A Little Fall Fun

This fall has been lovely; temperate weather and no rain. And although things have been crazy around here with the birthday marathon, we have taken the opportunity to get out and enjoy the season.

We bought these great (matching) outfits for the girls and couldn't wait to get them on!

Since last weekend was particularly beautiful, we thought we would head over to Beasley's Orchard for a hayride out to the Pumpkin Patch.

While we were waiting for the hay wagon, Elise had fun playing in the apple crates.

Elise thought this one looked good...

But Hazel taught her that you can't really tell a good pumpkin from a bad one until you sit on it...

These were ok, but Hazel thought she might see some better ones over there.

So Hazel and Elise took off in search of the perfect pumpkin.

"Gee, Dad, this isn't how I thought a pumpkin would taste."

Picking out pumpkins is exhausting work. Good thing Elise was around to snuggle with a sleepy Mommy on the hayride back to the car.

The girls have also discovered one of the classic joys of the autumn. When the leaves start falling off the trees, it is fun to jump in the piles that are formed when Grammy rakes all her leaves into one place.

The girls had fun...

So much fun...

So so much fun...

Here's hoping the warm weather continues for another few weekends!

Hazel's Birthday Weekend

When one turns 3, there is only one way to properly celebrate: Princesses and parties. And, if we can make it last the entire weekend, that would be even better!

To begin with, we need a cake. When asked what type of cake she wanted, Hazel said a princess cake. To many people, this means a sheet cake with a picture of a princess on it. Not to Megan. To Megan, it means, well, let's take a look at the pictures:

The decoration process

The detail work

The finished front

The finished back

And the look of awe!

Friday evening we decided to go out for the first party. We went to Red Robin where we had a tasty dinner. After our burgers, the servers came out, sang to Hazel, gave both girls balloons, and Hazel got a sundae. Not too shabby.

Hooray! Ice cream and balloons!

Lisey got her own fancy cup of milk

And the balloons made it all the way home (they did pop a little later)

Saturday morning, we went to swimming class. It wasn't one of the official birthday parties, but Hazel and Elise still put on a good show for Grammy!

Hmmm....that doesn't sound like much fun...

Ahhh, appropriate foot placement got rid of that problem.

And, this is how we spent the last 20 minutes of our 30 minute class.

When we got home from swimming class, we had a little lunch, and cut into the cake...

and then attacked her presents. She was not left wanting...

Hazel starts slowly...

Then really gets going with a boxful of beads

And culminating with a chest full of dress-up clothes. Her she models her new Snow White dress

Even Lisey is got in on the act with her own princess dress (Thanks Aunt Ann!)

Does this give you an idea of what we have to play with now? Anyone who is interested can come over and play whenever you like!

For the final party of the day, we went to one of Glenn's coworker's house who was having a princess party for her two-year-old.

A fairy godmother and beautiful little princess.

Snow White riding on a royal pony.

And they had a bouncy-castle! Snow White is an expert when it comes to bouncing!

And she is willing to teach her little princess sister!

Our Little Monkey is One

On Friday we had some monkey fun,

'Cause our little Elise was turning one.
Monkey see, Monkey do,
Monkeys like to party too!

Hazel really enjoyed helping me bake Elise's cake.

Elise could hardly wait for the cake to come out of the oven.

I thought the cake came out really well, and it was super tasty!

But we had a lot of birthday to get through before we could dig in to our tasty, tasty cake.

To start our morning off right, I baked banana muffins in monkey muffin cups! They were tasty and they were a Weight Watchers-friendly recipe so Momma could partake too!

After breakfast, we met Auntie Anne and Audrey at the Children's Museum for a fun-filled morning.

We started our visit off with a birthday ride on the carousel.

Then we spent most of the rest of the morning playing with the Barbies in the Barbie exhibit.

While the girls were napping, I decorated for the party. Glenn blew up all these balloons the night before. I always knew he was full of hot air. HA!

Streamers are so much fun!

It was such a cute little monkey party!

Elise wasn't so sure about the party hats.

Everybody else got in on the fun, though!

Grammy bought Elise this Cozy Coupe, and she spent the rest of the night in it.

She opened her presents in it. (Aunt Sarah sent her an Ugly Doll)

A stylin' hat from Aunt Stephanie.

A cookie jar from Aunt Kelly.

An check out these sparkly, blinky shoes from Auntie Anne.

And Momma made this sweet quilt for Elise out of her old baby receiving blankets.

Finally time to break into that yummy cake!

Forks are for wimps. Elise prefers the two-handed shovel method.

I think it's safe to say that the cake was a smashing success!

Right down to licking the fingers.

Hazel loved it too. She got the monkey's ear!