The Fall Festivities Have Begun

We've had some great fall weather recently which has really made it enjoyable to enjoy so many of the fall activities that are offered in the area. We recently took our annual trip to Cox Farms with some friends and family to enjoy a day of spooky wagon rides, fast pumpkin slides, and varying animal exhibits. This is the third year we've gone and it's made for a nice yearly tradition!

Ella starting out in the hay tunnel/maze...

...and what big sister does, little sister (tries) does to. We didn't let her get too far since neither of us were small enough to fit in the tunnel to chase after her!

Going for the annual group photo shoot; unfortunately, at this age, it's a bit hard to get them all to sit still in one place!

Hmm, this was the best we could do. Pathetic yes, but we were lucky enough to get this one! Maybe next year!

Daddy with his girls.

The Brown Worm Saga

For weeks preluding Halloween, Ella was consistant with one thing: being a worm for Halloween. And not just ANY worm, but a BROWN worm. Not green. Not a worm/caterpillar-that-turns-into-a-butterfly (read between the lines: easy to make costume) or a whimsical type worm with lots of colors. Plain and simple, she wanted to be a brown worm. Well, fully wanting to support her daughter's persistant wishes, Erika googled ideas for brown worm Halloween costumes. Let's just put it this way: not much came up, except this:

Earth Worm
•Follow the directions in section 1 for creating a worm costume by wrapping brown cloth around your body, starting at your feet and ending at your chest or neck. Hold fabric in place by attaching safety pins to brown clothing that you wear underneath. Then, attach real or fake leaves and flowers, which can be found at a craft store, all over the cloth using safety pins, glue or tape. Get creative. For a finishing touch, rub brown or black paint on your arms, legs and face to resemble dirt---or use real dirt, if you prefer. Make your hair messy, and attach twigs and leaves to your hair with bobby pins.


Really? Does this really yield a child dressed as an earthworm and not some pile of dirt and twigs? After reading this, it was quickly ascertained that 1. there was no viable brown worm costume out there (real dirt?) and 2. Ella was not going to be a brown worm for Halloween. Forget the support of toddler indepedence and creativity!

So, a couple of weeks later, we were sitting around the dinner table with one and only one agenda: to convince Ella to be something (anything!) else other than a brown worm. We started off listing some basic ideas: Witch! Ghost! Princess! Dora! And no response. Finally, we got stuck on the Black Cat idea. And what sealed the deal? Not just ANY black cat, but a Black HALLOWEEN Cat!

Our Black HALLOWEEN Cat. This COULD have been Ella dressed in brown, hair tangled with leaves, and body smeared with fresh dirt. Phew.

We've Got a Walker!

Finally after all her teetering and cruising along couches and furniture, little Caroline took her first couple of unassisted steps. And boy, it sure didn't take her long to get the whole walk thing down pat. Within days, she had added extra steps and confidence to her strides and after one week, prefered to walk versus crawl. It's all very exciting but nonetheless a little emotional, too because with those steps, Caroline also enjoys a little more indepedence from her mommy!

One of her last crawling adventures caught on tape...
...using a push toy to still get around...
...but not anymore! Crawling was so yesterday!

Ella the Explorer turns 3!

Ella is completely and totally obsessed with Dora the Explorer. Sometimes, it feels like we have three daughters in our home: Ella and Caroline. And Dora. Often, when Ella's not pretending to be Dora ("Mommy. Say backpack! I have something in my backpack to help us up the hill!"), we'll go on neighborhood explorations with "Dora" and "Boots" and on several occasions, Erika's been asked to "wait for Dora!" Or, when crossing the street, "mommy! We have to hold Dora's hand to cross the street!" Of course, Swiper the Fox is always lurking in the shadow's to take something away from us; "Mommy. When you see Swiper, say Swiper!" Caroline's lucky her nightly lulliby doesn't sound like this: "Dora, Dora the Explorer! Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping. Swiper, no swiping! Oh mannnn!" Honestly, it's like the Carlson's newest family jingle!

Well, it seemed only fitting to include the whole Dora theme for Ella's THIRD birthday party and while Dora couldn't make it to the party because she was playing soccer with her cousin Diego, she left some things behind for Ella.

Ella the Explorer! Ella's party was at Clemyjontri Park, a remarkable playground and park that will guarenteed a tired child at the end of the day! At the center of the park stands a carousel that is surrounded by playground equipment and running tracks that encourages and inspires children to play and well...be children!


Ella and her cake! Unfortunately it was so windy that day that we didn't bother lighting the candles but Ella seemed ok with that!
Ella with her buddies; Boots and Dora!
Each child received their own Dora "map" which led them "under the colorful rainbow, through the crazy blue maze, under the blue train, and to the carousel!" Erika had fun leading the group of children and was surprised to see just how many of them were really into the whole Dora/Map adventure. It was totally fun and of course, receiving a gold coin at the end for the carousel ride was like icing on the cake!
Enjoying a carousel ride after the big adventure!

Caroline gets a ride on the carousel, too!

Happy, Birthday Ella!

Our little girl is three! So hard to believe! For her big day, she went to preschool in the morning and upon pick-up, proudly displayed her "birthday" crown that her teachers had made for her. It was so cute and really brought back memories of childhood; seems like those birthday crowns are tried and true; not much has changed in thirty (gulp) years! After lunch, we walked to Baskin Robbins with our neighbors and Ella's friend Ann for a scoop of icecream. Of course life doesn't get much better for a three year than icecream BEFORE dinner! All this tired her out immensly because she fell asleep on the way home! We celebrated that night with her favorite dinner (Pasta!) followed by birthday cupcakes and presents. And oh boy, did she love the presents!

Not sure if this is her bowl of chocolate or Erika's bowl of mint chocolate chip. Either way, it was her birthday and Erika sadly handed over her icecream to the birthday girl, upon request.

So good! Making sure not a drop is wasted.


Phew. The birthday girl is beat. It's been a long day so far!

She made a wish! Happy Birthday, Ella!

She was very patient considering she had to wait all day to open her presents. Since Erika had to teach that night, Tim snuck in a bath before dinner and cake so you can only imagine that once she was given the green light, the presents didn't stand a chance.

More gifts! Nani and Opah look on.


Testing out her new birthday scooter!

Taking it out for it's first spin! She also received a Dora backpack so of course "Backpack" and "Map" accompanied her for the ride!

Standing Star

She's so close to walking but for now, she seems happy standing unassisted and it's pretty cute to see her standing on those cute little feet playing intently with whatever she has in her hands! As for the walking, she's mastered the little pusher and can even maneuver it around corners and turn it around to whatever her destination might be. She's also noticed how Ella will push the stroller around and place things into it so as big sister does, so does little sister. Caroline will push the little walker around and pick up small toys and place them on the alligators of her pusher. It's all pretty amusing! Now, with the sunglasses, it makes for a pretty clasic picture! Too bad we can't keep the shades on her longer than 20 seconds.