Halloween

My girls were cheerleaders for Halloween this year and they were precious.  The weather was nice and our Minnie cheerleader trick-or-treated all around the neighborhood.  Our Aggie cheerleader couldn't handle all the excitement and had to stay home.  We started off on our street where Tessa followed a group of big girls from house to house.  Even though she wasn't quite as fast as they were, she always managed to wiggle her way to the front of the pack before each door was opened and candy was passed out.  We did several more streets and her candy bucket got heavier and heavier.  Ryan kept offering to carry it for her but she refused to let it go.  Smart girl, Daddy was planning to raid her candy even before we got home.     

After trick-or-treating we let Tessa answer the door and hand out candy.  She was hilarious, running excitedly to the door everytime the doorbell rang.  She is so expressive and dramatic, she just makes me laugh.  She told me, with big eyes and many hand gestures, "ALL THE KIDS ARE COMING TO MY HOUSE!!!"  When girls or cute boys would come to the door Tessa would fill their bags with candy.  But when scary boys (skeletons, vampires, etc.) would come she would stand inside the door and throw the candy at them.  I don't think the boys cared as long as they got some candy.        

Even before Halloween, we had lots of fun places to wear our costume.  We went to our church's huge fall festival and my parents came with us.  There were rides, games, inflatables and candy.  We ran into friends and the kids had so much fun.  There was a ride similar to spinning tea cups which Tessa rode with three of her friends and no adults.  A little scary for us adults to watch but the girls thought it was awesome.  They could barely walk when they got down they were so dizzy.  

She also had a dress up day at school.  The kids all came in costume and trick-or-treated around the church offices.  Then they had a little party with, to Tessa's delight, cupcakes.  Here is her sweet little class lined up to go play outside.

And we always try to make it to Boo in the Zoo.  This year was the best one yet because all of the animals were still out.  

Tessa wore her costume to dance and gymnastics too.  I don't have a picture of her sweet dance class (gasp) but I do have this one from gymnastics.

Vegas

I had a girl's week-end in Vegas with my bestie and it was fabulous!    

I arrived before my friend and took a cab over to In-N-Out burger.  I am a kind of a fast food junkie and I wanted to see if this place was worth the hype.  It is, especially since I ordered from the secret menu.  I had a double double mustard grilled with a side of fries well done.  Super yummy!  Whataburger will always be my fav fast food but this is a close second.   

This was my view from a pool lounge chair.  It was hot and sunny and exactly what I was craving.  

After dinner we roamed around and were given tickets to get into a nightclub and have a drink for free.  Even in our wild and crazy college days, we weren't too big on nightclubs but free is free.  So, feeling a little old and a little unhip, we headed to the nightclub.  The hilarious part was that this club was mostly other suburban moms having a good time.  We had to laugh at ourselves.  The advantage of being two unescorted girls is that you get invited into all the clubs for free.  So throughout the week-end we checked out several and had fun people watching.  It's hysterical to watch drunk people dance on a bar, or at least we thought it was.        

I have been to Vegas a couple of times before, but was never able to convince Ryan to go to the wax museum with me.  Claire was all for it and it was the highlight of our trip.  We spent HOURS there, cracking ourselves up posing with the stars and taking pictures.  Click here to see the slide show.  I have a huge star crush on Matthew McConaughey.  He has his flaws, not marrying the mother of his children and not wearing deoderant among them.  But with that crooked smile and don't give a damn attitude, I just think he's adorable.  And that Texas drawl, oooohhhh!  If I could have heard his voice calling me darlin' I would have melted on the spot.

Not to miss out on a man-candy oppurtunity, Claire posed with her "Other Brad."  I think they make a great looking couple.  Angelina will probably sue me because I cut her out of the picture. 

And no trip to Vegas is complete without seeing at least one Elvis.   

This is the only gambling that we did, penny slots.  You guessed it, we both lost.  Ha!  Funny how I just didn't have the nerve to play blackjack without Ryan there to help me.  Math and probability are not my strong suits.    

We had left our schedule pretty open to allow us to actually have time to visit and bond.  Yes, we went to Vegas and didn't see any shows, hardly gambled and actually slept at night.  Crazy, I know.  But it was wonderful.  Sitting down with my friend to eat a meal where the only interruption was a waiter offering to refill my glass was heavenly.      

So maybe our champagne brunch at the Wynn turned into lunch and was edging towards dinner.  Perhaps we had too many refills.  Did I mention heavenly? 

We did manage to do a little shopping, but I'm unclear why I came home with nothing for myself!

Even though we stayed at the MGM, we seemed to spend a lot of time at the Venetian.  Thank goodness for the monorail.  Everything is a long walk in Vegas, I'm pretty sure the hallway to our hotel room was a half mile!   

All of the food in Vegas was delicious but I was most excited to try this Mario Batali restaurant and their extensive list of wines.  Our waitress recommended several wines which we proceeded to taste.  And of course, the wine I liked best came with a whopping price tag which I did not realize at the time.  We had wine, pizza, dessert and espresso.  My kind of meal and worth the price.    

We also dined with the Kardashian's at this famous Italian restaurant.  We didn't actually see them, but they were there on the same night we were.  Maybe we just didn't see them because we were dining outside and watching the Treasure Island show.  The crazy thing is that this night I got sick.  Apparently all of my overindulging on rich food had caught up with me.  Seriously!?  I have always had a cast iron stomach.  I just do not want to think that part of aging means that my days of eating anything and everything are over.  And no, I had not had too much to drink that night, it really was the food.  Maybe I am just out of practice, and I need to eat more french fries.  I can work with that.     

Our last night in Vegas we walked the long way back to our hotel.  The mega hotels are incredibly beautiful, especially at night.  We watched the Bellagio fountains from the Bellagio and it was breathtaking.  I love this angle looking at the Eiffel Tower with the fountains in front.       

The trip went entirely too quickly. I felt like there were so many things still for us to talk about without all the interruptions of our daily lives.  I'm so grateful that we both have wonderful husbands who can let us do fun stuff like this while they hold down the forts at home.  In fact, they did such a good job with the kids that maybe next year we can try New York.  Or maybe I shouldn't push my luck.  Claire left before I did and suddenly I was very homesick.  I just wanted to be back with Ryan and Tessa.  I suffered through by going to the spa before flying home.  A girl's gotta do what I girl's gotta do. 

K4 Field Trip

For her very first field trip, Tessa got to go to an apple farm.  On her scheduled field trip day it dawned cold and rainy.  Not to be deterred, I sent Tessa to school in boots and a raincoat with hopes that the weather would improve.  It didn't and her trip was cancelled.  But, it was rescheduled for the next week and that day was absolutely beautiful.  The kids all piled onto a big church bus and we parents followed them to the farm.  Pretty sure the bus ride was the highlight of the day.  Here they are listening to a presentation on what this farm produces - apples, pumpkins and peanuts.  Tessa looks bored, doesn't she?     

Here the kids are waiting for a hayride around the farm.  Much more excitement here.  After they hayride the kids loaded up their bags with apples and pumpkins.  

And this is my favorite pictures of Tessa's class with all their wiggly little four year old selves.  We LOVE her teacher who is just as sweet as she looks.  It's been a year of making new friends since we only knew one of the girls prior to the first day of school.  From what I gather, she especially likes playing with the boy next to her and the little girl behind her.  I am so grateful for her wonderful school, her great teacher, her sweet classmates and for days like this when I get to tag along for the ride.    

Pony Party

Tessa's friend had a pony party for her birthday.  The kids rode horses, played on the playground, ate cake and even had a guided tour of the barn.  I love that the horses were bedazzled with sparkly paint just for the party.  It was worth the long drive to visit such a nice horse barn and we had a great time.  The birthday girl is on the right.  We didn't even plan to have these three musketeers color coordinate, but aren't they cute?   

At first, Tessa didn't want to ride.  Weird since she loves horses and has happily ridden before.  It came down to a battle of wills over the helmet.  The kids were all required to wear one and Tessa refused to let me put it on her head.  She really, really doesn't like helmets.  No problem, just go play on the playground then.  So while I am chatting with other parents I realize I can't see Tessa anywhere on the playground.  I ask one of the kids where she is and am informed that Tessa went to ride the horse.  Sure enough, when I get to the paddock I see one of the stable hands putting a helmet on my child and boosting her up into the saddle.  Great!  Apparently it just had to be her idea and at a time of her choosing.  She ended up riding with the birthday girl and they had a blast.      

Germany

Ryan jetted off to Germany with several of his co-workers for a conference.  Their first stop was the Nurburgring test track.  A portion of the track nicknamed "The Green Hell" is currently featured in a Cadillac comercial.  Of course all these car guys thought it was awesome.       

This is what I love about Europe.  Right next to this state of the art complex is a medieval castle on a hill. 

They spent a few days in Karlsruhe which looks gorgeous.  I was surprised to learn that Oktoberfest starts in September and continues only through the first week of October.  So Ryan missed the big festivals, but he still had plenty of beer.  Ryan described this part of Germany as being a lot like France, just with beer instead of wine.

Next on their trip was Cologne, a beautiful town in the northwest part of Germany.  Construction of the Cologne Cathedral  began in the 13th century.  It is one of the tallest cathedrals in the world and Ryan climbed all the way to the top of the bell tower.  It is famous for housing the largest reliquary in the Western world, a gold sarcophagus which supposedly holds the remains of the three wise men. 

Tessa has really taken an interest in where Daddy is going these days.  So in an effort to explain Germany, we told her Daddy was going to where Snow White lives.  Most parents would pull out a map, but this made more sense to our princess.  She was fascinated.  When Ryan called home she would reminded him to say hi to Snow White for her.  This shot of Cologne looks like it could be from a fairy tale book.   

Ryan loves to travel and Germany was extra fun because he got to drive on the Autobahn.  A freeway with no speed limits and a rental car is an interesting combination.  But he told me not to worry, he only got honked at twice.  I don't even want to know.  So between that, the swanky hotels with underground pools and friendly local pubs, these guys had a good time. 

Downtown

While Ryan was traveling, we had a girl's date downtown.  My mom and I took Tessa to lunch and then walked down to the river to feed the ducks.  I love walking our downtown, especially when it is not crowded.  We stopped at the Michelin store to see Bib, Ryan's "boss."  And we stopped in front of the Westin to sit a spell with Mr. Poinsett.     

The next week-end we went back downtown to Fall for Greenville.  One of my favorite events because it's all about sampling food from different restaurants.  Sweet potato fries, fried green tomatoes and crabcakes are always at the top of the list.  But this year we had a couple of new favorites, a lamb burger slider and a BLT with pimento cheese.  Tessa LOVED the pimento cheese.  My child really is a South Carolina native, which is a little hard for this 5th generation Texan to admit.  We had been sharing food all around but she wouldn't even let me hold her pimento cheese wrap.  The only time I even got a bite was when she came across a piece of tomato, then she would share by holding it up to my mouth and snatching it back before I ate too much.  Later I gave Tessa tickets to go buy another pimento cheese.  When it was her turn to order, the sweet lady at the counter said "I know you want a deep fried Oreo."  Um, no, actually she wants pimento cheese.  Too funny.    

Oktoberfest

Our little downtown does a fun Oktoberfest each year.  We danced to the polka band and posed for pictures.  A photo of us doing the chicken dance was even posted to the online newspaper, pretty funny.   We ate yummy food including peirogis which are actually Polish.  But, hey, Poland is right next to Germany.  They were good but I have to say my MIL's are much better.  It was a great way to spend a beautiful fall afternoon and get Ryan ready for his trip to Germany. 

Where Did September Go?

We have been busy, busy, busy!  Tessa is loving school and all of her activities and I am adjusting to this crazy new schedule.  I had quite the mental list going of things I would do while she has at school.  I was delusional!  Most days I find myself racing across town to not be the last mom in carpool line.  Punctuality is incredibly hard for me, and now I have so many opportunities to be late.  I am determined that Tessa will never be the last (second to last maybe, but not last) kid picked up at school.  We've had fun this month but I have hardly any pictures to show for it.  Tessa's art portfolio, on the other hand, is already bursting with precious school projects.  Maybe one of these days while she's at school I can scan some of them in and post them on the blog.  There I go again planning my "free" time.  

Baking with Momma   

The Three Musketeers

Neighbors

Apple Orchard

Labor Day is a traditional time for us to head to NC to pick apples at our favorite apple farm. Despite the dire weather forecast, this year was no exception.

It was misty on the top of the mountain and we had the sensation of walking through clouds.  We had the place mostly to ourselves and Tessa's first apple pick was Macintosh.  They are delicious, as were the Galas we also brought home.  Tessa asked if we could make pie like Snow White.  Note to self, Macintosh is not a good pie apple.  It is so sweet it turns to mush so we ended up with applesauce pie.  Tasty but not a traditional apple pie.         

No trip to the apple farm is complete without homemade apple doughnuts.  Tessa ate three all by herself! 

First Day of School

Ryan took the day off work to participate in the excitement and drama that is the first day of school.  I had held onto summer as long as I could, not returning from the beach until just the night before.  But now it was time to cross another parenting bridge and send Tessa to school.  Pre-school is a fun time of crafting and coloring, reading and singing, learning and socializing.  For Tessa that is.  For me it is a time of letting go a little bit more than I am ready to just yet.  But ready or not, the big day was here so I plastered on my fake smile and off we went. 

Tessa is going to school at our church which is wonderful on so many levels.  First of all, we already know most of the faculty.  Secondly, Tessa is familiar with the building and the playground.  And most importantly, I know that she is in a loving Christian atmosphere.  So why am I having such trouble with this milestone?  Because it means my baby is growing up and I just feel like the time is flying!  Sigh.  I managed to hold it together and act excited as we walked into her classroom.  She posed by the door for a picture, so cute.  Then she raced in to play with the dollhouse.  Apparently I was the only one having major anxiety issues.  Her very sweet teacher calmly shooed me and Ryan out of the room and that was it.  Had I really just dropped off my child at SCHOOL?!  I broke down in the parking lot and boo-hooed on Ryan's shoulder, thoughtful guy had even come prepared with tissues.  He he knows me so well.          

Of course, Tessa had a wonderful first day and loved going to school.  I'm grateful that one of us is doing well with the transition.  So now my days revolve around carpool lines, homework, dance, gymnastics, big girl playdates (the kind where mom doesn't stay) and a novel new thing called alone time.  I will get used to this new routine, eventually.