Happy Halloween

We hope everyone had a great halloween this past weekend. Morgan was adorable in her little ladybug costume.

Our weekend was busy and fun. It started on Friday with the annual Costume Parade at the school...we can't tell if this is more for the parents or the kids. ;) After the parade we went to a local farm to pick out pumpkins.

On Saturday, cousin Olivia had her 1st birthday party...she looked so precious in her little Owl costume! Grandma, Pop-pop, cousin Sophia and family were there too. Pictures to come soon!

Then on Sunday we carved our pumpkins (making roating pumpkin seeds, of course) and as soon as it got dark headed out for trick-or-treating (Mommy even dressed up too). It didn't take long for Morgan to get the idea this year and anxiously went from house to house (just the ones with the lights on as she started pointing out), knocking on doors, saying "Trick-Treat," collecting candy and responding "Happy Hoween." It was too cute!

Summer Fun

It was another busy summer filled with a lot of fun activities, in addition to all those already posted (like visits from friends and family and our vacation to Williamsburg). Of course there was also some time for just enjoying the nice weather (like playing in our new turtle sandbox and swimming in the local pool.)

Our summer started with Daddy's cousin Hannah's wedding in May (Morgan's first!); it was a beautiful event in a historic building in Leesburg, VA. It was so hot, but we did our best to stay cool. Great-Grandma Brown and Great Uncle Jim made the trip from Phoenix...Grandma and Pop-Pop were there too.

For 4th of July, we went to Carlisle, PA stopping in Hershey along the way for the tour at Hershey's Chocolate World, delicious chocolate-peanut butter milkshakes, and a walk-through of the Hershey garden. Once in Carlisle, we had a great time at the local carnival with Grandma, Pop-Pop, Aunt Stephanie, Unclie Matt and Cousin Olivia before heading to the fireworks.

We also had a couple play dates with Morgan's BFF Emma. Our first play date was at Winterthur to visit the enchanted children's woods for their summer festival. Then we visited the Philadelphia zoo...the girls loved running from animal to animal, but I think a favorite that day were the playful otters.

We had a lot of fun planting a raised garden this year, starting our veggie plants from seeds, and taking care of it throughout the summer. In one box, we planted our favorite vegetables (zucchini, snow peas, hot peppers and red sweet peppers) and in the other box we planted a bunch of herbs, strawberries and raspberries. The zucchini especially did really well; some of the leaves and vegetables were almost as big as Morgan! Everything was so tasty and we had fun with all sorts of different recipes that it really was a huge help in getting Morgan to love fruits and veggies. The pictures below are from us enjoying one of our strawberry harvests with our neighbor John (aka Mr. W).

Williamsburg Family Vacation

The week of Labor Day we had a great family vacation in Williamsburg, VA. We bought a hopper pass for the area; so for the week we enjoyed a number of attractions such as Colonial Williamsburg, Country USA Waterpark, and Busch Gardens.

In Colonial Williamsburg, we had fun "living the time period" by stomping clay to make bricks, serving on the jury on several court trials, watching a play, and taking a dance class (even Morgan was one of the volunteers with Mommy and Daddy!), along with a number of building tours. And to conclude our visit, the entire family had an authentic lunch at King's Arm Tavern.

At the waterpark, Morgan surprised us by loving all of the waterslides and just playing around in the various pools. But nothing could beat her excitement at Busch Gardens. Morgan would go on any ride that they would allow.

Rest assured she did not go on that roller coaster...that is a picture of Daddy and Pop-Pop, in the front car while Mommy, Morgan, and Grandma watched from below. What a ride!

Morgan's favorite ride was the large pirate ship that swings back and forth...fyi you can hear the screams from that ride in the background of the balloon video above. We lost count how many times we went on it...and only stopped because Mommy and Daddy couldn't handle any more; she would have stayed there all day. Morgan also had a great time at Elmo's Playland with Cousin Sophia.

Williamsburg is so close to Virginia Beach, that we also decided to head down to the beach for a day. Being the week school started, there was no one there...it was great. And we had perfect weather...a little windy, but nothing a beach cabana rental wouldn't fix. ;)

And during our little bit of free time we were able to relax by the pool at the resort. Morgan loved swimming...especially with her new vest...she is definitely a little fish!