I Won't Bore You With All of the Details

We got just back from a great vacation in Florida. We went to Longboat Key, a sleepy little town on the gulf coast that we used to visit when I was little. Having no agenda everyday was the biggest treat! The beach, the pool, fishing, shelling, the kayak, the park, the shops.... so many relaxing choices! Here are some highlights:

Beautiful Emma

Personality in Action

Rough Life

"Girls, try not to get sandy before we go to dinner."

Busch Gardens

Awesome Photo Opp.

Look Out for that Jeep!

Gappy and Lila

The Sarasota 20 Screen Multiplex all to ourselves Wednesday before noon.

CLASSIC!

Fishing on the Bay

Digging Holes with Uncle Rob

3 Generations

Possibly our Christmas Card?

The Hot Tub Every Night

Finally Caught A Lizard!

How Relaxing...

Trick or Treat

We're waiting for our flioght home from vacation in the Tampa airport and I just found the camera cable! :)
I'll post our Halloween pics now, so when I get home, I can concentrate on telling about our awesome trip!

Emma's 3rd Grade Class Party

Hailey and Ben came to say Hi

The Trick or Treat Gang - Emma, the 50's Girl; Alexis, the Genie; Maddy, the Doctor; Lila, the Cowgirl (Andrew the Pizza Man, and Lillianne the Ladybug must have been busy at this time)

Serving as "Helper Mom" at Lila's School

Does the title make you nervous? It did me!
I was pleasantly surprised to see Lila in action at her school today. She was fine! ...A little cling-y because her mom was there, but fine. She was polite to the teachers, relatively kind to the students, calm, somewhat obedient, but still showed some of her spunk. I was very proud. Here are some pictures of the day:

playing at the felt table

everybody's favorite - dance time

check out the rainbow knee socks

pumpkin picking day
Lila, of course, carried/balanced and dropped, the pumpkin on her head all the way across the parking lot. She even got several others to copy her! That's fine - she's never boring!

Halloween Week

I'm not a huge Halloween fan, but there are certain things you just have to enjoy.....

The Halloween Parade....

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Look at that cute little Tigger!

The Halloween Brownie meeting......


Just for the record, my girls can't decide on one Halloween costume. We must have options. Actually, Emma used to be fine with one decision, but Lila - not so much. I no longer put any effort into one costume. Gone are the days of making chicken costumes out of Martha Stewart Living. We just decide what we feel like dressing as that day, and go with it. Because really - who cares?

Thank You, Gramma!

For those readers that don't know, Lila is beyond attached to her "Big Bear". Gramma made it for her when she was born. Bear WAS a beautiful light green chenille who used to sit in Lila's crib. Since then, he's been everywhere! He's been filthy with unmentionable things, through the washer and dryer many times, had stitches a few times, last Christmas at Gramma's house, he even got his flat ratty body restuffed! Early on, I realized that dragging a large bear with us everywhere was going to be a problem, so for Lila's first Bday, Gramma sent "Baby Bear". He's made of the same fabric, only smaller and flatter. He lived in the car, mostly, for almost three years. That way we always had him with us when we needed a bear.
This past summer, Baby Bear got lost in the sheets in a hotel in Seattle. Horrible, I know. Lila seemed to get over it surprisingly well, since that day we arrived at Gramma and Papa's house and they have lots of other bears. I was more sentimental that Lila was about that silly stuffed animal that had been to every restaurant, theme park, and friend's house since Lila was an infant! When we came home to NJ, her big bear was here waiting for her, and I haven't heard about Baby Bear since. ...Until this week...
We're going to Florida next week - a lazy gulf coast beach resort which I'm looking so forward to. We were talking about Big Bear staying home and the lip came out and the tears welled up. "What's the matter honey? You know Big Bear can't come with us to FL?"
"I really miss, sob, my Baby, sniff, Bear. I lost him - waaaa ."
Am I breaking your heart yet? So we called Gramma on Monday, and today, look who showed up in the mail:
Thank you, Gramma! We REALLY love the new Baby Bear!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins last night, and a good time was had by all. The girls were quite self-sufficient and Ryan helped Lila, so I didn't even have to dip my arm in the goop! They carved while I took pictures, roasted the seeds, and chatted with my mom and sister (who wouldn't miss this festive event).

Say "Halloween"

Concentration

I don't care if I'm three, I can carve a pumpkin by myself!

Glowing Jack-O-Lanterns

Now some light on the carvers.

Girls' Day

I went to NYC Saturday with my group of close girlfriends - we had a super time! Nine women went - no kids, no husbands - which meant we got to do whatever we wanted! We shopped, snacked, laughed, and saw the sights without having to wipe any noses, tie shoes, change diapers, or listen to whining. My purse was even empty - water bottle, camera, wallet, sunglasses - so simple! We decided to not venture up to the typical sights that we all always see. We stayed south of Times Square the whole day. It was neat to see these other areas of the city, and it wasn't even crowded.
We took the Staten Island Ferry in (which was great and free!). Then we strolled through Battery Park and took the subway up to Ground Zero. It's still so moving to see the site of such destruction seven years ago. The last time I was there was about 6 months after 9/11 when there was a crater where the towers used to stand. Now construction is underway. It was nice to see the plans drawn up for the beautiful memorial that will stand there someday soon. Oh, and we had to take a picture with some NYC firefighters behind us.
From here we rode up to Greenwich Village. We shared some gourmet sandwiches (we wanted to try a few different ones) at Peanut Butter and Company. My personal fav was "The Elvis" - grilled P.B., bananas, and bacon - Yum-O! There was a street fair nearby, so we wandered and perused at our own pace with no one putting any pressure on us to move on. Some of us bought sunglasses, or cheap jewelry, or Christmas gifts, while others preferred to eat their way through the different yummy stands (not mentioning any names...). We stopped at Starbucks, the Union Square Farmer's Market (gorgeous this time of year!), and a store that Beth Moore recently recommended on her blog (apparently she's way more hip than any of us - we couldn't even imagine trying anything on!). The day was chilly, but beautiful!
We ended up down by Pier 17 and the Brooklyn Bridge - a great photo opp. Then had dinner at South Street Seaport before catching the ferry back to our cars. I had a great time and we all made some new memories together. I love you girls!