Halloween

What would Halloween be without a million pictures?  Thankfully I took roughly 3/4 of a million over the weekend because by the time we were ready last night it was dark and the kids were occupied.

Nicholas was Darth Vader and he and I made his light saber out of a wrapping paper tube.

He painted the "handle" black and we wrapped the rest in tissue paper.  We then had to make another one because he of course broke his by hitting things on the second of our three-day Halloween.

Lizzie was a butterfly, Cinderella, a butterfly, and a kangaroo.  She picked out the butterfly costume in the store and I rejected it as not practical for New England and so made her pick one of the full body animal costumes.  She chose the kangaroo and seemed excited about it (mostly because of the baby joey) but then kept talking about being a butterfly so I caved and went back and bough the butterfly as well.

So the butterfly was her "real" costume and what she wore for our Halloween photo shoot with friends, as well as for trick-or-treating at school.

And the kangaroo was what she wore for nighttime trick-or-treating in the cold.

And Cinderella was a dress-up dress she has from the summer that she put on for pictures with her pumpkin because she had chosen Cinderella's carriage for her pumpkin and Nicholas had chosen Darth Vader for his and they both had those outfits so of course I needed the picture with them matching their pumpkins!

My trick-or-treating pictures are all awful, but both kids did a great job.  Lizzie was completely brave and spoke up, saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" clearly and without prompting.  I think Nicholas was good about saying them too, although it was hard to hear with his mask and with him ahead of me.

And a few of my favorite pictures from our pre-Halloween costume days:

Vermont

We went to Vermont a few weeks ago for the annual trip with a bunch of my mom's side of the family.  This has become quite possibly my favorite weekend of the year and an important tradition.  My grandpa grew up in Vermont and my mom and her siblings grew up going in the summer.  We have made some new traditions in the last 5 years with these extended family trips but it also a chance for them to revisit sites and activities that speak to their older family traditions.  And the locations, apple picking, hikes, chicken pie suppers and gorgeous views have become important to me and Nicholas and increasingly to Joe and Lizzie.

My favorite pictures from the trip actually for once don't even have the kids in them.  My favorites are actually ones of my mom.

Those picture just make me so happy.  And this one of my mom with her dad and three of her siblings makes me smile as well:

We picked apples at the orchard my grandparents always picked apples at each fall (that Grandma then turned into the applesauce that was our super-special treat when we visited, applesauce the kids and Joe and I now try to recreate after each trip) and my kids got to climb on their grandparents' shoulders (and occasionally heads) to do it.

Vermont Macs!  Yum!

We played cornhole in the backyard of "the Vermont house," the house we have rented for this trip for 4 of the last 5 years.

And, in case you are wondering, the last of those is Lizzie literally doing a victory dance after getting one in.

We had to scrap our planned hike on Mt. Mansfield (the traditional spot for the family) because of a windchill in the teens, but went on other hikes and saw a waterfall.

And, most importantly, we got time with family who lives far and wide.  It was great to see my aunts and uncles and I love that because of these trips my kids know them.  And bonus time with my parents and grandpa makes every member of our family happy.  And boy does Lizzie adore her (great) Aunt Mary!

Playground

I'm back!  I know, that resolve to post regularly didn't last long.  Joe and I have both been travelling a lot (as in there has not been a single weekend day when we were both home since I last posted) and I've had a bunch of extra work-related presentations that have been sucking away any otherwise free time.  But I have been taking pictures!

I took the kids to the playground yesterday for a perfect compromise--they got to play outside and I got to play with my camera.  I know you aren't supposed to say it, but after the first 3 times I have absolutely no interest in watching Nicholas do the monkey bars or watching Lizzie climb up the slide.  But if I have my camera I have a job and a challenge and so I am happy as well.  And I love playing with the late afternoon fall light, especially when it is just random pictures rather than something important and so I can appreciate the cool pictures where the light works well without being upset about the really shadowy ones.

My favorite shots in terms of light are the ones where Lizzie was on the teeter-totter.

Climbing things also makes for fun shots, as long as I can get the kids to look up at me instead of just down at their feet.

Then there are all the great framing spots that naturally exist on a playground.  Note to self for the future: make it a game of peekaboo and you're much more likely to get a smile.

And then there is just the good old-fashioned fun of going down the slide: