The 'Ei's Have It: Quite the Week...

We decided that a rush of sugar from Halloween candy wasn't going to be enough, so we packed the weekend before Halloween with a whirlwind of fun (and plenty of pictures - fair warning!)...mostly involving bows, dress-up, princesses and giggles, but you only get to be a 2-year-old-little-girl once, right? It may not have been what 'teenage Chris' had ever imagined, but as long as it keeps putting a smile on our girl's face, we'll embrace it whole-heartedly!

We started off the Thursday before Halloween week doing something that I've been wanting to do for years. We got family photos done by someone who knows WAY more than I do about natural light photography. I had a hot tip on a fellow educator who has a photography business on the side, got the 'go for it' from the husband, and a few trips to Old Navy later, we were in business! For those of you who are local, I absolutely recommend Joanna Wright with Clover Creek Photography. She was great with Allie and we had more fun than I think we expected to have in a photo shoot. It was a wonderful (if chilly) Fall family day.

Friday night, Barb and Steve were kind enough to watch our girls so we could indulge in a local New Orleans restaurant in Leesburg (and yes, chocolate-filled-beignets were involved) and then we donned our 3-D glasses to catch Gravity at the movies a block away from home. There are no pics, possibly because when you have someone covering bed-time duties and shrimp etouffe waiting, you get out the door as quickly as possible!

Saturday, we hung out with Grammy and Grandpop again at Disney on Ice. Allie sported Tiana's dress for the occasion and kept on wanting reassurance about the awesomeness of this event, by asking, 'Are the princesses going to be alive?' You betcha, buddy. When Tiana came out on the ice for her own number, Allie held out her dress and pointed to it from rows above the ice and just sat with a huge smile as if to say, 'Tiana!!! We have the same dress!' The Allie-watching was pretty good that morning.

Someone's excited about going...someone else is waiting for a treat.

We even had a Riley-sighting! It was almost too much for these two to take in.

Joy!!!

On Sunday, we turned our house into Halloween-toddler-central to host some of Allie's local buddies for a pre-Halloween sugar and Pinterest-bonanza. Chris summarized the fun we had by saying, 'Great party hon...the only thing missing was meatballs.' Duly noted.

Pin...

ter...

est. Love it...

Who's up to bat next?

They all cott-on to the ghost-decorating.

You could tell that Olivia was an experienced 4-year-old-crafter. Check out that gluestick form.

Commander Brady was out-of-this-world-adorable.

Ah, Sarah. We don't believe it when your parents say you're anything but smiley.

Bobbing for donuts...

What are friends for if not to help you cheat at party-games?

See? Smiley.

Brady's figuring out a game-plan for his ghost-bowling-victories. Allie...well, she still can't believe these guys are all in one place.

In between the party and Halloween, we had dance on Tuesday. Allie requested specifically that I, 'Take a picture of me laughing!' OK fine...

Twist my arm.

With all this excitement, we didn't get to carve our pumpkin until Wednesday night.

Getting the scoop...

The inside scoop.

Halloween? Yeah...she's pretty into it.

Cheese with a bit of chocolate on the cheek (you have to test-out the candy before you give it away, right?).

On Halloween, Allie's school had a 'Fall Parade' (read, everyone dresses up in their Halloween costumes and parents take pictures). We obliged. Allie was Doc McStuffins this year. For those of you out of the Disney Junior 20-minute-show loop, 'Doc' is a little girl who has the MD hookup with her mom, who is a doctor. Doc constantly brings her stuffed animals to life when no-one's looking and then gives them check-ups and diagnoses. Ultimately, of course, they all feel 'so much better, now!' One day, Allie heard Chris' car pull in the driveway while she was wearing her stethoscope and I heard her say, 'Quick! Everyone! Go stuffed!' It was meant to be.

'The Doc is in'..a parade.

We went trick-or-treating with Riley and her parents in their neighborhood again this year. These girls are amazingly tuned-in to each other even though they no longer see each other daily at daycare. If Riley had twenty more pounds to her, it would be a toss-up as to who would win a 'physical spunk-off' when they get going. Spirit-wise, they're pretty well spunk-matched.