Halloween Season

The Halloween celebrations are wrapping up this week. It's a good thing - the Halloween cd I have is about worn out (songs like Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, Thriller, etc.). Natalie & Owen want to listen to it at all times! But we've had a lot of fun. Last weekend we got back into routine (from vacation) with ballet and gymnastics, and we went to a neighborhood realty office "pumpkin patch" to get a couple of pumpkins. Nat & Owen had a hard time deciding, but we got a couple of good ones. Henry even got into it. Natalie was very excited to see two of her old Esperanza friends who've moved to another pre-K program. We also enjoyed some late afternoon walks around the neighborhood to check out Halloween decorations. Our favorite are the giant spiders all over the house a couple streets down. That Saturday night, Nat & Owen had a Rainbow Kids babysitting night, so Ike, Henry, and I did a little shopping. Last week was busy with work as usual. Last Wednesday, Henry started taking some steps on his own. He'll walk holding your hand, but this was the first time on his own. He did it 3 or 4 times that evening and we've been working with him since then. This past weekend was jampacked. On Friday night we had the school Halloween Carnival. It was a really good time! Natalie & Owen did a lot of the game booths, rode the rides, and of course enjoyed the DJ and dancing. Owen was enamored of Rescie in her princess/bride costume - check out the look on his face! Natalie showed off her dance moves, and we had several parents comment to us about her talent. She's something. On Saturday Natalie wore her costume to ballet and they had a little performance for the parents. Sat afternoon I took Natalie to a friend's birthday party at an indoor amusement park. They even had an indoor rollercoaster! It was a good time. We sat in the little photobooth to have silly pictures taken, got our fortune from the Great Zoltan, played various skill games, and did a race car driving game together (Nat steered and I worked the pedals) - we came in first! Sat night, our favorite babysitter, Cynthia came and Ike & I enjoyed dinner out and a movie. Sunday morning we went to the Halloween event at the zoo with Karien, Kevin, Allison, and their Natalie. The kids painted pumpkins, rode the carousel (it was Henry's first time!), colored masks, did a hula-hoop game, and we saw the animals. After lunch, Ike went to the Texans game with a friend who got tickets in his company's executive box. They enjoyed themselves. So we have been worn out and we are now getting ready for trick or treating on Friday night.

Savannah Vacation

Last week we went on our Fall vacation to Tybee Island and Savannah. We had postponed our Savannah hotel accomodations back in August when we headed home early from our vacation to get ready for Tropical Storm Eduoard. We picked October at the time. When we got home, we decided rather than go to Savannah for a quick weekend, we would extend our visit and check out Tybee Island. So we rented a house at the beach. Although the weather didn't cooperate (we had a lot of wind and rain), we had a great time. There were a few sunny periods and we were able to have some beach time and check out the Pirate Festival happening on Tybee. We were in a great location, and we saw dolphins every day. Our friends Jon and Amanda and their little girl, Ava, came down from Charleston to visit. Natalie & Owen had a blast with Ava, and it was great to see Jon & Amanda. On Friday, Grandpa Tom & Grandma Phyllis arrived - the timing matched Grandpa's birthday, so they came to celebrate with us. Over the weekend, we had some beach time (we even had a full rainbow and double rainbow after one of the storms) and we went to see the Pirate Festival parade and check out the hot rods and classic cars. Natalie and Owen really enjoyed splashing around in the ocean, and we had a lot of beach races. On Monday we headed into Savannah. We really liked it there. The weather cleared up and it was sunny for our walking activities. We went to River Street and walked through countless squares around the city. On Tuesday we headed home and we've been adjusting back to our normal routine around here. Now we are getting ready for Halloween. I've been getting decorations out and Natalie & Owen are very excited.