SPOOKY SEASON

We are in full on Christmas mode around here! The tree has been up & decorated since early November, our neighborhood is lit up in colorful lights, and my christmas shopping is nearly complete! Now all that's left to do is wrap which I plan to knock out this weekend. Then I can focus my energy on an upcoming utah trip and Brielle's first birthday party! Two things I am very much looking forward to. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk halloween!!

My original plan was to do a family toy story costume. Emmett was obviously going to be a dinosaur, so I thought he would be rex, Brielle would be bo-peep, and Jason and I would be ken and barbie. I had the kids costumes ordered on October 1st, but I put Brielle in hers for the first time just a few days before halloween and it was waaaaaay too small. I somehow squeezed her into it but it was nearly impossible to get off! She was not happy about it. Luckily I was still in the return window for the costume but there went my idea. So instead Emmett was a scary dino and Brielle was the simplest, but cutest little kitty cat. I wore a five dollar skeleton t-shirt and Jason was tape face hahaha. Super random, but honestly I kind of liked it better that way.

Alright. I simply cannot handle the cuteness of these photos and they need a home, so get ready for a biiiiig photo dump. *If you notice a difference in Brielle's face make-up it's because some pictures were taken pre-halloween party and others were taken halloween day.*

Jason really got into character and I seriously love him for it! He was the most dressed up at the party and I can honestly say nooooooone was expecting that hahaha. The best part is that it was completely his idea... eye makeup and all!! If you're wondering who he's dressed up as, it's tape face from America's Got Talent. If you're not familiar, I'd suggest you do a quick youtube search. You wont regret it.

Karlie and Ryan won aunt and uncle of the year by getting these big blow-up dinosaur costumes specifically for Emmett's reaction to them. Yup, they're the best and Emmett LOVED it.

H A L L O W E E N   D A Y

This cute dino made sure to taste test the candy bowl.

K not to go off topic completely, but I need to shout out Jason real quick for our lawn. It used to be a dead, mainly dirt, weeded mess. Probably the worst in the whole neighborhood at one point :,) He has spent sooo many hours weeding, raking, seeding, watering, mowing, edging. It looks 100x better than it used to and I am so so grateful for it. (I'm not so grateful for the dead sod that was laid in the first place.. but I've ranted enough about that on here.)

Anyways back to the good stuff.

^^ Emmett with his "big dinosaur and alligator bones". Both gifted to him from Ryan and Karlie. They sure know the way to this kids heart!

And what's a holiday without a few meltdowns, right?

They were definitely over pictures at this point. Sorry babies.. I can't help it! You're both too dang cute, even when you're sad!! Thank goodness for doggies and daddies. They made everything better.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

Emmett's been really into ghosts lately so he was super excited to see a 'real' one. Nearly everyday he would hide under a blanket or curtain and yell "BOO!". If I would act scared he'd come out and say, "Not a ghost, it's Emmett!" Seriously he melts my mommy heart. Emmett was one of the first to kick off trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. I was curious to see what a pandemic halloween looked like. Most people ended up putting together little goodie bags and setting them out for the kids to grab. Not gonna lie, I like this way much better than the traditional ring every doorbell approach. More convenient and less small talk haha.

I think the best part of the whole halloween season was all the neighborhood yard decor. Turns out our neighbors are super festive! I love it. We would go on a walk every night just so Emmett could see the spooky ghosts, big spiders, and skeleton bones. He would run to his favorite houses and stand there looking at everything for sometimes twenty minutes. It was the cutest thing. He was so sad to see the halloween decorations go! ^^ This particular house was his faaaavorite.

It was such a perfect halloween night. The weather was nice, the sunset was beautiful, and the kids loved it. Once the sun went down Ryan, Karlie, and the Collins met up with us to hit the last street on the block. Emmett was over trick-or-treating at that point so I pushed him in the stroller while he ate candy and Kendi snuggled a very sleepy Brielle.

THE LOOT. Pretty sure I had a stomach ache for a whole week haha. I'll wrap this up with *just a few* more pictures of our spooky season.

Phew, I think I did it. I think I captured all the cuteness.

Until next year, boys & ghouls!

Miramar Beach

It is finally fall and I am here *clap* for *clap* it. I love the birthday celebrations, sweater weather, pumpkin spice everything, the bats on my wall, and all of the halloween festivities. I even had our family costumes planned out and ordered by October 1st. I couldn't wait!! Anyways, before I jump into all that, I have one last end of summer trip to share. On September 17th we drove to Florida (yup, again!) with our friends for a beach weekend. We decided not to be as spontaneous this time around and planned this vacation months in advance. However... that didn't necessarily work in our favor. Hurricane Sally hit the Destin area pretty good the day before our trip. Of course. We made sure that roads were open, weather conditions were okay, and that our airbnb had power before heading out that morning. Thankfully everything was fine! On the drive down we stopped at Peach Park per Carly Hoggard's request. We ate a yummy bbq lunch and topped ourselves off with some cookies and ice cream. Mmm! We made it to the airbnb after about five hours of driving. When we got there we picked our rooms, settled in, said hello to the lizards, took the golf cart for a spin, and headed to the beach to watch the sunset.

I will never, ever get tired of beach sunsets.

We found the perfect airbnb to accommodate our four families (which consisted of eight adults and five kids). A six-seater golf cart and four beach bikes were included with the house and now both are completely necessary for any future trips haha. Having those made the trek to the beach so so soooo convenient! No long walks, sandy cars, wet seats, or multiple parking spaces needed. Not to mention they were so fun! All the kids loved going on rides in the golf cart. It even put Emmett and Tanner to sleep riding around at night. Win, win, win, WIN.

^^ These two are the cutest little beach babes. I just realized that Brielle has been on three beach vacations at only eight months old. Wow, lucky girl! It was pretty overcast that weekend but we didn't mind. That just meant less squinty eyes and sunburns haha.

When we weren't at the beach we rode bikes around town, ate out at McGuire's Irish Pub, tried to be sneaky surprise decorating at 1 am, saw a cockroach and about died!!!, celebrated Kendi's 28th birthday, had krispy kreme donuts, laughed our heads off playing telestrations, ate yummy tacos, went on a hundred golf cart rides, made Jason's dreams come true playing betrayal at house on the hill, sipped on icees, and shopped at the outlets. While we were shopping we hit up the Disney store to let Emmett pick out a souvenir. He ended up choosing a huge and expensive stuffed dinosaur. Honestly, we should have expected that haha. Once he saw that thing it was not leaving his grip!

Love these two! Karlie is the best auntie.

It was the best of times. Memories we're glad to have made!

Until next time, Florida!