Halloween Fun!

Lillian is finally old enough to participate in Halloween. She didn't really understand what was going on, but she was really excited when Grammy showed up with a fancy princess dress. Kristen rigged up a matching hat (though Eric gets credit for the hat concept) and she was set. She's got fairy wings too, and you can see it's very exciting.

Of course she's a seasoned pro at posing for the camera, so she quickly regains her composure.

Our first stop of the evening was our neighborhood's famous haunted house. It's a little intense, so she needed to hang on to daddy for protection.

Here's the reaction shot for the haunted house. Eric is looking a little concerned too.

At a certain point during the evening Lillian figured out that Trick-or-treating means going to people's houses and getting candy. Then she got really excited.

While we were out we ran into Emily and Britta. Trick-or-treating is even more fun with a friend.

The princess and the lady-bug out on the town.

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

Grandpa Terry and Grandma Betty came to visit us last weekend. Lillian had a great time showing them all her latest tricks, especially how she can transform into a different, crankier person when she refuses to nap. But who can sleep with so much excitement? Grandma and Grandpa picked a really interesting weekend to visit, since we were right in the middle of buying a house! We managed to arrange a tour of the house while they were here, and Grandma took lots of pictures.

Grandpa takes a turn pushing Lillian and Jessie in the swings.

Grandpa escorting our farm-girl at Ardenwood Farm. Grandma's hat really completes the image with the overalls. Did you know that overalls were the original Baby Bjorn? I suspect the name (Swedish for bear) came from the Teddy Bears that fit so perfectly in that bib...

Here's the view of our new house from the street. You gotta love that white picket fence.

Lillian and Nash hanging out in the front yard. One of the things we love best about this house is that so little space is wasted on a front yard so there is plenty of room in the backyard.

Harvest Festival

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to a Harvest Festival at High Ground Organics, one of the Two Small Farms that supplies our CSA. It was very exciting to take a tractor pulled hay ride tour of the fields where some of our wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables we receive every week are grown. There were also many animal attractions at the farm including a petting zoo and pony rides. As you may remember from our zoo excursion, Lillian is terrified of petting zoo animals. She did go into the petting zoo today, but refused to touch any of the cute little critters. She tried to feed the goats but ultimately relented and let her friend Samuel feed them instead. Her one small victory of the day was getting her to go for a pony ride. She really wanted to ride the pony, but needed some coaxing. It only took four tires to get her on the pony, and she was a little shaken afterward, but I think she really enjoyed it. You can see a short video of this momentous occasion at the end of this post.

Feeding the goats.

Picking Strawberries.

Walking in the Strawberry fields.

Posing with our strawberries.

Lillian and Samuel on the Hay Ride.

Pumpkins Galore.

Watching the scarecrow building.



Pony ride success after some initial angst.