The Rest of the Trip to Jax

After Halloween we spent the rest of the weekend playing. Grandma and Grandpa set up a ball pit for Annabelle and the kids now have a dedicated room to play in.

Complete with a Princess bed just for Annabelle.

Robert and I got to go play tennis with each other. That hasn't happened in more than a year! We even went out on a date on Saturday night. Woot! We ate at Zaxby's and then bowled two games. Before heading back home, we capped off the night with a treat from Rita's Italian Ice. It was nice of Teri and Chris to watch the kiddos.

Dawson got to meet Granny for the first time. She came over on Saturday afternoon for lunch. 

 He liked Granny, they were instant friends.

 She made Dawson giggle and laugh a lot.

 On Sunday, we went to church and Annabelle made some new friends in nursery and showed them a new fashion trend to try (stickers in your hair). I might start using stickers instead of bows, then maybe she'll keep them in longer. 

After church we soaked up some sun, fed some ducks, and played in the yard. Annabelle loves Blizzard and has no problem bossing him around. Luckily, he is very patient with her. 

While outside playing chase with Grandpa, Annabelle tripped and dove head first into a large cement flower pot on the side of the house and chipped her two front teeth.

I was heartbroken over it even though she really didn't seem to care too much about it and wanted to get back up and play after a few snuggles and kisses. Luckily, it wasn't worse than it was. So, when we arrived home we immediately scheduled her for a dentist appointment to check it out.

Annabelle did amazing! I could not believe that she just laid down like this and allowed the hygienist to clean her teeth. She didn't cry once during her cleaning. She watched Dr. Mcstuffins on TV and I held her hand the entire time. The dentist told us she had a minor fracture to her front teeth, but she thought she would be okay. She filed them down to even them up and take off some of the sharp edges left from the break. For being such a trooper, she got to pick out a toy (crown) and left wearing her sticker proudly.

We're lucky her pretty smile is still mostly intact! 

A Spooktacular Halloween!

Like any good Halloween story, this one begins with candy. This is Spookly, our ghost who holds one of our favorite Halloween treats each year. These little things get eaten way too fast and it was not just Robert and I as the culprits this year. You could catch Annabelle sneaking handfuls at a time. 

After setting out the important things like candy and decorations, we were ready to enjoy the wonderful month of October.

A close up shot of the fun saying on my chalkboard sign this year.

Halloween is one of my favorite time of the year because I love dressing up. I put a lot of thought and effort into coming up with what we are going to be each year. I start early on making and getting the costumes ready. A sneak peak at the preparations.

We kicked things off early by going to a party at our local park thrown by a mom's group. 

It was fun having an excuse to dress up super cute for a park outing.

We milked the costume fun a bit more by attending our Church's Trunk or Treat. They announced it the Sunday before it was held, so I had to throw some last minute costumes together because I did not want to spoil our "real" Halloween costumes. Luckily, we had just the right things in our closet to make for a fun family costume theme. When in doubt go BYU!

Robert was our coach, Dawson was the football, I was the player, and

Annabelle was the referee and candy collector.

Then the big day arrived! We drove up to Jacksonville on Thursday night to spend Halloween weekend with the Fountains and some good friends of ours.

We decided to go with a true Florida theme and dress up as tacky tourists visiting the one and only Mickey and Minnie.

 I think they turned out so cute and I'm excited they will get to wear their costumes again when we go visit the real Mickey and Minnie at Disney World soon.

Annabelle really did love her costume even though this picture says otherwise. Her favorite show on TV is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She always stands up and dances and tries to sing the song when the show comes on.

You have to have a Halloween sad picture because dressing up and taking pictures can be hard as a little one. Good thing Daddy was there to save the day. 

Pictures were snapped and we were ALL ready to go. 

We headed over to our friend's Spencer and Hayley's house to have some chili, cornbread, and lots of other good food before heading out to trick-or-treat.

They had a little announcement of their own - baby boy #2 coming in April!

It was a wild party as you can see. 

Annabelle stayed by this gate the entire dinner because Ripken (Hayley and Spencer's dog) kept poking his head under to play with her.

Making the last final touches before heading out for the night.

All the babies from the party lined up and actually looking at the camera. It was a miracle! 

Then there's the outtake. Oh my heart, there's just too much cuteness here for one photo. 

After the second round of photos it was finally time to go.

Ready or not, here we come!

Our first house. Annabelle was very excited and knew just what to do. 

Success!

Who waits until they get home to start eating their candy? Not this girl!

She was so cute when she would knock on the door. 

She knew how to say trick-or-treat, but usually got shy when people opened the door. However, that did not stop her from reaching in for a handful of candy though. Her shyness has its limits. ;) 

Since Annabelle was the oldest and was really enjoying herself by running from house to house, we broke off from the group and stayed out longer than the others. Grandma Teri met up with us to finish off the street. Lucas was a trooper and stayed out with us as well. Robert was asked on multiple occasions if he was Annabelle's brother. Ha! I guess the extra padding he added around his gut didn't help as well as he thought it would. 

Once she got tired (yes, it actually happened), we ended back at Ms. Beth's house (Spencer's mom) for some full size candy bars and more snacks. Annabelle loved sitting on the table and eating chips with salsa.

Sleepy little girl and tired mommy. Dawson kept up well too and was a good boy that enjoyed strolling from house to house. We only lost our camera lens cap and broke a part of our stroller, otherwise it was a Halloween success for our first time trick-or-treating as parents.

I figure the post should end like it started, with candy. Here's Annabelle's with her loot from the night before.

TRICK-OR-TREAT!

A Bunch of Cute Pumpkins

Shortly before Halloween, we stopped at a pumpkin patch after gym class one night to find ourselves our 2014 fall pumpkins. 

Annabelle was obsessed with the fake berries off the decorations. We spent most of our time at the beginning chasing her and trying to keep her from destroying all the decorations while trying to get her to look at the camera for a few good photos before it got dark.

Yes, that's a mouthful of berries that Annabelle is chomping on.

I just loved this old little red wagon. This was the best picture we could get with the two of them in it at this age. Haha

So we opted for a few solo shots instead. 

Two handsome boys.

I was only going to upload a few photos from the night, but I love fall colors, fashion, pumpkins, hay, etc. so I just decided to upload them all (sorry!).

It's so much fun dressing up little girls for fall weather. When we went to Chick-fil-a afterward all the employees just kept talking about how cute Annabelle looked in her little overall and boots outfit.

And we're still picking and eating the berries. She's even sharing them now.

After suffering through pictures, we headed over to the hay maze, so Annabelle could get some energy out.

She loved running through the maze. It was a challenge keeping up with her.

Once we got all the wiggles out, it was time to search and find the perfect pumpkin(s).

We do not take pumpkin picking lightly. We make sure to examine them over in order to find just the right size, shape, color, and character we are looking for.

Gathering our loot.

I think she spotted one in this picture. "There's the one, right over there!"

"Right here." Of course, she took the long way by climbing over each and every one of them. 

It was a pumpkin patch success, as Annabelle was covered in dirt from head to toe.

Here's a few black and white shots as a memory from this fun night.

Here's our 2014 pumpkin family!