Halloween in the 'Hood

Welcome to our humble home, lit up with Halloween luminaries.  And who could that be rockin' on the porch to greet our guests? 

Why, it's our friendly missing pumpkin head man, Mr. Jack!  The girls proudly stand by their creation - Evie sketched out the face for the jack-o-lantern for Daddy, but unfortunately during the carving process many teeth were lost, whittling him down to 3 teeth.  Ellie helped stuff our man with newspapers, and Mommy added the mustache to the jack-o-lantern as the final touch.  

Ellie is ready for her last tour as Rapunzel - "Best Day Ever!" she yells, with chameleon Pascal nodding in agreement. 

Evie loved spreading her wings (and wrapping them around her to keep her warm). 

We gather at the neighborhood kids for a group pix - Abigail, Leena, Ella, Evie, Jack, Cole and Ellie all dressed in our Halloween finest!  

Leena gives rabbit ears to two unsuspecting girls!

Jack may have actually not have been as welcoming as we thought - one parent told us his toddler was too scared from last year to come up to the house... whoopsie. Well, it is the scariest night of the year, after all! 

6th Annual Del Ray Halloween Parade

It's our 6th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade! Well, the parade itself is longer than six years, but we've only been attending for six parades since Evie was born.

Mom spent several weeks working on Evie's spectacular swallowtail butterfly costume.

It was worth every minute! Amazing!

Ellie, on the other hand, spotted her costume many weeks ago on a trip to Costco. Once she saw it was Repunzel, she immediately declared the outfit her Halloween getup.  She received the hair from Aunt Casey for her birthday a few months ago, and that pulled the entire customer together. Notice the homemade Pascal on Ellie's shoulder. Impressive pipe cleaner sculpture Mom!

The girls show off their costumes together before everyone heads out to Del Ray Alexandria for the world's, okay, Alexandria's largest Halloween parade!

Mom and Dad get into the spirit too. First up is mom as a butterfly garden!

Next up is Dad as the lantern-filled sky from "Tangled."

Garden and butterfly coming through! (caption by Evie)

Happy Ellie... check inside her mouth! (caption by Evie)

Little princess getting bored; butterfly not paying attention. (caption by Evie)

Yummy popcicle and ice cream! (caption by Evie)

"Why do I have to go to the car? I want to go to the playground!" (caption by Evie)

A Picnicking We Will Go

The family took advantage of a beautiful fall Saturday to go a-picnicking with Ba and Opa to celebrate Ba's birthday.  We found a shady spot under an apple tree and enjoyed a cheese picnic and Dad's signature tomato mozzarella sandwiches. 

Ellie delighted in "relaxing" on top of Opa. 

Final stop was a trip on the "Ghost Train" which the girls were very excited about. 

Evie all grown up - this picture reminded us of the time she went to see Thomas when she was two.  Trains never get old! 

Ba and Ellie enjoy the characters dressed in costumes - witches, little mermaid, and pumpkins oh my! 

Was that a ghost I saw? 

Then, it was back to Ba and Opa's to celebrate with gifts and cake.  The girls were especially proud of their hand-painted cards and pottery they created to add to Ba's gallery and art collection. 

Per family tradition, everyone helped blow out the candles before digging into some delicious Pastries by Randolph chocolate mousse cake. 

Dad's Birthday Weekend

Last week was Dad's birthday and he had the best birthday ever!

Evie and Ellie are hanging out with Dad as he begins his gift opening ceremony. Evie shows off the beautiful picture she made that shows off her and Dad -- nice pants Dad and nice hair Evie!

The girls and Mommy put together an elaborate birthday card modeled after their favorite iPad with a surprise under all the apps.. leading Dad through a scavenger hunt of his gifts.

The girls were delighted to watch their birthday video for Daddy on the blog.  If you think that's funny, wait to you see the outtakes!

Time to blow out the candles!  Ellie puts in a little extra stretch to reach Dad's cake. Evie, meanwhile, was taking her own photos.

That weekend it was time to head up to NJ to visit with Bebe and Popi.  With beautiful weather Evie and Ellie wanted to head to the beach.  Though we said we weren't going to play in the sand and water... well...

Ellie was trying to build a little sand castle and was getting quite messy in the process.

Evie and Bebe enjoy the views as they look over the ocean. It looks like Evie has an idea...

Time to test the water. Ellie figures if her sister can check out the ocean then she can too.

Both girls are playing with wet sand and trying to see how far they can throw it. Those smiles are mostly excitement with a touch of naughty.

Uh oh, the waves are getting a little larger. I think the girls believe they must be stuck in a riptide as they travel parallel to the shore.

With the waves rolling in, time to head back to the safety of dry land (though with very wet pants and a wet jacket for Ellie).

Ellie wistfully thinking about summer.

Must be quite a wave that's coming at her!

Finally, time to head back home.

While Ellie puts on her shoes before we head home, she enjoys a little taste of the beach.

Happy Birthday, dear Daddy!

The girls put on their best performance for this birthday video for their loving (and much loved) Dad.  Of course they put their Foelsche-McDonald debonair flair in it!