Amaya's Halloween Festivities

Amaya's Halloween festivities kicked off with her annual Halloween party at the gym. She had a blast with her friends Avery, K.J., Gavin, and Sebastion. They are her gym BFF's. She went as Abby since after her gym parties her clothes frequently need major stain treatment, and her new costume is not washable. She makes such a cute Abby it was fun to get use out of this costume again.

I took the following two pictures when we picked her up from her gym party. She cracked us up making scary faces and growling at us with her new purple vampire teeth in her mouth. Scott gave an oscar worthy performance acting scared.

Next up, her Halloween party at pre-school. She was soooo excited to wear her Ariel princess costume! I only have these 2 pictures from before I took her to preschool. But Amaya's pre-school BFF Mia's mom told me she snuck in and got some great pics of the girls during the party. I will share them when she emails them to me. Mia went as Strawberry Shortcake, complete with hair dyed red. She was adorable....as was my little princess.

A few days before Halloween Amaya had a Halloween blast at Will and Ella's house. Thanks Anjee for hosting!

Snow White, aka Kate

Batman, aka Will

Tinkerbell, aka Sophie

Ariel Princess Twins, aka Brooklyn and Amaya

Catwoman, aka Ella

Sebastian, aka Alexis

the srw toddler trio

the srw baby trio

My Little Princess

Brooks exploring in the dirt.

Jaxon the UPS guy moonlights as a lawnmower.

Leave it to the princesses to play in the sand. (Brooklyn, a fairy-sorry I forgot her name, and Ellie as Tinkerbell)

I uploaded a picture of Maxdyn the princess and Ben the pumpkin, but don't know what happened. Take my word for it, they were adorable.

*And lastly THE BIG NIGHT*

Again, not all the photos I uploaded appeared (hmm) but you get the jest.

We trick or treated, then ended the night at our neighbor's driveway for a little campfire action and s'mores. Amaya like that better than the trick-or-treating.

Our neighbors (and fellow Packer fans) Carrie and Nate's 'puppies' were festive as a pumpkin and a witch.

Packers/Vikings Weekend

We traveled to Green Bay this past weekend for the Packer/Viking game and had a fabulous time. Although our journey started off a little shakey. We were delayed due to crew rest requirements. We made our connection with less than 5 minutes to spare after a 1.5 mile (that is the distance our flight attendent said it was between our gates) run through the MSP airport wearing long sleeves, jeans, and for me heels, with luggage in tow. We collapsed into our seats sweaty and out of breath but thrilled we made it. The next flight wasn't until 7 hours later. We would've missed out on all the fun we had planned for the evening. But, we made it there and enjoyed a fun-filled weekend with our great friends and travel buddies Sarah and Jeramiah.

Starting off game day at Brett Favre's Steakhouse. The food was fabulous!

After eating, we moved to the sports bar at Brett Favre's steakhouse to watch some football.

You can see Joe Nathan (MN Twins pitcher) hanging out behind us. He was there with some buddies, but was very nice about signing autographs and taking pictures with people. He even bought a round of drinks for a group of fans who approached him for pictures.

I walked around taking pictures of all the paraphernalia of Brett Favre's career on the walls. It was fun looking at all his game balls, awards, personal photos, etc., etc. Here are some pictures of packer fan license plates from around the country. Kind of fun.

After we were done hanging at Favre's, we wandered around outside checking out the tailgating festivities. There's nothing like tailgating around Lambeau in Oct., especially when it's Packer/Viking weekend. There is an energy in the air you have to experience to understand. A sea of green and purple, united in their mutual passion for their teams, enjoying the day together with good sportsmanship. The Packer Viking fans really are good sports and are respectful of each other. Except for those occasional bad seeds, which we were fortunate not to experience on this trip.

Next we hung out at Stadium View. Here we are having a shot for good luck. Green ones for the Packer Backers and purple for the Purple People Eaters.

Go Pack Go!

Heading to Lambeau Field.

Such a special place!

Tailgaters, tailgaters everywhere.

My favorite tailgater!;)

Time to head in to the game!

The four of us with coach Lombardi.

We hung out at Curly's before heading to our seats to watch the pre-game warm-ups.

Waiting for kick-off.

Rodgers enjoyed some protection this year. I won't bore you with any more game photos.

Post-game celebration and interviews.

After the game we came upon these fine automobiles.

Thanks John and Kim for the tickets. Thanks mom and dad for taking such great care of Amaya while we were gone. And thanks Sarah and Jeramiah for joining us. We had a blast!

p.s. More travel probs on the way home. We arrived at the airport to learn the airline erroneously switched us from the Phoenix flight to a Portland flight. We had our itinerary with us to prove we had confirmed reservations on the Phoenix flight, but they said they didn't show us on it and the flight was full. What!?!? Sigh.....the joys of flying. We missed our baby girl and didn't much feel like a trip to Portland. We eventually got it all straightened out (hours later), but did end up home 3 hours late. Bottom line, though, we got home! :)

Amaya's First Day of Preschool

Amaya started preschool today. She was soooo excited. She's already been there 3 times. Once was for a tour and registration. The second time was for the grand opening (see first 3 pics below). The third time was for "meet the teacher" night. So the surroundings were familiar to her and she was off and running the minute she walked into her classroom. I barely managed to get a hug and kiss. So I know she'll have a great time and love it. Oh, to watch them grow and develop......sigh.....she's getting so big, smart, and independent already. Can we hit the pause button? :) I am full of feelings of love and pride, excitement for her and this new adventure, and protectiveness all at once. I can't wait to go pick her up and hear all about her first day of school.

Enjoying cotton candy at the grand opening.
She loved the karate demonstration. Now she wants karate lessons. Yesterday she built a tower and karate chopped it.

A grand opening celebration isn't complete without a bounce house.

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

So excited!

Enjoying the crisp, cool fall morning before heading to preschool.

Time to get in the car. She was bummed she didn't get to ride a school bus.

Eating a quick snack before heading in. I am sure she'll still be starving when I pick her up, even though they do have snack time. We still can't keep her full!

Admiring her classmates backpacks.

Hanging up her backpack.

Checking out her cubby bin.

Amaya's First Trip to the Beach

Here are some pictures from Amaya's first trip to the beach. She had been asking to go to the beach for months. That is the main reason we planned our San Diego trip. And it didn't disappoint. She had a blast playing in the sand, from building sandcastles to making sand angels (like snow angels). But her favorite part by far was the ocean. She loved, loved, loved wading through the waves (despite the cold water) and walking along ocean in the wet sand. She was a little too brave for our taste, wading further and further out. We never took a hand off of her while she was in the water and miss independent didn't like that very much. Our beach day was a cool one with an overcast sky, but we had a fabulous time anyway. We can't wait to go back.

I also threw a picture in at the end from a recent visit of some extended family. 2 of my mom's brothers and 1 of her sisters-in-law were able to pop out for a quick visit to help her celebrate the big 6-0. It was fabulous to see them and made us wish the whole gang could have gotten together. :)