October is Fun!

I love October, especially with kids. This last week we went to the zoo on Columbus Day, hoping we would hit it while the weather was cool, but not too cold yet. Well, as you can see from the pictures, it was pretty cool, but it wasn't crowded, so that was a plus.



We also went to the apple orchard and got our pumpkins there, but, again, it was too cold so we didn't go on the hayride into the orchard. (Actually the real reason was that, unlike the zoo, it was way crowded and we didn't have time to wait in the line before we had to get Victoria back for school.)


Victoria had her Princess Tea Party on Saturday. The girls had a blast dancing, making a princess craft, playing with balloons, getting their nails done, and playing in the basement with all the "girly" toys. Of course the best part for them was dressing up. I made sure to make a "note to self" that I should never plan a party for younger kids where eating anything is involved. I thought they would all love the heart-shaped sandwiches, the flower shaped bread, the grapes (not too exciting), and the fancy dishes, but they just wanted to dance and eat the candy bracelets. They didn't even finish their cake and ice cream!

Victoria enjoyed her presents. I thought her reaction to The Littlest Pet Shop was funny. After we set it up she looked at the miniscule pieces, that I'm sure anyone over 50 couldn't even see, and said, "What do you do with it?" My thoughts exactly! Karissa knows what to do with it though, she loves those kinds of things.

Speaking of presents, Austin got his Christmas present early. He loves sitting up with support, so I got him a Bumbo seat. They are a new hot baby item. They are designed according to a baby's posture so that a baby can sit on his own, though it can be used from when the baby can hold his head up to around 14 months. It's won many awards, including the pediatric and orthopedic awards (blah, blah, blah...). Anyhow, he likes it, and I didn't want to waste two months without using it 'til Christmas, so we're all happy, even Karissa, as you can see from the picture.

(As you can also see, Karissa has officially entered the "princess" stage and wore this princess dress many times this last week!)