Happy Halloween!!

Are you ready for a lot of pictures?? :o) 

Our Halloween celebration started on Saturday when we went to the Zoo Boo while visiting my parents. It was fun to take our little lady"bug" out trick or treating at the zoo!

Clowns making balloon characters - she got a butterfly

 

Ryan found his favorite bird (right, Ry? :)) - the Mourning Dove - and we had to capture a picture of him next to it 

 

The petting zoo

On the trick-or-treat path (Taylor trying to get into a twizzler :))

Riding the carousel - Taylor LOVES carousels!!

 

And the highlight of the visit was getting to see Ernie Keebler

 

Later that evening, we captured some pictures of Taylor running circles around my parents house in her costume (we think she's an awful cute ladybug :o))

With so much space compared to our cozy little house -  she would just run, run, run!

Some final hugs and pictures with 'Bapa', 'Mem', and the little ladybug before we had to head home...

 

Today was Halloween, so we had to get our little ladybug in full gear again and head out trick-or-treating to Grandpa Steve and Grandma Mary's house.
Pics with the little bug

 

We made a stop at Big Cheez to see uncle Jason and Ryan's cousin Jayme, too!

Shy girl

We also got back in time to hand out candy at our own house, and have more visitors!

She wasn't sure at first when I put my Halloween headband on...

 Sporting a little Halloween fun

 

While munching on a snack... :o)

Playing with blocks between trick-or-treaters

Uncle Chris and Aunt Liz came to visit...

And great-grandma and great-grandpa, too!

 

Showing off her puzzle skills for everyone

 

Helping out with trick-or-treaters!

Helping out one more time with passing out candy before bed

It was a fun Halloween!! Maybe next year she will be able to say "trick or treat"!

Playdate, pool, and puzzles

Parent-teacher conferences at the beginning of the week mean a couple of busy days and late nights at work, but it also leads up to a long weekend with no school Thursday and Friday! :o)

Thursday, Taylor's little buddy Ty came over to play for a while, and those two had SO much fun together. Between running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room (giggling like crazy), knocking down the letter magnets on the fridge together, and playing in the ball tent at the same time, it was a fun afternoon!
Here are a few pictures of them playing in the ball tent. If you can't tell by Taylor's smile, I think she is pretty smitten with Ty. Apparently she has a big smile on her face each morning when he gets to daycare, too. :o)

 Friday, Ryan took a half day and, along with some other errands, he and Taylor went to my 16 week appointment for baby Slagh #2 - and everything looked great!!

Saturday we took a day road trip to my parents house. Early afternoon Ry watched some football with my uncle (while Taylor napped), and my dad and I headed over to a swim meet that was being held at the new pool my high school built after I had graduated. A college quad meet was actually being held at the pool, including Hope, so it gave me an excuse to go see what the new pool was like! Let's just say that it was AMAZING compared to the little six lane pool we trained in when I was in high school. :o)

Had to capture this as proof that I once had a school record for the 100 breaststroke (it has held for 12 years, but it certainly won't last forever :)).

Also contributed to a few wall tiles for donations for the new pool, and got to see them in person!

And, my lovely senior picture was still in the swimming and diving case outside the pool.....

After the meet and football, we headed to the Zoo Boo!! Pictures to come tomorrow for a Halloween post :o)

After Zoo Boo fun, Taylor showed off her puzzle skills to "Bapa" and they also had quite a bit of fun with the "Bottle Battle" truck (that is a toy from when my brother and I were little).
(Side note: don't mind her outfit, she was wearing half of her Halloween costume... :o))

Bapa showed Taylor how the little people driving the truck could come out, and she was fascinated with this - I think they took the little people in and out of that truck 20 times in a row.

 

It was a busy, but really great four day weekend with family and friends. :-D

Wedding Bells

Last weekend, Ryan's brother Chris and fiancee Liz got married!

I was (obviously) nervous about how Taylor would do during the wedding, but she was great! We had one moment when Ryan came down the aisle (he was the best man) and Taylor thought it might be a good idea to go up and be with daddy. Luckily the moment passed quickly and she was quiet the whole service.

At the reception, Taylor got to sit at the head table like a big girl, which she thought was fun. She even said "hi" into the microphone (we were encouraged to tell stories about the couple in lieu of clinking glasses to get them to kiss, so that was Taylor's "story"). :o) Ryan did very well with his best man speech (he is getting good at that role!), and it was a fun night overall! The desserts were AMAZING. Chris and Liz cut into a big cupcake for their cake, and then had a huge array of desserts for the guests to have - pie, cheesecake, cake - almost anything you could imagine! And they had my favorite type of party favor - a bar full of different candies - YUM.

Reading stories to keep her occupied while we waited for the bride and groom to arrive.

Clapping after the speeches

She loved the rolls

Trying to get one of Taylor looking at the camera - no go :)

Best man, bride, and groom

We only took a few pictures - which I am bummed about (I'll just blame it on having a 20 month old in hand instead of a camera). We didn't think to get one of all three of us until Taylor and I were leaving (someone was getting ready to crash), so Ryan was mostly out of his tux and Taylor was tired and in her pj's.

It was a fun night overall and we are excited that Taylor has a new aunt!