken, she decided that she had to have a picture taken with her new favorite jacket.  Pink = love.

While Claire was disappointed to not be starting school yet, she was very happy to finally stop watching ballet and start participating herself.

Gabby tries to teach Claire everything she knows.

The true excitement came when Claire was able to join her friend, Reese, and go to their first class!

Japanese Garden

Our family took a little morning visit to the Japanese Garden recently.  Naturally, I had to take a lot of photos of my little gals with this beautiful backdrop.

Gabby & Claire enjoyed feeding the very large fish.

After the gardens, we went for a walk and the girls discovered a less-groomed area that had magical flowers.

 Before departing, how could we not pause to appreciate the best street in the world?