Santa and his 2 reindeer

This Saturday we had a company family Christmas party at a nearby hotel.  I love this event - it's completely over-the-top and perfect for young kids.  They had jugglers, face painters, balloon animals, hills of fake snow for sledding, and the kid highlight - gingerbread houses with a candy bar.  After brunch and some photos inside, I waited in the very long line for pictures with Santa.  

While I waited, Cas took the kids to visit one of the two live reindeer - 

Collin bravely sledded down the big hill -

 

 And then it was our turn with jolly Ole St. Nick and we got this little gem of a photo.

I had been talking with a co-worker inside and she remarked how her daughter was scared of Santa and she didn't want to be that parent taking photos of their screaming child in front of everyone.  Maya was fine the whole line, and we had been prepping her on how she'd sit next to Collin.  He's grabbing her hand trying to calm her but she wasn't having it.  So we snapped a photo and then I climbed in the sleigh with Cas next to it for a family shot, and Maya immediately calmed down.  As soon as we were out of the sleigh, she was waving and shouting, "bye Santa!"  She's just not a fan of grown-ups in costume (Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Chucky Cheese, etc)!

Before we left, we snapped a few more by the Christmas tree - 

 

My sweet boy with some his mouth full of gingerbread candy!

Another great Christmas party.  Maybe next year, Maya and Santa will be friends!

Waldo, Elsa and Spider-Man

The week before Halloween, Collin's class had character dress up day.  I showed Collin lots of examples online, but he chose Waldo.  Easy enough, an $8 purchase on the internet and we were set.  His school has "family Fridays" where we can walk the kids to their class, so Maya and I came along to snap a few pictures before he started his kindergarten day.  

She's always happy to skip into his elementary school, despite her expression here!

Our Waldo came home excited about the compliments he received throughout the day.

On the Friday before Halloween, our church had a trunk-or-treat.  Members provided games out of the trunks of their cars.  We kept the Waldo theme going, and hid Waldo among the tons of stuffed animals our kids own. We invited the community that lives near our church, and our kids had a blast eating too much candy and playing on bounce houses while I almost lost my voice by the end of the night conducting our trunk game.  

Our game was to hide a small Waldo under one of three plastic cups, and then spin the cups around to see if they could find Waldo.  Children who played our game thought they were going to win a stuffed animal and were always a little disappointed with a Hershey bar!  Plus those eight year olds are good - at least half the time I had no idea where Waldo was in the cups I was spinning, and yet they picked him at least 80% of the time!

After a crazy rainy Friday night and all day Saturday, the rain stopped just in time for trick or treating.  We once again crashed our friends' neighborhood with the best block party.

Spider-Man and Elsa.  This is probably the 25th time these have been worn in the last few weeks.  My kids love dressing up, which means we have Elsa glitter EVERYWHERE!  And we had a panicked search for the Spider-Man mask minutes before we were supposed to leave, since it's been worn and taken off in various rooms throughout our home a few times each day.

Maya wore her dress the Friday before Halloween to a fairy tale ball at her school.  She told me that after I put on the dress I should tell her, "Beau-ti-FUL!" in a loud, singing voice.  Clearly this one does not have a self-esteem problem!  And clearly we tell her how beautiful (and smart and strong and silly) she is ALL THE TIME! 

Maya was not a fan of the witch that made noises, but Collin was game to pose with it -  

We walked down the street to the block party, full of pizza, chicken nuggets, snacks and desserts.  Collin made a bee-line for the doughnut game (you're not supposed to use your hands, cheater)!

Here's most of the gang of kids.  The cul-de-sac where they meet is across the street from my great aunt and uncle's old home, so I grew up visiting the neighborhood.  As an adult, I am so jealous of how well the neighbors know one another and what a sweet group of families live here.  Luckily, we've been able to meet several through their schools and church.  Collin again saw lots of kinder and soccer friends, and my kids (front row) are sitting in between some friends from church and two of Maya's friends from pre-school.

Walking along, lollipop in mouth.  She wasn't the fastest trick-or-treater, but she ate the most candy.

Stopping along the route for a photo opp.  The homes near the block party starting point have families sitting on their driveway, so their jack-o-lanterns were filled with minimal walks up to front doors.

Another lollipop!

Collin didn't touch his candy until we got home, but he did have fun with his glow stick / weapon.

Thankful for these beautiful ballerinas and their wonderful family that invited us allowed me to invite ourselves to join them for Halloween again.

We stopped by three homes in our neighborhood once we got home, but one of our neighbors invited us inside and we got to meet his family more than we had in the three years we've lived on our street!  Halloween 2015 was a great night with friends, fun meeting neighbors, and a sugar-filled evening with Spider-Man and Elsa!

Fall Festival

I haven't been doing a great job lately of taking photos, and I've been doing a worse job of posting them on the blog.  But a few weeks ago, the park near our home had their annual Fall Festival.  It was even more fun this year because we knew several families from soccer and elementary school, which is helping me feel more connected in our neighborhood and community.

Collin greeted several other kindergartners, and Maya followed him all around.  At the bubble machine - 

Stopping for a fro-yo break -

Intense about her desserts!

Maya was not a fan of the fire truck -

Collin decided on his own to move some pumpkins for a better photo scene -

He also felt like he and Maya needed to hold some.  His photography vision paid off!

We love our sweet kids and are so grateful for how much they love each other!

Collin's first soccer goal - and the rest of his Saturday full of "highs"

On Friday morning, Collin's school had their first performance - just a few weeks into the school year, and they had learned enough songs in their music class for a patriotic performance.  Kindergarten through second grade sang in the first round, and Collin donned his red, white and blue to sing "Yankee Doodle," "My Country Tis of Thee," "Grand Old Flag" and more.

Maya, clutching her raisins which we brought to keep her quiet, proudly watched and waved from the benches.  The cafeteria was packed with kids, parents and siblings.  

Also on Friday, we finally experienced some fall weather, and we took full advantage.  I had to work, but was able to meet Cas for a lunch date on a patio.  After I picked the kids up from school, we grabbed my grandma, went to a park, and then we met Cas again at an outdoor patio, this time with the kids in tow, for dinner.  

Saturday morning Collin had a birthday party, so Maya and I played for 2 hours at his elementary school playground.  While Maya napped, Collin had a soccer game.  He was cheered on by Grammy and Great Grandma "B." 

And Grammy, B, and I witnessed Collin's first goal.  It was remarkable.  He was slightly in shock that no one stole the ball from him, and he made a great kick into the corner of the goal.  His expression afterwards was priceless - a mixture of surprise and wonder with happiness and pride.  Most of the game we were yelling at him to run toward the ball, but his goal was a shining moment on Saturday!

Doing "fast feet" on the field to try and be ready for the ball his teammate was gearing up to kick -  

After the game, the parents from both teams form a tunnel for all the kids to run under, so Grammy and B joined the cheering tunnel -

Proud of Collin -

We celebrated his first goal with a trip to a cupcake bakery.  Then B went to church, and my mom met us back at the elementary playground.  

Glowing sun, crazy hair, on the swing -

In the morning, Maya tweaked a game she played with Cas and me where we pretend we're sleeping and she startles us awake, and then we tickle her.  We found a bench on the playground where we'd take turns sleeping, the other running around the playground and then waking the sleeper.  She'd instruct me before she took a nap, "tunnel, slide, good job, Mommy."  She wanted to play in the afternoon, while my mom took pictures of the action.  Waking me up -

 Surprise -

Talking Collin into the game, what a good sport he is!

Maya's turn, sleeping with a grin on her face -

The lighting was gorgeous for pictures, but my kids were busy snacking or sipping water -

Then Collin starting blowing raspberries, and his copycat sister followed suit -

Collapsing for tickles and giggles -

Silly boy -

And our silly girl - after church with her over-the-top cheese face -

On Saturday night when we were running through "highs and lows" of the day, Collin said it was one of his best days yet - birthday party, Dave and Busters with Cas, soccer, goal, cupcake, Grammy and B going to his game, going to the playground, and then dinner at yet another restaurant patio complete with a popsicle for dessert.