Hilton Head & E's B'day (a little late...)

Better late than never, right? Ahh! That's a phrase I seem to recite a little too often of late. Ah well, a sign of the times, I suppose...

At any rate, WAY back in September we enjoyed an awesome family vacay to Hilton Head Island. We road tripped with my parents (yes, they are saints to endure a looonnnngggg car ride with our crew), crashed at Aunt Tracy's in Atlanta on the way, then crashed my p's time share condo, and basked in relaxation. R, S & A flew back on Wednesday while E took in a few more g'parent days and the beach/pool before road tripping back.

Though my p's had this vacay on the book for some time (to celebrate my dad's retirement), we built it up with E as a celebration for her birthday. We may regret this later (she's already asking about Hilton Head for her next b'day), but for now, it meant no big shindigs back home. So, on Monday, 9/13, we celebrated Miss E's #3! What did this little lady ask for? Swimming - check! Cupcakes - check! And hotdogs - check! Oh, how I hope the requests stay so easy... We took in a relaxed day with her marked by a morning on the beach, a bike ride for ice cream, and a poolside hotdog/cupcake picnic in the eve. Wahoo! Here's to our sweet Miss E and another fabulous year.

Wahoo! We made it to the beach!

One of many early morning beach rides w/ G'pa Kev.

Birthday morning sandcastle tutorial with Daddy.

Birthday afternoon bike ride & ice cream (ahhh... to be 3!:).

Poolside birthday cupcake!

LOVE the zero-depth pool!

A sunset dinner out!

We loved you Hilton Head (there was an alligator under this bridge)!

Sisters

It's difficult to keep up with the fun sisters photos we're capturing of late. And even more difficult to capture the sweet moments with the camera.

It's no secret that my kiddo's first 3-6 months are not my favorite as a Mama. They just feel like so much work for so little return (okay, I'm selfish...). But once the kiddos start movin' & shakin' and sharing their emergent personalities the light really comes on for me. And I'm finding this time around it's even more exciting to experience the bond emerging between the girls. Elynor has always been tops on Annikah's list, but this love has gone through the roof in the last month or so as they learn to play together and even communicate with one another. Most days they can be found "chasing" one another around the house, "playing with" each other on the back porch, and "sharing" food. Along with Annikah's movement and growing presence in the fam have come some terrain challenges for Miss Elynor, but all in all, the good still outweighs the bad.

Halloween Festivities

Our Halloween celebrations started about 2 weeks before the actual event, when Elynor donned her Cinderella butterfly costume for her preschool dress-up day. Yes, a Cinderella butterfly is correct. She couldn't decide. We had a Cinderella dress hanging around the house from a garage sale and then she saw a butterfly costume on the cover of a magazine... so Mama (and even Daddy) went to work making some wings.

But while she loved this costume, it turned out the sleeves were a bit itchy (or so the Princess said). So for the next week's mom's group festivities she shifted from Cinderella dress to tutu (another garage sale find hanging around). And, much to her Mama's chagrin, skipped the wings.


Like a movie star's Oscar wardrobe, the Princess's actual Halloween costume selection was a mystery to all. Daddy did his best to encourage the return of the Cinderella dress (maybe the tutu was a bit too short for him?). And Mama continued to push those hand made wings... But it was ultimately up to her, and for the big day it was a tutu + wings = a ballerina fairy. This fairy was accompanied by an adorable dragon (also a garage sale find just 1 week before Halloween = perfect!).

On the Trick or Treating front, Miss E approached it like an old pro. Last year's NYC experience definitely broke her in and she excitedly recalled the most important detail - CANDY! She led the pack of her novice buddies (whose parents may have preferred they not yet meet this American tradition) and bravely ran from house to house. Her only scary moment was a close encounter with a boy in a freaky mask on a house's stairway. Tears were shed, but she happily returned to the Trick or Treat adventure once the boy removed the mask and assured her it was pretend.

Even R & S got in on the dress-up action for our friend's party. Ink steals - $.95 for the full arm! Who knows, maybe we'll make the looks permanent for our 10-year anniversary this summer!? Poor A... she must wonder who the crazy is holding her!