Fall visit with Aunt Jeanne and Great Gigi

Veterans day weekend was a family-filled and fun! Allison was recovering from a breakout in hives, which later turned out to be strep throat, so we were slow moving but doing okay. Friday night Aunt Jeanne, Great Gigi and Gigi all came over to visit and then babysit so Brent and I could head out to the Capitals game. Allison kept them busy with playing restaurant, school, reading books and making art projects. That Sunday we all got together, minus Mike and Jen and their crew, for a lunch at Gigi's. We ate yummy acorn squash and all sorts of fall vegetables. This inspired me to expand my garden next year to include some squash and kale. Yummy, oh how I miss my garden.
Allison enjoys playing with her cousins so much. The weather was nice enough for us to go outside and ride scooters, bikes and blow bubbles. And of course there is climbing in Gigi's front yard tree.
We will miss Great Gigi at Christmas this year but we are very grateful to have spent this special time with her.

Bippity Boppity and Boo at the Zoo

Halloween at the Booker's was a two week event. Allison dressed up as Cinderella and I was the fairy Godmother. We are in full Cinderella mode after Disney world. We were fortunate enough that Pepaw was kind enough to purchase Allison's Cinderella dress, gloves, tiara and purse. We did the traditional Halloween photo card for the family and she loved playing Cinderella. After I got the photo that I wanted, we pretended that we were at Cinderella's house again and that I was meeting Cinderella for the first time. Oh, how I love her imagination.


This year was also the first time that we went to Boo at the Zoo (National Zoo). I had pretty low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised! I picked up Allison after work and we took the metro into Brent's office, changed into our costumes and then headed to the zoo. I was in a frenzy to get some decent food in her stomach, so I basically force fed her a jelly sandwich and some carrots as we walked into the zoo's entrance. Once we were in, we were amazed! Kids literally went trick or treating all around the zoo and they had some of the animal attractions open and even created special attractions for the event. Tons and tons of candy and some good stuff too! We came home with coloring books, crayons, flashlights, movie posters and magazines. The most attractive give away was a light up lollipop. It literally was a lollipop with a light inside of it. Allison saw the masses with them and immediately wanted one. Brent and I had to stop and think--is that safe? Really? We went ahead and got her one but Mommy "accidentally" left some wrapping on the outside so it wasn't very good. :) The best attraction we went through was "Getting eaten by a Tiger". We walked through a tigers mouth, into his lungs (complete with respiratory sounds and warm air blowing on you), then the stomach (they hung "stomach contents"--stuffed animals, body parts from the ceiling" and then made several 90 degree turns around the intenstines until wouldn't you know-the tiger passed some gas and we got out. Hilarious. Once we were out, Allison announced, "Mommy, the tiger shot the bunny and we got out!" She really enjoyed walking around the zoo and it was a safe and family friendly event that we will do again!


So, this year was our first trick or treating experience in the new neighborhood. I gotta say I don't for a second miss our old house or neighborhood, but part of me did on Halloween. Halloween in South Riding was like Mardi Gras for kids and our current neighborhood has a lot of school aged kids but they are older elementary. My mom came over for her first Halloween, which was nice since it was on a weekend. I made a pot of chili, cornbread, she brought a salad and we had some Halloween cookies and brownies and of course candy for dessert! We headed out after checking the weather and our street was a little quiet--which by anyone else's standards would have been normal, but in SR things are hoppin'!





We took Bailey with us, we figured he would go bonkers at home with the door ringing and some exercise for the old guy can never hurt. Allison initially stuck with me and we would go to each house. After we did, she announced, "Daddy, Nana they were home and I got some candy!" She did this at every house. I was quite impressed with her manners and her confidence with talking to people that were otherwise strangers to her.
We ended up trick or treating for about an hour. We ended up coming home since Cinderella wouldn't walk anymore and it really started raining. Once we were home, Brent inspected her candy and then she kindly went through it and handed out everyone else's favorites. I was so proud of her sharing and it was very unprompted!