hodgepodge, part 1

I admit.

I've been a total slacker in the blog department.

I have some excuses, including:

My mom arrived and I stopped uploading pics. Plus I got frustrated trying to adjust the picture size in blogger. I've since given up and am waiting for a more patient day.

I promise to do better.

In that effort, I give you 'hodgepodge part 1'... the next few postings will be catching up on all sorts of October/Fall shenanegans. Enjoy.

about two weeks ago, emi decided it was time to start carving pumpkins. we were headed to a pumpkin carving party at our neighbor's house a few days later - so essentially this was a dry run.

like marcus' look of concentration? he'd never carved a pumpkin until a few years ago.

so proud...

some of our many gourds from Riverbend Farms. i was trying out some new settings on my camera... hence the blur.

"A" ordered her this skirt from Gymboree... she loves to dance in it.

pick a 'cabaza'

Sunday we went to Riverbend Farms per the raves of Anne, Kate & Kathryn with our friends Ozlem & Tulu to pick pumpkins. I must say, the recommendation was awesome. There was a petting zoo with all sorts of animals, a fun little country store with hot cocoa (perfect for such a chilly day), slides, a playground area (inside a barn!), and tons of other fun stuff. Despite the chilly weather, the girls did a great job and we were there for 3 hours total (with only a 30 minute nap before) and ended up with some great looking gourds/pumpkins (or as Emilia calls them, 'cabazas.'

a mish-moshy outfit - quito sweater that's too big under a puffy vest from last winter that's, apparently, a little too small. it was cold out though! (it did seem to warm up after a while).

in case you weren't sure about what season we're in...

thanks to the papas for helping the girls 'on the bus'

tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch - think marcus may have enjoyed the ride more? Emilia was not excited to ride, but warmed up to it after a bit.

off to search

alara trying to pick up a pumpkin that probably weighed as much as she does.

pumpkin consultation.

success!

pretty much all we got to see of baby Tuana - she was so toasty in the bjorn and a trooper at only 6 weeks!

ecuadorian/turkish pilgrims

alara was melting at the end of our time on the farm, so Emi gave her a push in her stroller.

someone wanted to line them up.

fachas

it's a good thing none of the 'grans' were around today.

Between the rainy weather and our general squirrely-ness, today we did a little dress-up in preparation for Halloween. Please note the child is wearing a skirt from 'A', and her new rainboots over a pair of pj's. Nice look.

yes, the pjs are from easter.

did i mention the pj top didn't match the pj bottom?

and, as always, there's always time for a dance...

vestido A

with Connor - the birthday girl's big bro. of course i failed to get a pic with riley.

"A" (my mama) made a beautiful knit dress for Emilia over the summer and just this weekend she had the perfect opportunity to wear it. The first baby of the second generation of our playgroup (AKA Sippy Cup Playgroup 2.0) had her first birthday, and as a pal of big brother Connor, Emilia went.

if there's sand, she's in it - what's wrong with us that we don't have a sandbox?

emi was in the worst mood on saturday (thus the scowl) so we had to leave the party early.

Sunday we (Marcus & I) went to the Panthers/Redskins game. As soon as I figure out how to download the pictures onto the computer from my new phone, I'll post them.

misc.

So this post is a hodgepodge of some of the events of the weekend.

Saturday evening we arranged an impromptu visit from Morgan and her mama, Alicia. The girls ran around in the backyard like the crazies they are, then we fed them dinner from Gennaros (the Peruvian chicken place up the street we used for E's bday party). The girls gobbled up the meal and, I'm happy to report, both fell soundly asleep that evening!

posing with the babies.

Sunday we decided to check out this Touch a Truck event up by Lake Norman. We had heard about it from several people, who all reported their kids loved it. We thought for sure Emi would love it too - she's constantly pointing out trucks and buses and looking for both while we're driving.

We were wrong.

If she could have I'm fairly certain Emilia would have gotten herself back into the car and driven home. She hated the cars/ambulances/fire trucks/helicopters and wanted little to nothing to do with them. LIterally i had to force her to get on the few trucks she got on. It makes me so sad that she gets so nervous and shy - so reminds me of me - and I don't want that to hold her back from doing lots of fun stuff in life, so I climbed on the fire truck with her and another couple of buses before we called it a day.

on the fire truck - i swear i have a pic of her smiling... here, not so happy.

this was as close to the tractor as she wanted to get.

loved the gravel - starting a rock collection...

it was kinda hot out.

the rock collection.

So Emilia's got a couple of new obsessions. One of which is her Redskins apparel from Gapa. And I mean really, can you blame her? Hail.

perhaps a lucky jersey - 'skins won today!

Her other obsession is her picnic table from Tia Marga. Tia sent it to her for her birthday and she was all about it for a couple weeks, and then forgot about it. Well, we've rediscovered it. She's all about eating every meal she can out there. It was getting dark while she was finishing her dinner out at the picnic table and she wouldn't come in she loves it so.

picture day!

picture day home pics -proof she can wear a bow - she just chooses not to.

Last week was picture day at Emi's school. The proofs have just arrived. To view them go to www.stjohnphotography.com, select St. John Preschool and then put in her log-in number 082328.