Random October Photos

Here are some other pictures from October that I never posted on the blog. The first few are some that I took during practice for my photography class. Claire is always so happy in the morning and was having fun exploring her room.

This next set is from a fall festival sponsored by our church the Sunday before Halloween. Claire and I rode down the big slide - she loved it! Just look at her face in all of these - she laughed the whole way down.

She also had a blast at the kiddy playground:

It was a really good set up, and we're looking forward to her being able to participate in more of the games and activities next year.

Halloween...Finally!

I've been a bad blogger lately. We have been so busy, and my free time has been spent planning our upcoming vacation in January and catching on my reading for Book Club. So, I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from Halloween!

This year Claire was a peacock. I'm a little bummed that I never got a great photo of her in her costume. She was either too busy running around or too cranky to sit still long enough for a good picture. I'm thinking about putting her in it again soon just to have another photo op! :)

On the Friday before Halloween, Claire's school had a little parade and party that all of the parents were invited to. Robert wasn't able to make it, but my parents and I were able to be there. Claire did so well during the parade - she was slightly overwhelmed by all of the extra people, but she was excited that Mommy, Nana & Granddaddy were there to see her.

She especially enjoyed the food after the parade. They had a toddler feast - fresh fruit, cheese, crackers, and turkey. As usual, she turned down the meat for more crackers.

Claire never took a good nap on Saturday, so by the time we were supposed to get ready for the pre-trick or treat party in our neighborhood, she wasn't too enthused about having to get dressed up.

The hat didn't last very long...

...but she did enjoy the ride to and from the party!

We didn't stay at the party for very long and decided to skip trick or treating this year in favor of getting her relaxed and ready for bed. Robert and I took advantage of the chance for free babysitters and went out to a nice dinner to celebrate our 3rd anniversary - can you believe it's been 3 years already? We tried Wildfish, a place that's been on our list since we moved here, and had a delicious (and quiet!) meal out.

Coming soon - a post about Claire at 19 months!

Grandparent Visits

We've been fortunate to have visits from both sets of grandparents over the past few weeks! Robert's parents were here two weeks ago, and while they were here we did a little shopping and sightseeing.

Claire's favorite part of their visit was getting some of Martin's gelato at Paciugo. She doesn't get a lot of sugar, and she was going crazy - it was hilarious! We were sitting outside in an area with some chairs and couches, and she would run to Martin for a bite of gelato, run over to the couch, hoist herself up and roll around a little, then run back for another bite.

She kept us entertained for quite awhile, and I was glad she was able to settle herself down that night for bed.

My parents were here this weekend, and we mostly took care of errands around the house. They also took over Halloween candy duty so that Robert and I could go to a nice restaurant for dinner and celebrate our 3rd anniversary. I'll post Halloween pictures soon. We're fortunate to be able to spend so much time with our families even though we are far apart!