who says you have to wait for Halloween

to wear a darling pumpkin costume?

or wear a hat like Mini Mouse and pretend you're a cartoon?

Riley is dressed up as a chicken with some flair

while performing in a play at the Puyallup fair

Riley the monkey is quite proud of the banana on her arm.

and enjoys makes monkey sounds just like an alarm.

Doesn't Emma look like she's ready for the ball?

My darling princess running up & down the hall

Sometimes dressing up a little bit ...and striking up a pose
can be more hilarious than most people can know

Do we dress up for the holidays? Of course we do.

and on more than a few

But who says Halloween is the only day to wear costumes?

Maui: the middle saga

So everyone's been asking about our trip and it was fabulous. Here are the rest of the details. (Warning: long post, lots of pictures!)
roll:
In case you don't already know everyone (from left to right): Grandma & Grandpa, Meredith & Steven (mike's brother & his wife), Morgan (mike's sister), Mike, Riley, me & Emma

the siblings

so excited to go to the coolest kid pool ever

Riley had so much fun at this pool and so did we!

First day at the beach (well first beach away from the hotel):
"I'm about to eat sand...is anybody going to stop me?!?"

"Don't stop me now"
This is her first sand experience and Emma is all in. After mere minutes in the sand, she dumped a whole bucket of it over her head, so we went for a swim.

This beach was just southeast of Lahaina, Maui, and it came with it's own built in kiddie pool. Full of salt water, just about 3 feet deep, sheltered from the surf and waves.
(we even saw a 1 year old boy surfing with his dad. Yup, standing up on a surf board--naked!)
But it also had great waves. Riley was hesitant at first....

then once she got used it with grandpa's help, she LOVED it!!

Thanks to Karen for staying with girls so we could have a night out.

We were pretty excited!

Morgan & Ron had a daddy-daughter date. We're really sad her husband couldn't join us on this trip, but he just started dental school and is in midterms and couldn't get away. Mike can sympathize. We're lucky Karen could schedule the trip when we weren't in school too! Not an easy job.

We went to Warren & Annabel's Magic Show and had a blast! His tricks and card skills were amazing and Steven and Meredith we participating the whole time (pick a card, remember your card, etc) and he really picked on Steven the whole night, relentlessly. But Steven took it well and made the show that much better for us.

Steven & Meredith with Warren.

Another day at the beach:

lots of sand burying

brave Daddy!

Riley was in sand heaven!

Later at Roy's (one of my favorite restaurants we go to every year)

pictures too cute, not to post!

We tried giving Emma some Poi, she struggled and squawked like this at most restaurants, but it's a lot to expect from a baby.

We even tried the Melting Pot for the first time--so much food!

love these pics!

Lots of swimming. We've had Riley in swim lessons for a few months without any improvement (or even match) of Riley's water skills she's displayed in Grandma's pool, but after a few minutes with Uncle Steven...

even under water and closer and closer to really swimming!!

Uncle Steven made everything seem cool and Riley would do things for Steven she wouldn't usually do for just Mike and me. even try new foods. Thanks Steven!!

Meredith played and swam with the girls a lot and they LOVED IT!!

One evening when getting ready to go out to dinner Riley was surprisely cooperative when I started to do her hair so we had fun giving her a fun hairdo style for the evening.

Feeling pretty picture with Auntie Morgan.

The grandparents that made our trip to paradise happen.

Thanks for bringing us along and planning such a fabulous trip. We are so lucky and grateful! Thank you!!

The last night in Maui. Great times.

first day of preschool, or first day of freedom?

Today was Riley's first day of preschool and we were so excited. We definitely don't have attachment issues so there were no tears or concern of any kind as Michael and I left. I'm so excited for all the experiences she'll have and friends she'll make and ways she can play there that she can't at home. Her teacher is wonderful and really lets the kids have fun (which is her primary goal) and teaches social problem solving skills and all sorts of stuff. I got to go to the store today with just Emma -- what a breeze! I'm excited for the independence that preschool with allow Riley and me and also the one on one play time I can have with Emma. Here is a short video to document the excitement:

I love how she thinks there is a prize. We've been working with Riley to learn her letters and she was smart enough, but never interested in working on them so we tempted her with a prize (a letter/word learning video). Now with new learning experiences she's really excited to tackle them and she keeps thinking there will be a prize. (Just what a mom wants: a child that needs to be bribed to do anything, even learn..) Luckily, she only brings it up in the planning stage and doesn't seem disappointed that no additional prizes materialize. Can I just brag a little bit? (what's new, right?) Riley did learn all her letters and their sounds in less than 2 weeks. She even has a dance for the W (think rap):

My girl is growing up and it is so much fun to watch and enjoy all these fun stages and experiences. What a big girl! I'm so proud!!!

just walking

At 10 months (and 1 week), Emma is a walker!! It's hard to decide the exact time a child starts to walk, but last week she would only do 1-3 steps some of the time, until tonight!
This was her last week in Maui


and tonight at Monica & Nate's, she did this!!


We are so excited and proud!
(sorry the videos are long, but you never know exactly when she's gonna do it so we just kept the camera rolling!)