Thanksgiving 2015.

We had a good Thanksgiving.  So good, in fact, that I didn't take any pictures.

We made the trek to Pennsylvania, visited the Shillington Market and Tom Sturgis Pretzels, and had Thanksevening at Anna and Steve's house (where I got reprimanded for not seeing Grandma yet - I called!  I left voicemails!!)

Thanksgiving - Pete and Corky and Logan and Rich ran a 5K in the morning, I took the girls over to Grandma's to watch the parade, make a gingerbread turkey, cook turnips, and generally atone for not seeing her the previous day :-)  Pete took the girls back to Aunt Susie's for naptime, and I went back with Grandma and Corky and Rich and crew once they arrived from West Chester.

We ate dinner in the living room while the bigger crew ate in the dining room.  Living room works for us though - there's a sofa and a little bit of space to run around if the girls get too wiggly.

Black Friday - We went to the Green Dragon with Corky, as has become our tradition.  Maggie had to work, but Grandma was able to come with us.  We had fun walking around, got sausages and pickles and donuts and eclairs.  Totally healthy stuff.  Saw many interesting people.

Saturday - drove up to Tamaqua to see Aunt (I have pictures of this!) Ate lunch at The Station, as has also become tradition.  (There aren't exactly any other choices in Tamaqua.)  Saturday night, Emma, Joey, and TC drove over to have meatball night with the rest of the crew at Aunt Susie's.  Was nice to see everyone one last time.

 

Sunday drove home.

Not much of a post - but had to include it as I catch up on the year!!

Catalpa Day 2015

Every year we keep an eye on the Ginko trees on Catalpa Drive to see when they are at their most yellow.  It seems this is something everyone in our area does, as we are never the only ones taking pictures of our little ones in the gorgeous yellow leaves - how can anyone resist them?!?

Two Sundays ago Pete checked them out on his run and they seemed to be at their peak color, so we put the girls back in their dresses after nap and headed over with our camera.

A note about Ellie's dress:  This was the first day she wore it, and it is a size 5.  It's so short that I'm wondering if I bought a tunic that I meant to have her wear as a dress - What do you think?  Dress on tall girl?  or top?

 It's hard to get her to slow down long enough for a shot.

 

And of course - last year and this year! 

2015 Cassidy Session

We had our session with Cassidy at the end of August - not quite a "Fall Shoot," but I wanted to document Caroline while she still had some chunky legs.  I suspected they would go away shortly after she turned two and they did.  :-(

We got our proofs at the end of September - and they are amazing!!  I love that Cassidy always captures the girls' personalities so well.  There's even a shot of Ellie crying because she didn't get her way - a pretty common occurrence these days.

Here are a few of my favorites, can't wait to have them all in an album. (All photos by Cassidy Dawn Drummond, taken at the UK Arboretum.)

 

 

Halloween 2015. (ooh! that rhymes!) ;-)

Ellie wanted to be Ariel for Halloween.  She declared that months ago.  So I was going to keep up with our tradition of dressing up as a family and make a Sebastian (the crab) or Flounder (self-explanatory) costume for Caroline.  I researched Ursula costumes for myself, and Triton or Eric costumes for Pete.

Once Caroline heard that Ellie was going to be Ariel, however, she also wanted to be Ariel.  I should clarify that I kept telling them they would be mermaids, not Ariel, specifically.  Then, in my costume research - browsing the internet - I saw a flounder costume made out of a baseball cap!!  Simple and easy for an adult to put on and not deal with wearing an entire costume.  Made it with scraps from Ellie's tail - more budget-friendly.  And Pete already owned a lobster hat!  Done and done.

First up, we had our neighborhood block party on the 18th.  Elodie and her mom were going to Ireland for two weeks at the end of the month, and Liza didn't want her to have to miss out on all the festivities.  So we had a party two weeks early!

Then our neighborhood had its annual costume parade on the 25th.  I had finished my hat by then so the whole family dressed up.

Under the Sea, Crawford-style

Finally, Halloween itself arrived.  We had chili and other treats at the Douglas's house before heading out to trick-or-treat on our block.  For the first time since we've had children, it was cool and dry - great weather for Halloween!  I made some spooky guacamole to bring to dinner.

 

 

Hard to believe Caroline couldn't walk last Halloween - this year she was walking up the steps by herself and saying, "trick or treat tank yoooooo!" without any assistance.

And of course, we have to have a review of costumes past: