Here comes Thomas!

BOO! What an amazing Halloween we all had, starting with Daddy's jack-o-lantern, which Evie requested we make really scary this year.


On the other side of the scary spectrum, Ellie's cupcake costume! Aw, she looks so sweet I'm getting a sugar high just looking at her!

Evie and Mommy had a fun time trying to get her to laugh for Daddy's photography session.


Then it was off to the Del Ray parade with - SURPRISE - Thomas the Tank Engine! Daddy and Mommy put together the costume using a box, a little spraypaint here, and little decoupage there... and viola! Everyone's favorite train, but Evie's in particular!

And who is her trusty companion?!? None other than Sir Topham Hatt, of course!

Evie was the hit of the parade - everyone recognized her, and would call out "Thomas! Thomas!" Evie began to wave to her fans like a regular beauty pageant contestant. People even came over and wanted to take her picture!

Mommy is attempting to be Lady Hatt, Sir Topham Hatt's wife, but ended up looking slightly like Mary Poppins instead. The parade was fun but the best part was the pumpkin frozen custard from Dairy Godmother.


The next day was Halloween, and the family headed over to Lee Street, an Old Town tradition. Evie was a very good sport about donning her Thomas again (since she said she was a little sore from the day before). But Daddy helped carry the box so it was a little easier, and once she got moving she was unstoppable.


Ba, Opa, and Ellie the cupcake joined the festivities. Ellie was wide-eyed and taking it all in.

Thomas on the go! He's #1!

School Daze

Evie had a fun day at school this week. Here she is dressed to the nines thanks to Ba's fashion sense. Then we got some pictures from her teacher Miss Anahi to get an inside view of her time at school.


Evie takes a break in the reading nook/Comfy Bear corner with some friends.


Evie checks out the pumpkin seeds. She would later bring them home and ask to plant them in the backyard.

Evie and friend Bryn assemble some Halloween goodies.

Looks like it was a big day to take home her artwork!

We ended the week with a special assembly on Friday with "The Great Zucchini" (a magician that was probably more comedic than magical!). Evie had some big laughs and giggles.

Even Ellie and Ba enjoyed the Zucchini's antics...

Pumpkin hunting in New Jersey

What a lovely weekend we had up in New Jersey with Bebe and Popi. First stop on Saturday was a local farm for an ol' fashioned hayride. Along the way to the pumpkin patch we saw many cows, some giant hogs, and goats. Bebe and Evie enjoy the ride above - Evie's favorite part of the hayride was "the bumps!"


Ellie really wanted to go to sleep, but she came along for the ride anyway.

Evie had tons of fun running through the pumpkin patch, looking for the perfect pumpkin. Her first stop was to pick one out for little Ellie - so sweet!

Mommy and Evie are all smiles on their pumpkin thrones!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Evie says. "Time to find a pumpkin before we go on the hayride."


That night we had a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, joined by Aunt Casey, Julianna and Stan. The girls were all smiles! After dinner it was fun to see them play with their baby Ellie's.


Stan loved his spaghetti and meatballs - he showed Uncle Marc how it was done!
Whee! The girls had a great time! Thanks Bebe and Popi!

And the smallest girl was named Madeline... I mean Evie!

Evie is loving her ballet classes! Every week they dress up as a different character and this week it was Madeline. Tres bien!

"Pooh, pooh," says Evie to the tiger in the zoo (that is a favorite line from the book). Actually, today Evie said "Saute!" (a dance move).

Mommy got to stop by before heading back to work - she missed her girls too much to stay away. Ellie is her own little star of the waiting room and is admired by many moms in Ba's fancy outfits.

The October birthdays come to a close with Ba's Birthday

Ba stands proudly before the Happy Birthday banner painted by Mommy and Evie - Evie did the "Happy" and "Ba" in a rainbow of colors. We had fun stamping, gluing, and making some paper lanterns to brighten the festivities.


Opa and Ba pose with the two girls in their matching pink dresses.



We all help blow out the candles for Ba's strawberry ice cream cake.

Even little Ellie gets her first taste of ice cream cake - and she loves it. She will probably soon be eating pizza too.

At the end of the night, Ellie models her new fancy hat. Ba looks like she had a good time and enjoyed the evening!

Rocking Oktoberfest Family-Style

The family headed over to neighborhood joint Rustico to partake in the Oktoberfest-ivities. Ellie was snug as a bug in Daddy's Baby Bjorn.


Evie tried the moonbounce and got her hand painted, but enjoyed the lemonade and cupcake the most (icing only, of course).

Mommy and Evie (and Evie's Baby Ellie) take a break.

Next to the parking lot was a train track, and Evie said she was going on a hike!


What an adventure - she and Daddy found a real railroad spike.

Daddy is special today!

Ellie is excited because October 9 is a special day in the Foelsche-McDonald household - it's Daddy's birthday! As you can see, our little girl is getting really good at sitting up - here she is in her lounging position on the Boppy.


After scones from Firehook, we headed to the waterfront to see the Godspeed, a replica merchant schooner in town from Yorktown.

Evie rings the bell. She liked pretending she was a pirate - a captain, of course.


She pumps water and takes a break from "swabbing the deck clean" (from a pirate song on her favorite CD).


Later that night, Evie assisted with opening Dad's gifts. Here is a present from the girls - Evie picked this out because she loves Olivia and Dad loves the circus.

The family is all smiles!

Evie helps Daddy blow out the candles of his pumpkin cheesecake.


Now the whole family pitches in!



Ellie has been trying all weekend to taste her toes - looks like she finally succeeded Sunday night!

Fun at the Fire Station

This Saturday we celebrated Levi's birthday at the Centreville Fire Station - Levi is a huge fan of fire trucks. Here, Mommy and the girls get a close look at one of the fire trucks.


Evie got to walk through the actual fire truck and look at the backpacks, airtanks, flashlights and helmets. Later we also saw a fireman get dressed in his uniform and learned that it's better to sleep with your door closed.

Evie turns her face up to the sky as the firemen demonstrate the "deck gun" by pumping water into the sky, all by remote control. Bet Evie wish she could get her hands on that remote!

This expression says it all. At the end, we got sprinkled with water mist - luckily it was a warm day.


Evie checks out the spinning lights on the front of the fire truck.