October has been one FUN, FULL month. We started off the month with a family vacation (including my parents) in Florida. Our first stop was Cocoa Beach. The weather could not have been more perfect. The beach had quite a bit of seaweed, but when it was low tide there was tons of beautiful seashells to find, sandcastles to build, and body surfing to do.
Macy was not such a fan of the big ocean waves, and she wasn't quite sure how to feel about sand either. She definitely enjoyed being a part of everything though.
Lexi combing the beach for shells...
Aubrey catching a wave boogie boarding.
Cole and Grandpa body surfing.
Lexi just flew on the waves with a little push start. She was so lite that she caught virtually every wave she tried.
Clara could have spent the entire week playing on the beach.
Cole in the waves.
Our merman and mermaids.
After a few days at the beach we headed inland to Orlando. Dave had a conference near Disney World so we stayed with him at one of the resorts near by. Our first stop was the kids face painting station. Lexi wanted to be a tiger, Cole is an aerodactyl (a kind of Pokemon), and Clara wanted a Pikachu (another kind of Pokemon - Cole has been teaching her all about them).
That evening we headed to the pool (probably not the smartest order of activities, hence the running face paint and scary looks). Macy liked the calmer waters of the beach entrance much better than the actual ocean though.
Macy has recently learned how to hug and kiss, and she's like a tiger herself when she decides to give you one. Best hugs ever.
Cole didn't fly quite as high as the girls...;-)
Next stop - Magic Kingdom, Disney World!
Our first encounter was with Alice, from Alice in Wonderland. She told us a good joke: What is the Mad Hatter's favorite kind of tea? Insani-tea!
Dumbo was Macy's first ever ride. She was brave, but definitely a littler nervous.
The kids loved being able to drive their own cars.
Doesn't this picture just scream, "Driving in the fast lane!"?!
Meeting Cinderella was one of the highlights for the girls. Cole claimed he didn't care about meeting her, but he turned bright red when she gave him a hug!
Macy wanted to give Cinderella a hug too!
Elena of Avalor was another exciting friend to meet!
Almost like clockwork it down-poured on us every afternoon for a little bit, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Florida is usually not sweltering in October, but it was in the 90's and very humid while we were there.
Meeting Daisy Duck.
Meeting Minnie Mouse.
Meeting Goofy.
Meeting Donald Duck.
Cole was the lucky recipient of a free giant pretzel. His shirt says it all...
The kids got to do a cute play acting out the story of Beauty and the Beast with Belle.
I love this picture of Clara and Lexi - happy sisters meeting princesses together.
Meeting Mickey Mouse.
Space Mountain - here we go!
Lexi was so brave on the Mt. Everest roller coaster. I think she was more afraid of the Yeti than she was of the actual ride.
Meeting Pluto.
Meeting Goofy on the street.
Sometimes it was easier to carry Macy and let Clara ride in her seat in the stroller...
We had fun feeding the birds until we were caught by a park employee - whoops.
We spent one of the days at the Blizzard Beach water park. It was overcast (but still warm), and we practically had the place to ourselves. Dave's favorite was the summit plummet. He's at the very top of the slide in this picture.
This is Dad at the bottom of the Summit Plummet. He clocked in at 49 MPH down the slide.
Dave had a little more mass than everyone else and made it down the toboggan races first.
Mom and Dad sent us this poster-board-size thank you card with all of our favorite things on it, including: the beach, riding the monorail, airplane rides, playing battleship, splash mountain, the summit plummet, the bugs life video, a lazy river, Cinderella's castle, pineapple dole whip, and Mt. Everest, with a Yeti.
Despite the entire family catching several different bugs and being sick for over two weeks when we got home, life went on after vacation. Other happenings in October included Cole earning his blue belt in karate.
He also competed in a karate tournament, doing the short stick free flow and sparing.
He earned a gold for his short stick free flow and a silver in sparing.
Soccer finally came to an end in October as well. The kids enjoyed it, but let's just say I think that's the last time we will be enrolling three kids in it at the same time. It was too much for Mommy and Daddy.
Happy 8 months to sweet baby Macy! This picture was taken at more like 8 1/2 months, but she is still the happiest baby ever. She has two teeth on the bottom now (they came in around 7 1/2 months), is finally starting to fit into her 6-9 month clothes, sleeps a good 10 hours at night and absolutely loves her siblings.
The kids entered their school's pumpkin carving contest this year. You guessed it - Cole wanted a Pokemon (and subsequently so did Clara). Lexi was all about witches this year.
Between school parties, birthday parties, church parties and Halloween, we had lots of opportunities to dress up this year. Here is Lexi as a flapper girl.
Macy is finally able to sit up well enough to take a bath with her big sisters. It is her very favorite thing in the whole world!
This was my view one day while exercising. I love that I can see Cole practicing without having to be standing over his shoulder. He is doing really well with piano and learning at a quick pace. Hopefully he sticks with it.
Cutest preschooler ever.
Lexi was playing with Macy while we were getting everyone ready for the ward trunk-or-treat. We found her like this. Lexi is a great little helper with Macy and jumps at every chance she gets to play with her.
Prettiest little witch I've ever seen.
Cole won the "Coolest Costume" prize at our church party. His face paint didn't last very long, but he was extremely excited to win something.
I was sick that night with an awful stomach flu, so this is what we got for Macy's first Halloween. I laughed so hard that I cried when Dave sent me this picture. Between the Rapunzel socks on Clara and the half-on costume over pajamas on Macy they were quite the site.
Happy Halloween! This is what we woke up to Halloween morning. Most of it melted before trick-or-treating that night, but it was still pretty cold. You never know what you're going to get on Halloween here in Colorado.
Costumes on Halloween night. It is really hard to draw straight whiskers on a very wiggly kitty.
