Final Fall Ballet Class

Sarabeth had her last ballet class of this fall session this afternoon. For the last class parents were invited to attend to see the work and progress the girls have been making this fall in their ballet class...CUTENESS ALERT....A GROUP OF THREE YEAR OLD GIRLS IN BALLET GEAR IS ADORABLE!!! Watching them doing some of the basics of ballet is even cuter! I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to have a little girl to take to ballet class!! Nutcracker is next in a few years. While I hate to see Jack and Sarabeth getting bigger, I am having more fun with each age that we get to experience together and the new things and fun that the new ages and stages bring. This first ballet class was just perfect, offered at the local Children's Theater right near our house for just 30 minutes a week one afternoon after school. Just long enough to hold their attention, burn some energy and get some basics down. The pictures speak for themselves, they are darling and I am SO GLAD I moved my entire work schedule around to be there this afernoon. I was supposed to be in West Palm Beach all day today at another attorney's office but I got that moved around so I could attend.

Halloween Fun This Month

We have had quite a bit of Halloween fun these past two weeks during this always busy yet fun filled month of October! Two weeks ago after Jackson's soccer game we went to a pumpkin patch at a church near our house and not only was it a pumpkin patch but a mini little fall festival and on top of that we ran into our friends Lola and Hope there! Sarabeth enjoyed getting her face painted for the first time, picking pumpkins and gourds, and bouncing in the bounce house and taking a little Hay Ride. Jackson wanted nothing to do with the face paint but enjoyed picking a pumpkin and bouncing in the bounce house. Last weekend we splurged and stayed at the Grand Floridian and attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom where we got to trick or treat at Magic Kingdom one night and enjoyed the first true weekend of fall Florida weather, it made our Disney experience all the better to have cool sunny days with no humidity and bugs and bright blue fall skys. We arrived on Thursday night and checked out Sunday so by the time we got home we had been thoroughly Disney-fied. We went to Magic Kingdom three times since it was right there, Animal Kingdom for a day and also Epcot one night. We swam in the pools, although the air was a bit chilly the kids did not care, we ate good meals, ordered room service a few times, it was a thorough mini vacation for sure! Sarabeth is really hitting the Disney stride right now at 3 and wore a different princess dress each day, one day she wore two different ones at different points in the day!! She is ALL ABOUT DISNEY PRINCESS right now and I am really having fun with her. Jackson is now tall enough to ride every single ride at Magic Kingdom and really enjoyed the parades, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and next time around we hope the lines for the new Seven Dwarf's rollercoaster won't be so long!! At Animal Kingdom we had one of the best African Safari rides ever, the animals were all out and got really close, especially the giraffes and it was really neat! We also got to see the Finding Nemo live show this time and it was really amazing. All with puppets and live people singing and using the puppets for the theatrical show, you have to make time for this if you go!! The best thing about the Grand Floridian is it's location, one monorail stop from Magic Kingdom and a direct view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks and Lake Buena Vista. The hotel is extremely nice although for the cost, we cannot get a suite or two adjoining rooms so 4 people in one regular size hotel room three nights is a bit much I think but we had a very nice room with a balcony and water view even though I thought we had what they call a "garden view" and we got a seasonal Florida resident rate which was nice too. If I went for any longer than that I'd have to figure that out a bit better with 4 of us sleeping in one room but this hotel is worth a try at least once for a Disney trip, it did not disappoint and was beautiful and very convenient and it is HUGE. I had no idea how large this resort is!! This week we celebrated Halloween all week long with school parties and events day and night it seemed. It was a sugar and fun filled week for the kids and a bit of an exhausting week for the moms and dads!! We capped the week off with our annual Halloween party at our house with trick or treat in our neighborhood and dinner and fun afterwards. I stayed up way too late on Thursday night getting things set out, favor and treat bags made, craft stations set up....I spent a bit with Oriental Trading and it was like a party in a box, amazing! Decorations, favors, you name it, I had ordered it in that darn box about 6 weeks ago so it was all there:) Ann was a big help to me too this past week running several errands for all sorts of things we needed when Sarabeth was at pre-school. Jon also spent a lot of time on his outdoor decorations that did not disappoint. We had 4 families over last night and everyone had a great time. This year Jackson was a Swat team guy and Sarabeth was Elsa/Anna. She has both dresses and wore them both throughout the week but when it came down to it for trick or treat last night she wore Anna's dress...not because she likes Anna better but because the Elsa dresses has "scratchy" sleeves, ha! I remember when I was little I could not stand scratchy sleeves or itchy ruffles like on a pretty night gown, or tags that scratched me...my mom had to cut all the tags out of my clothes so I guess she inherited that from me!! This weekend we put Halloween away today, re-organized our garage that was getting a bit out of control again after Halloween and after the last of the re-model projects going on and lingering materials, Jackson had a soccer game this morning, and other than that we are home having a much needed quiet weekend. Jackson said tonight "Mom, the Halloween decorations are put away, it's cold outside (highs today were only in the 60's, lows in the 40's and honest to goodness it is COLD in Florida today...) so he said "when are we getting our Christmas tree" and was dead serious!!! Oh my........he is Jon's son. I laughed out loud when he said that but I guess these months can be so busy between Halloween to Christmas that it really does feel like Christmas is here right after Halloween!!!