Halloween 2013

Its safe to say that Halloween 2013 was very different than Halloween 2012. Last year Amelia had no idea what was going on. We dressed her in her adorable (handmade by me!) ghost outfit and paraded her to a Halloween play date, my office and to my moms to "trick or treat" and hand out candy...and that was it. She was of course the cutest ghost in all of Spartanburg, SC (neigh the world!) but the holiday meant nothing to her and therefore wasn't that big of a deal for us. This year on the other hand... now that's another story!

Our Ghost Halloween 2012

We began our holiday festivities with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch and our neighborhood Pumpkin Picking Party (again, love our new neighborhood!) to select the perfect pumpkins for carving!

We got right to work making a mommy, a daddy and an Amelia pumpkin. Mine didn't turn out exactly as planned but it worked in the end. We set out our pumpkins along with the rest of our Halloween decorations and enjoyed lighting them every night.

We went back and forth between Minnie Mouse and Ariel for our outfit of choice. I really wanted to find her an Ariel costume as she simply fell in love with the movie and character and songs at first glimpse but I wasn't finding a costume I liked and Mary Ann found a very affordable, very adorable Minnie Mouse so we went with it! On the Saturday before Halloween we dressed Amelia in her costume and loaded up the wagon to take her around our very large block to trick or treat. We thought this would be just the right amount of Trick or Treating for a two year old and we would be able to get back to the house to hand out candy for the rest of the night. We had no idea how Amelia would react to Trick or Treating but basically as soon as she discovered you received candy if you went to these strangers houses and said the magic words ("Trick or Treat") she was all in. After a few houses we didn't even have to remind her what to say! She loved every minute of it and also enjoyed sitting on the front porch passing out candy to the droves of kids ... and teenagers...hmmm...who came to our neighborhood to get the good stuff! She essentially spent the night...and several days and nights after asking for candy and telling us she "needed" it. Holy cow! I can't tell you how many times I said to Eric, "Remember when Amelia didn't know what candy was? Those were the days..."

Our last Holiday celebration was with our Moms Group. We took the kids to Trick or Treat at a local Assisted Living Home. Again, she did great, she loved it, she begged me to eat candy for hours! :)

Overall Amelia, and Eric and I, had an awesome Halloween experience. Cant wait for next year!

Fall Fun

This Fall we did two things I have always been excited about doing with kids. Apple Picking and Pumpkin Picking! We did both events with our Moms group and had such a great time.

First up was Apple Picking. We drove out to a local orchard, it wasn't too fancy or exciting but the apples were ripe and ready. I did most of the picking and Amelia did most of the eating but she did get in on the action a bit!

Next we headed to Jim's Pumpkin farm for a hay rack ride to pick our own pumpkin. Amelia loved the ride and loved checking out all of the pumpkins before picking just the right one. Before and after the ride we took advantage of all the fun at the pumpkin patch. There was mini John Deere tractor rides (this one's for your Grandpa and Great Grandpa), wooden horse riding and just plain running around and having fun.

We did make one more Apple Orchard trip before fall was over. We met Lisa Anderson and her girls Ella and Ava at Apple Holler just south of Milwaukee. Now this place has it all, animals of all sorts, corn mazes, apple picking but most importantly APPLE CIDER DONUTS! We had a blast and of course took some donuts home!

Fall is the best!

Life lately...

So this summer was kind of crazy and I basically dropped the blogging ball but I'm trying to get back in the swing so I thought I would do a quick recap of our crazy summer!

Over Memorial Day weekend my mom and Mark visited for a long weekend. It was so fun showing them the city we have come to love! We went to the Zoo (with Lauren, Freddy and Nora!) and the Children's Museum, we ate good food and we enjoyed their company. Apparently I took zero pictures...

In late May/early June we moved out of our 3rd Ward apartment, moved briefly into a hotel, packed up our South Carolina house and closed on and moved into our Wisconsin house. Wow! To say it was a crazy couple of weeks would be an understatement! Thankfully we had a lot of help from my mom and Mark while they visited during the transition between the apartment and the hotel and then from Bob and Mary Ann for the transition into the new house. Amelia is so lucky to such amazing grandparents!

We pretty much spent June unpacking our house. We also enjoyed Strawberry Festival in Cedarburg.

During July I volunteered for Legal Aid Society of Wisconsin in the Guardian Ad Litem program and Bob and Mary Ann took turns staying with us for several days at a time to watch Amelia. Again...what would we do without these people?!? We enjoyed our first Cedarburg 4th of July parade....they sit out on their chairs a day in advance! I was sworn in to the Wisconsin Bar on July 19th. I ran the Milwaukee Color Run with great new friends Shannon and Lisa.  We also experienced our first Summer Fest in Milwaukee.

In early August I headed a bit north to the French Rabbit Cottage to celebrate Abby's bachelorette weekend. We had way too much fun...  Then in mid august my mom came to stay for almost two weeks! We worked on projects around the house, we played, we ate, we attempted potty training (more on that soon I promise). We just enjoyed time spent with each other. Again...I apparently took no photos! Grr!

Late August/September brought about SO MUCH travel. After a spectacular night at the Milwaukee County Zoo for the Charter Steel Company picnic we drove to DSM, then to Kansas City for a baby shower for Becah and 30th birthday celebration for Amy.  Then over Labor Day weekend we went to Chicago for a comedy festival with Tyler and Lisa Anderson. The next weekend we headed back to Chicago for Eric to golf in a charity golf tournament while Amelia and I hung out with the Anderson ladies. Somewhere in there we spent an afternoon in Chicago with the Texas Becks and Abby and Laz! Amelia fell absolutely in love with Charlotte! Amelia also enjoyed her first Brewer's game!

The next weekend we took out little crew to Ames, IA for the Iowa/Iowa State football game. The Wagner's toted around Amelia so we could hang out with our friends. We played some bags...did several shot skis and all around had a great time cheering on our alma mater...even if we did lose!

Amelia and I spent the week in DSM then traveled with the Wagner's to Chicago for Abby and Laz's wedding and that about brings us up to date!

What a summer! Can't wait for the next adventure!

Abby + Laz

So much to catch up on from our busy busy summer....

Last weekend we headed to Chicagoland for Abby and Laz's wedding! It was such a beautiful, family filled weekend. Amelia got her first manicure, we ate, we drank, we danced and we enjoyed this wonderful opportunity to spend a weekend with family and friends. Abby and Laz could not have planned a better day. The weather was perfect and everything turned out amazing...Amelia didn't quite make it down the aisle but she looked darn cute running the opposite way! Congratulations Abby and Laz! (I stole most of these pics from Facebook because I was in the wedding! Thanks guys!)

Amelia's first manicure

"Look mommy"

Moments before her big escape...

How she spent the ceremony...thank you Pat!