field trip

First I want to thank my family and friends for making my 35th birthday so special. It was a low key birthday, but in the best way, and I feel so loved.

Last Tuesday I had the honor of accompanying Elise on her first official school field trip. We went to the zoo, and we were all so excited!



Here is one of Elise's new friends, Carsten. She is a precious little girl, and probably has the best manners I have ever witnessed in a 5 year old. They are cute together and have lots of fun! She was Elise's buddy for the field trip and I was the chaperon for the two of them. We had a great day.




First stop- elephants! Elise, Carsten, Reese, and Laura. These four girls wanted to scope out the zoo together, and that is exactly what we did.
After our zoo tour and scavenger hunt we joined the rest of the classes for a picnic under the old oak trees...

One of the highlights was seeing the Sea Lions at feeding time. All of the kids loved that! It was a fun memory to make and I am so grateful that I was able to accompany her on her first field trip!

Halloween (finally)

I am so far behind after a busy and fun filled week, but finally I am making time to post a couple of Halloween pics.

After dance we headed to the Brister's house for trick or treating...As she did last year, Suz had a Halloween feast ready, and awesome decorations...



The Mills and Richardsons were with us as well, and Nick even converted his trailor into a hayride! It was a huge hit! The kids had tons of fun and scored plenty of candy!



It was a great night!!

Halloween Dance

I warned you about an obnoxious number of Halloween posts!!

The girls both had dance on Monday night, and were able to wear their costumes. They prepared a cute little Halloween dance and at the end of their classes performed for the parents.



Lila ready for the Monster Mash...




Her sweet little class...




Elise brought back out the Bee costume for Halloween...here they are taking the stage for their performance...




And her sweet class...she has been dancing with many of these girls for 4 years already! Time flies!

I have to admit I was a little annoyed that they still had class, but in the end it was fine. They had a good time, and they were all dressed and ready for us to head to the Bristers for some trick or treating right after!

Trunk or Treat (#2)

I will have to come back to Saturday, where we had an amazing day filled with celebrations- Monique's baby shower and Grandpa Ray's 85th birthday...somehow I am missing some pictures, but I will definitely track some more down!

On Sunday, we attended our second trunk or treat of the year at Lila and Bennett's preschool. It was a beautiful day, and after the horrendous loss by the Saints we needed some fresh air and some fun!

I must say it was a little more relaxing going to a daytime trunk or treat- it is much easier to keep an eye on the kiddos!



Dunking booths,




hula-hooping,




apple scooping,

animal petting,

more hula-hooping,

football throwing,

smiling,

more smiling,

and friend-finding.....all makes for a VERY good time!

Trunk or Treat (#1)

Friday night we attended the First Annual Trunk or Treat at Elise's school. This is an event they have done for years at the preschool the kids attend, and a couple of the Moms who now have kids at Elise's school decided to start the tradition there as well. Sadly we have never attended any trunk or treat, but now that things are much more manageable we decided this was going to be the year! And, of course, Elise is so in love with her school right now that she doesn't want to miss out on anything school related!
Our friends the Ellefsons are trunk or treat pros, and Stacy was actually one of the chairman of this event. They invited us to join in on their trunk, and we were thrilled to do so. Her second grader, Riley, had the idea to be a swarm of bees...mostly because the 4 "Be" rules are such an important part of their school. These 4 expectations are things that are talked about constantly, and I love that the kids know and love the rules!



Part of our swarm of bees: Lila (so thrilled to be hanging with the big girls!), Riley, Elise, and Reese...




Our little queen bee...




Bee-utiful sisters! :)

Bennett wasn't having anything to do with a bee costume, so he decided to be a soccer player with his Dad....but, hopefully in a few years he'll be embracing the "be" rules as well!

Face painting is always a highlight of any event...

The three amigos- Constance, Elise and Reese. These three LOVE each other. They make me laugh...and Constance and Reese both bring out the silly side of our usually very serious Elise- which I LOVE!

And, of course, Lila is never too far from the big girls....or the fun!

It was a super fun, although super cold night...and we look forward to attending this event in the future!!!

And the Halloween marathon continues....