Happy Halloween Mateys!

Back in August I went to Party City, bought a few pirate patches, earrings, hats and daggers, and sat them on the coffee table for when the kids would come home from school. Within seconds they had found the stash and were trying them on.  “Mom, we should be pirates for Halloween!!!”   “We totally should.” I said, sounding like I’d never even thought of it.  I’ve been wanting to do pirates for years now but other things kept winning over… Princesses, Witches, Cowboys (and girls)… Ah, finally Pirates.  And I must say it was well worth the wait.

Ryan  (11 years old) loved his costume, especially the hook with which he carried his trick or treat bag.  Definitely the meanest pirate of the crew.

Katie (9 years old) definitely wanted to be the ‘boy kind of pirate’ complete with dagger and patch… but she picked no vest.  She particularly loved her black and white stockings.. So did I!

Emily (almost 7) wore her eye patch the most.  We told her she could take it off after pictures but she just kept it on.  I guess she wanted to stay in character or she just knew how adorable she was.  Emily was the lucky one who got to carry around a skull and crossbones bag of coins.  Lucky middle child!

    

Megan (4 1/2 years old) was the one who was a little frowny about this whole pirate idea.  “Megan, how about a Pirate Princess?”  I asked.  Immediate smiles.    She LOVED her Pirate princess dress… and it showed.   I loved it too after a few alterations – getting rid of tacky lace and gold trim etc. She and I had the most fun with our photo shoot.  She just wouldn’t stop smiling and giggling.  It was too cute.

 

 

For Luke (almost 2) the whole Halloween thing felt brand new.  He tolerated his costume with little annoyance or enthusiasm but loved the dagger.  He also LOVED trick or treating. In fact, as I type, my little buccaneer is pointing at the pictures and saying “CANDY… ME… MOM… MERE (come here)”  Yep, he definitely still remembers.  The other kids loved holding his hands and showing him the ropes, but it didn’t take long before he totally got what to do:  Walk up the long driveway (our neighborhood has all one acre lots), listen to your siblings say ‘trick or treat’, say ‘eeeeee’,  smile while the neighbors tell you how cute you are, and then watch as they put huge handfuls of candy in your bucket. 

 

 

Matthew, (almost 6 months old) was the cutest little pirate for his first Halloween.  Not quite sitting, we stuck him in his bumbo to take a few pictures.  He just loved slurping on his hook and dagger. I just love that little squinty eye smile he has… and just look at that chubby little chin.

 

           

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson knew we were being Pirates for Halloween, but we had no idea THEY were being pirates too!  While we were getting ready they snuck into their room to change and came out to surprise us!  So fun to be matching with Grandma and Grandpa for Halloween!!!

So unfortunately Chris was sick on the couch with the swine flu for Halloween.  Grandma and Grandpa, 6 pirates and I trick or treated our neighborhood and then walked back to the house to drop off Luke, Matthew, Grandma and Grandpa so that the real party could begin.  The kids were anxious to trick or treat with our friends, the Starbucks, but with Grandma and Grandpa here and Chris sick we hadn’t made any real plans.  After taking pictures, eating white bean chili, and trick or treating our own neighborhood we called and left a message but they were already gone.  The kids were sad.  We headed over to the Bishops neighborhood, known for it’s close houses and decorations galore. We drove in and stopped  in a random cul-de-sac to start the fun.  After 5 houses Katie said, “Mom, the Starbucks!”  Sure enough they had decided to pick this very neighborhood too and were remarkably in the same location.  All the kids ran to each other and screamed.  “It’s a Halloween miracle” Katie said.  They had so much fun running from house to house.  So much fun.

When we got home Grandma had pin the tail on the black cat and Halloween games waiting for us.  We played, ate candy and then watched a movie, while Chris lay on his brown leather chair.  It was a great Halloween!

Megan and Mom’s Fieldtrip to the Fire Station

 

I was so excited to go with Megan on her first Pre-K fieldtrip.  Chris had the day off because of a double shift the night before so he hung out with the boys and Megan and I headed to school for the big day. 

Megan is loving Pre-K. Of course who wouldn’t with a following like hers.  As soon as we walked around the corner towards her classroom the shouts started coming… “Megan!!!!”   “Hi Megan.”    “Megan’s here!”     “Hi, Megan’s Mom!”     I just love being Megan’s mom.  I felt so popular. 

The kids got in a line and loaded up in the fieldtrip bus.  I sat by Megan, who sat by Collin… one of her admirers.  She beamed.

The fire station was cool. We got to see their kitchen, their rooms, and hear a loud siren.  Then outside all the kids got a turn sitting in the drivers seat, getting a picture with a dressed up fireman, and then took turns actually spraying the big fire hose.  (Accidentally deleted the pictures off my camera.  GRrrr.)  The whole time Megan smiled.  She’s been waiting forever to go on a field trip… and so have I. 

The only down side was that Collin wanted to sit with her again on the way home. She loved it on the way, but on the way home it was just plain irritating.  “Why does he always want to sit by me?”  she whispered with her brows furrowed.    “He likes you Megan… get used to it.”

Good Times

For our last day at Disneyworld, we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom to take care of some unfinished business… meeting Mickey.  We also hit some of our favorite rides again, toured Tom Sawyer’s Island, caught a glimpse of the parade on main street, and hit the gift shop on the way out. 

We had such a great vacation and it was so fun to be there with my whole family.  Thanks for coming gang!  It truly was the Walton Disneyworld vacation of a lifetime.

Epcot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Disney pictures?  Crazy, I know.  Just bear with me… I’ve got to get these done before I move on!

We all went picture crazy at Epcot…  so much to capture and a little different scenery than the typical Disney park… so it took me forever to go through, but definitely fun to remember.

Can you believe we didn’t have a Mike ‘Sasha’ pose until now?  I think Mike gives Epcot a thumbs up.

        

In Canada we enjoyed the beautiful scenery, made human totem poles, watched a 360 degree screen movie with Martin Short, tried on animal hats and made ourselves right at home.

 

In the United Kingdom we took pictures with Alice in Wonderland and ate fish and chips for lunch. While eating, Alice walked by and we waved.  Missing out on his own picture, Mike quickly jumped up to ask for a private photo shoot.  Alice’s escort said, “Sorry, she’ll be back later.” but when Alice looked into Mike’s dreamy eyes she said, “No, it’s ok.  We can take a picture.”  Nice one, Mike.

In France we gazed at the Eiffel Tower, Katie told me she wants to go to France (she’s said that numerous times since Chris and I went), and took pictures with Belle and the Beast.  Mike jumped in line too, but after a picture with them both… he kindly asked the Beast to step out of the picture.  It was so funny that I just couldn’t crop Beast standing out of the way on the side of the picture.  Mike scores again.

In hung out in Morocco for awhile… trying on hats, taking pictures, and watching Molly shake her jingling hips.

 

In Japan we stopped to listen to the drum show at the base of the pagoda.  Dan videoed us moving to the beat for the ‘music video’ that will someday come from all our video footage.

 

In Italy we took a breather and relaxed in the beautiful courtyard, enjoyed the architecture, and took pictures in front of the water fountain. I wished we could have eaten at my favorite Epcot restaurant – we’ve eaten there with great friends two different times –  but we were still full from lunch.  After the kids finished their masks we kept moving.

In Germany we entered the cute German town ready for Oktoberfest.

We checked out the toy store, and took pictures of Snow White.  Here she is with her ‘seven dwarfs’… not hard to figure out who’s ‘Grumpy?’  Try to figure out the rest…

In China, the kids had their names written in Chinese on their masks, Scott picked up some Chinese candy and we made a mental note to have Chinese food for dinner!

In Norway the group went on Maelstrom, a Viking boat ride, and tried on Viking hats while Matthew and I stayed behind, ate and took pictures.  Thankfully he was just perfect on the trip.  He nursed a little here and there, hung out in the stroller, loved being held by Dad and did lots of smiling.  He just knew he was at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Megan was pretty darn happy herself.

We cruised through Mexico stopping for a minute to see Donald and wear some big sombreros.

Besides the World Showcase some of us did Mission: SPACE, Test Track, The seas with Nemo and Friends, and our favorite… Soarin’.  Tired and hungry we left the park at 6:00 and headed  straight to Pei Wei for dinner.  Table for 20 out on the patio… the perfect ending to an Epcot day.