October would not be complete without trips to the farm and a trip to the fair! Tia was even able to join us for the fair, but for some reason, I have no pictures with her in them. 
Anyway, here are some pictures from all the fun!
B felt she had to look tough in her butterfly mask…
At the farm we did the corn maze (we found all 10 posts!),
and got our annual height measurements with the pumpkin height chart,
and quickly posed for a pumpkin shot (it was cold!!).
We went to the fair with B’s buddy Hawke – B loved having her buddy to ride rides with (and so did we)! Of course, we rode the merry-go-round:
multiple times…
But basically, we just followed the kids everywhere as they bounced (literally) from one ride to the next.
Exiting the fun house…
We even got on a really fast roundy-round (aka “really big kid” ride) – they loved it!
M was too short for most rides,
but we managed to find a few she could ride,
and she loved the roundy-round! Dare I hope to be so lucky as to have both my kids be my roundy-round buddies??
We also saw the racing pigs! Here are the competitors:
And here they are at the finish line (really, all they want is the cheese doodles).
The last thing we did was watch some fun bike/motorcycle tricks. The kids were in awe…
Up next, Halloween!
We’ve had some lovely down time since all of our whirl wind travels, and I just have a hodge-podge of pictures to show. We shall start with how adventurous B has gotten – not only did she let Jason pull her first tooth, but she has finally given up on her fear of falling off her bike! She fell the very first time she rode it and got some pretty nasty scrapes. Since then, she has ridden it quite often, but very sllloooooowwwwllly, and never down anything resembling a hill. One day, while riding her bike to the playground, she just took off! All I heard was “wheeeeee!” Then, while we were at the playground, I looked up and saw this little monkey:
And then, she rode her bike all the way home (even down the hills) so fast that I couldn’t keep up. She almost fell in the same spot she fell the first time, but she caught herself, and we talked about what she needed to do to keep from falling when going around that corner. Ever since that breakout day, she has been adventurous with all kinds of things – her typical caution seemingly being thrown to the wind! That’s not to say she is not cautious – she is still quite cautious. But she no longer seems to let it interfere with her fun. Yay!
We also celebrated my birthday – even though I had to work, it was a wonderful day! Tatie Kat came to visit and made YUMMY food: Pasta Bolognese with garlic herb bread and apple tarts for dessert the night before, and for the night of, beef tenderloin with a chocolate wine sauce, grit cakes, and green beans gremolata with brownie pudding and home made ice cream for dessert. Sadly, it is all gone now, but it was sure yummy while it lasted! Since it was my birthday, I was able to get pictures with the girls with minimal complaints. 
The card B gave me converts to a hat, that lights up…
The very next day, B FINALLY lost her second tooth! It had been hanging on by a thread for what seemed like forever! Once again, she let Jason pull it.
During the week, the girls just *had* to try on their halloween costumes (B will be Princess Leia and M will be R2D2). Princess Leia insisted on reading me a story – “One Fish, Two Fish Red Fish, Blue Fish.” How many people can say they’ve had a story read to them by Princess Leia?
Friday, the girls got their pictures taken at the daycare. I like that option much better than B’s school picture for two reasons. First, B’s school wanted me to pick out and pay for a picture package before the pictures were taken, and thus, before I had seen any proofs. Uh, no. Second, at the daycare I could get sibling photos! So, they got all decked out in their pretty dresses and off they went. Before we left, they let me get a couple of shots.
I can’t wait to see the professional shots!
For my birthday, J got me concert tickets, and one of the concerts just so happened to be the weekend after we went to Orlando. The last thing any of us wanted to do was get back in the car, but concerts rarely happen when or where you want them to. So, off we went. To make it more fun for the girls, who were not going to the concert, we stayed at a Great Wolf Lodge. We arrived Saturday afternoon, and both girls just loved the decor, especially that of our room, where they had their very own wolf den.
We aren’t quite ready for M to sleep in an uncontained bed, so we got her a crib, but let B sleep on the top bunk – she was in HEAVEN!
Before we left for the concert, we headed down to the water park for some fun. What a place! I had heard about Great Wolf Lodge before, but never been. There was a wave pool, a kiddie water area (with shallow water, slides, and sprayers), a huge playground with water spraying everywhere, gigantic slides, and a sports pool. I’d like to say we tried them all, but B spent all her time in the wave pool. Next time I think she will try a slide or two, but she just thought the wave pool was too fun to stray from. M spent some time in the kiddie area and some time in the wave pool, but she also spent some time in my lap snuggling. She had caught a cold, and was feeling a little under the weather.
The giant playground was called Fort Mackenzie.
It included this giant bucket at the top, that periodically…
…dropped 1000 gallons on everyone below!
The wave pool was called slap-tail pond, and it included innertubes for riding the waves.
Even though she was a little out of sorts, M still had fun in this toddler play area.
That night, my friend Julie was kind enough to watch the girls while we went to the concert. Before she arrived, we plied the girls with ice cream (hehehehehe). I thought M would make less of a mess with dippin’ dots…I was wrong…
The girls had a great time with Julie, and even had a chance to meet the Great Wolf Lodge characters!
We spent the next morning playing in the water part before heading back home. As we left the girls said good-bye to the big bear in the entrance (really? a bear at a wolf-themed hotel??). B went first, since she was willing to pose and M was not.
M watched, and decided maybe she could do that too…
We even managed to get one with both girls…
…and one with J!
We had a GREAT time…and are profoundly grateful we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon!
It seemed like a crime to allow the last remaining day on our Disney passes expire (they were set to expire at the end of September). As a happy coincidence, the Gators were playing Tennessee the third week of September. Sooooooo…what’s a Gator football loving family with two Disney loving girls to do? Why take a whirlwind trip to Orlando! Upon the recommendation of my dear friend Lisa, we stayed at the Art of Animation. Spectacular! The walls of this Disney property are full of early sketches from various Disney/Pixar movies – Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.
There are four main sections – one for each of these movies. We stayed in a Finding Nemo room!
By pulling down the attached wall, this table converts into a bed! B was ecstatic!
We kept the whole trip a surprise for B – though as we were driving, we did break down and tell her we were going to visit Tia! Here she is as she enters the room.
The view of the fantastic pool from our room.
Both girls loved this pool! M especially loved the splash pad area – stuck her face right in those fountains!
They loved the hotel so much, I was a little worried B would be disappointed to be going to Disney the next day. I worried for nothing – she was thrilled! This time, we just relaxed and did whatever we wanted. We did not worry about getting autographs, or finding certain things. We just went from one ride to the next, whatever struck our fancy, and had fun. Of course, we had to ride It’s a Small World…multiple times…
M loves the song, and especially loved all the little drummers (think the Little Drummer Boy cartoon). She did that drumming motion the whole time, and still does it whenever she wants us to sing that song to her. Here are a few other photos from Disney that day.
We tried to convince M to go in “the cell” with Zurg and B (one of B’s fav rides was the Buzz Lightyear ride), but she was having NONE of that!
They had a splash pad where we could cool off. B liked the idea a whole lot more than the reality…M loved the reality…
The carousel was also a BIG hit – maybe M’s favorite.
We even managed to convince M to take a nap on the people mover – a miraculous 90 minute nap!
Disney was closing early that day (booooo!), so we headed over to Epcot to check out the sites and the Nemo ride. We decided a boat trip would be the most fun – here’s Epcot on our approach.
We rode the Nemo ride twice, after which I finally convinced B to pose inside Bruce’s mouth. M was having none of that either!
We ate in France before heading home – wonderful day!
On Saturday, Jason and I went to see the Gators trounce Tennessee. The famous campus fries!
Gator victory (31-17)!
The girls stayed with Tia in Orlando. They had a blast hanging out at the hotel all day – playing in the pool, checking out all the different sites in the different sections, etc.
B getting her “tank” filled up…
Time to head home – bye Mr. Ray!
