Trick or Treat!

Batman and his sidekick, Chipmunk, had a blast trick or treating this year! We hit the streets with some other pint sized friends in the neighborhood. Bea rode from house to house in one of her little friend's wagons. I am not sure what she liked more the wagon or running after her brother to every house.
Elliot's highlight of the night was the neighborhood "haunted" house. Its not far from ours and the owners go all out! He was too scared to go last year, but didn't hesitate this year. Lara even joined us for the festivities.

Pumpkin Picking

Today we met up with the Haugen family (including the au pairs Lara and Ricky) to go pumpkin picking. We arrived at the Patch at about 11:00 AM to much warmer weather than what we had when we left the house  an hour earlier. Thus Bea's outfit change towards the end of the trip (you'll see what I'm talking about in the pictures). We had a great time checking out the animals at the petting zoo and picking out pumpkins. Elliot's favorite part of the trip was the hay ride. Bea, on the other hand, was not a big fan of the hay. Neither was Mommy, my allergies are still bothering me. It was all worth it though to spend a wonderful fall day with my family and our good friends.

Easter Bunnies

We had a lovely Easter weekend, despite a rainy Saturday. The dreary weather cleared up just in time to have some friends over for dinner on Saturday night. Elliot and Beatrice did a great job of entertaining our guests while Mommy and Daddy made dinner. We woke up on Sunday morning to bright blue skies and very warm weather. Elliot and I put on our Sunday best and went to church (Daddy and Beatrice held down the fort at home and waited for the Easter Bunny). After church the kids dove into their Easter baskets. Elliot liked his toys but liked the candy better. Beatrice was more interested in Elliot's tricycle than she was in her Easter basket.

After playing the yard for a bit we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and go for a walk along Sligo Creek Trail. Along our 3 mile walk we looked for tadpoles in the creek, made a play ground pit stop, and had lunch in down town silver spring. During lunch, Beatrice tired daddy's vanilla milk shake, then decided not to give it back to Daddy. Considering she won't drink cold milk, I was surprised how much she liked it. After lunch Elliot and Daddy decided to see a movie -Rio, a cartoon about a Parrot from Brazil.

Needless to say, we were all pooped by bedtime tonight! I can't wait to spend more of our weekends outdoors.

Party Time

The pink and green butterfly themed party was a success! The only downside was the weather which kept all 35 guests inside for the entire party. Thank goodness for the play room. Beatrice and Natalie were showered with attention, love, and presents. I went a little over board with the decorations and you can see lots of pictures of the decor on my other blog, http://www.namesakedesign.blogspot.com/ (posting on April 14th). I will add additional photos from the party as I receive them from party goers.

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate - especially Grammy and Papa who came all the way from Colorado.

Aunt Lindsay, Brian, Beatrice, Amanda, Natalie, and Uncle John

Beatrice, Amanda, Mom-Mom (great grandmother to E and B) Lindsay, Natalie, and Mimsey

Beatrice really liked this plate. It was one of Natalie's presents.

The cake Mommy made

The babies look a little confused/concerned....

Natalie's Aunt Rachel helping the big kids with cake and ice cream.

Elliot wanted to test all of the new toys to make sure they were "safe". These Busy Gears were a big hit.

Natalie was fascinated by the balloons. Elliot was very sweet to his little cousin.

The Cutest Valentines

Elliot made his own Valentines this year (with a little help from Mommy and Mariana). Of course I forgot to take a picture of them before sending them out. He used potato stamps to decorate pieces of paper that he stitched together with yarn to make little pockets to hold these pictures:

Tomorrow he'll exhange Valentines with all of his friends at pre-school, which I am sure will involve lots of sugar.

Christmas 2010

We stayed home for Christmas this year. It was hard not being with our families, but it was nice to be home for the holiday. We will make up for it when see all of the grandparents in Colorado next month.

Christmas this year was so much fun! Elliot was very excited about Santa and the prospect of new toys. On Christmas Eve Elliot, Beatrice and I (Mommy) when to the children's service at the church where Elliot goes to pre-school. It was a very nice service and both kids were VERY well behaved. Unfortunately, Elliot didn't like the music. He told me it was very sad, perhaps he would have liked more Joy to the World and less Silent Night. He was also disappointed that there was no cake. It was, after all, Jesus' birthday.

After church we had spaghetti for dinner. While Elliot was eating his dessert, I heard a thump in the fire place.

Me: (very serious) What was that? I think I heard something.
Elliot: (also very serious) Where?
Me: (trying not to laugh) In the fireplace.
Daddy: (also trying not to laugh) We should go look.
Elliot: (Screaming and running from the kitchen) SANTA'S HERE! SANTA'S HERE!

We found two packages in the fire place marked, "To: Elliot and Beatrice, From: Santa's Elves." The elves had delivered Christmas PJs. After baths and three Christmas books (Olive the Other Reindeer, Merry Christmas Curious George, & The Night Before Christmas), Elliot and Beatrice went to bed. I thought Elliot might be up all night, but he went right to bed when I told him Santa wouldn't come until he was asleep.

Everyone was up and ready to open presents by 7:30 AM. Elliot told me that he "heard Santa and the penguins." I am not sure when penguins became a part of the Santa mythology. Mariana was a trooper and joined us at 7:45 AM to open presents. Elliot loved passing out the presents and loved opening presents even more. He got more toys than he could possibly need, including a monster truck - per his letter to Santa.

At 2:30 PM Frank and three Brazilian girls visiting Mariana joined us for dinner. Brian made a feast of short ribs, gravy, risotto, french bread, and salad (made by me). By 5:30 PM we were all stuffed!

Of course I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, and it was very hard to get Elliot to stand still for more than a second.

Elliot showed Beatrice how to use her new little kitchen

Mariana helping assemble the Legos

Day after Christmas, Beatrice with two of her new toys

A Visit With Santa

I took Elliot to the Mall this morning to visit Santa. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was his first trip to see Santa, and he can be quite shy around strangers. Well as the picture proves, he was not shy about meeting St. Nick. Elliot told him that he wanted Legos and a train for Christmas, and that Santa should not go down the chimney because it is dangerous. I think we'll wait until next year for Beatrice to meet Santa. Mommy saw too many traumatized babies in line today.

A White House Christmas

Yesterday Elliot, Beatrice, Mariana, and I (Mommy) got a very special treat. A friend of Daddy's got us on "the list" for a White House Christmas tour! I took a half day and we all headed to DC to see the White House decked out for the holidays. Elliot and Beatrice were very well behaved and both seemed to like looking at all of the trees, lights, and decorations.

The tour leads visitors through a small part of the white house that is TOTALLY decorated for Christmas. Elliot's favorite part of the tour was the miniature version of the White House that is made out of white chocolate.

You can see more of the White House Christmas decorations here.