"Hide" and Seek

Spending all day with Camille makes my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing. Her newest game is Hide and Seek...but she hides in the exact same spot EVERY time and only hides her eyes while her little body is in plain sight. Seriously, I cannot get enough of her!

The good and the bad

The good
Camille is in a big girl bed and we are done with one more "baby" item. Yay!

The bad
Camille is in a big girl bed and naps are a nightmare and much (much) shorter!

Trick or Treat

Halloween seems to be more fun every year as the girls grow older AND watching it from a toddler's eyes all over again (especially a toddler who LOVES lollipops!.

Our festivities started with the school Fall carnival...

Camille loved all the animals, of course

while Bella loved the bounce slideand Julia was allowed to go off with her friends by herself (a first for her, and quite difficult for me!). It felt so odd to hand her a fistful of tickets and send her on her way without me!*Unsuccessfully trying to dunk the good principal!

Then off to the Lamis family Halloween party!
Chet's parents, Nanny and Papa, go all out every year and make it such a fun tradition!

Our pirate, 50's girl and little pumpkin. Bobbing for apples
Finally- after many, many tries! Luckily it was a hot day!Camille didn't get why it was so hard- she dunked her face and then just grabbed it and ate the entire apple. :)

And on to the big event- Trick or Treating and even more candy!

I love this picture of all 3 peering in to see if someone is coming!

My mom- who comes to visit for Halloween every year.
The walk home...

to check out their loot!

Nerves vs. Julia

I am so proud of Julia! She decided to run for Student Council as class representative. I knew she would be great at it because she is very determined and confident. Each candidate (10 in her class alone) had to make a speech in front of the class and that part made her nervous (it would for me too!). She wrote and rehearsed her own speech and come election day, she was all ready! However, on the way to school her nerves started taking over and I thought she was going to be physically ill. I even told her that it was okay to back out if she was that nervous. She didn't even consider that and still went ahead with it.

When I picked her up from school, she still looked ill and ran into my arms saying her stomach hurt. I assumed she had lost since she didn't look happy. She stopped for a second and said "Oh yeah, I won...but my stomach really hurts". I am so proud of her, not just because her peers chose her a class rep, but also because she was so nervous but was determined to at least try. I will admit- I would have backed out in a heartbeat!

Way to go Julia! Pima Butte's 4th grade class is lucky to have you!

Oak Creek Canyon

Since my parents were watching Camille for a few days, we took advantage of the "toddler free" time to explore the Oak Creek Canyon area. It is such a stunningly beautiful area and so fun to explore.

Chet and Bella scaled down the side of the "cliff" that was probably meant for rapelling gear (!) while Julia and I (the cautious ones) found a much easier way down.

The girls love wild creatures and this trip didn't disappoint- they found a tiny baby frog, frog eggs and a King snake eating a live lizard (I spared you the photos Chet had to take of that!).

Combine that with the changing fall leaves and it was a perfect adventure!

Monarchs and Memories

I organized a 'Butterfly Bash" at the center where I work this past weekend. Chet and kids came and enjoyed the festivities. One of the highlights this year was a Monarch release! Julia and Bella were able to tag and release their own Monarch butterfly. As you can tell from the pictures, we like butterfly outfits (and apparently The Gap!). :)

Look close and you can spot Julia's butterfly was still scoping out the area. :)
A tagged Monarch- if a butterfly enthusiast spots the butterfly, we can find out where he/she is.

Ballet Under the Stars

This weekend has been SO busy which has been nice since we have had little to do on recent weekends. Almost every hour of the last few days have been full!

On Friday night, I took the girls to Ballet Under the Stars put on by Ballet Arizona. It at Tempe Center for the Arts lawn, set against the Tempe Town Lake (so pretty at night!). It was such a neat activity and I can't wait to do it again next summer.

Camille clapped loudly after every dance!