Happy Halloween!

It was a bone chilling night - I’m not sure it if was because winter suddenly arrived on Halloween here, or if it really was just that cold. Pictures are always so difficult on this night - but we captured a few of our adventure this year. But, as usual, never enough. 

This year, Lyla was “Rainbow Dash”, an interpretation of a Pony from the series “My Little Pony”, and Cade was a neighborhood firefighter. We didn’t know that Cade would also be sporting a shiner on his left eye, thanks to a bathtub fall a couple nights prior…if we’d known, maybe he could have been a boxer or something.

Here are our two beautiful babes:

Trick or treating with Isabella has become Hottman tradition - we were so happy that Kip and Rebecca brought the kids over for a quick dinner, followed by trick or treating with Bodhi and Isabella. 

Note our teal pumpkin sign in the background of this photo - we participated in the Teal Pumpkin Project this Halloween in support of kids with food allergies. I didn’t get a photo of our beautiful teal pumpkin I painted a couple of nights before. 

Here, Lyla insisted that she and Isabella do some dance moves in their costumes: 

Here is the only decent photo I got of the 4 of them before they headed out into the cold night - so much cuteness!

Here is a picture of our crazy neighbor, Glen - the entire Jones family was dressed as the Incredibles this year. It was hilarious. 

We were so happy for the treat of spending Halloween this year with Nan and Nonnie who left their neighborhood to hang out with us. It was so much fun to have them here: 

Never enough pictures - we ended the night with the Sydlowskis, who came over after trick or treat. Unfortunately, no more pictures...

Great friends. Great families. Great neighborhood.

Happy Halloween. 

Fix It Man

Pretend play is in full swing for Cade these days - and his favorite game currently is called “Fix It Man”. It’s a variation of the Ice Cream Man game he came home from vacation wanting to play after seeing a man on a scooter delivering ice cream to the kids at the condo. Now, he likes to take his play car to a “workshop” and fix it so that it runs properly again - this is his workshop:

He also loves emulating the “bad guys” - aka “Mr. Jim” - our lawn guy. Here he is weed eating: 

Lyla is an inevitable (and usually unwilling) bystander in these games - she’s not the biggest fan. Here she is pretending to do some landscaping of her own: 

Cade loves our neighbor, Jack, and frequently asks if they can play together - Jack had just come outside in this photo of Cade: 

There’s nothing as wondrous as the impromptu Sunday afternoon playdate - it’s one of the many blessings of living in a neighborhood brimming with littles. Here they are, with Shannon, making some sort of mud stew: 

The pleasures of Autumn pretending...

Gallrien Farms Take 3!

We were happy to get to go to Gallrein Farms one more time this year - it was Lyla’s 3rd visit to the pumpkin patch. We are just happy she was healthy enough to go after the strep scare we had before we left for Vegas. Our girl is completely healthy and on the move again!

I didn’t get many pictures today because, sadly, Lance was unable to attend as he had to work. But here are a few - 

The best part about visiting the pumpkin patch in October is celebrating Nan’s birthday - here is Emory enjoying a cupcake! I’m so sad that I don’t have a picture of the birthday girl herself!

Here the girls are doing their favorite October activity - pumpkin painting. It can occupy them for a very long time, concentrating to get it just right: 

Cade was interested this year too: 

Cade & Lyla both enjoyed playing in the hay this year - Lyla called it the “hay pool” - it was exactly that. 

Cade’s alternative view of the world: 

I loved watching Cade remove his shoes and socks (it was freezing cold out there) just to feel his feet in the hay…we could all learn a little from an almost three year old’s mentality, I think...

Cade and Bodhi, playing at the top of the hay mountain:

And, here is our sweet girl, showing me her “nest” she built out of straw. She was so proud of it. In classic fashion, she was so inspired by building her own nest at Gallrien that she insisted on building one out of her bedding the moment we arrived back home. 

This girl has the most amazing imagination!

It was a great day - blustery fall and all!

Vegas!!

Lance & I got to travel to Vegas this week for an Emergency Medicine conference - it was a great opportunity for an adult vacation and time to catch up with old Columbus residency friends.

We stayed at Caesar’s - the pool was beautiful! Nancy and I enjoyed our morning, poolside lattes…I’m still thinking about how wonderful that was...

Our room was beautiful, and Lance got it upgraded with the $20 tip trick - it took us a long time to get checked in, but the view of the Belagio Fountains was worth it!

Nancy and I had a great time together - it was so much fun picking up right where we left off…I can’t believe it’s been 5 years and 5 kids between the two of us later…it’s amazing how much has happened in such a short period of time. 

Still, I’m so happy to have the kind of friendship with her that starts right back where it left off. And, there’s nothing like having another ER wife to commiserate with! 

We loved Serendipity’s - I’m still dreaming about these desserts!

It wasn’t easy to get here, but thanks to a breaking fever, Mimi, Nan and Nonnie, we were able to do it, and it was worth every stressful moment. 

And, we were all happy to hang out with Chris again - it’s been way too long. We loved playing blackjack - the 5 of us took over a couple of tables and I learned more about the game than I ever thought possible thanks to her cheat sheet. Her words, “Everybody wins!” and “Everybody loses” never rang truer!!

It was a great trip, and we absolutely can’t wait to do it again!

Pumpkin Patch Take 2

I was so sad to be unable to attend the Pumpkin Patch field trip with Lyla due to our travel plans, but I'm so lucky to have great friends who sent me pics along the way of her adventure.

Here she is on the bus. Riding the bus is a huge deal for her, and this was her first bus ride without Mommy. She was so excited for her "big girl bus ride"!




She loves spending time with her friend Reagan - they're so cute together!












Other photos of our sweet, sweet girl:










I can't wait to hear all about it when we get home!

More pumpkin patch adventures scheduled for Sat. with the Hottman family!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Gallrein Farms

Boo at the Zoo and the Downside

Boo at the Zoo was slated for October 11 this year - we bought tickets, we made plans with our friends - we were so excited to go...

..And then our sweet girl got strep. She braved through it, the antibiotics kicked in within 24 hours and she rallied through, but she wasn’t able to go this year. 

I’m so sad that she and I stayed home, but we made the most of it - watching movies, snuggling, crafting and eating together with Mimi. 

I told her about it after Cade left…she was sad, but she has this amazing understanding for an almost 5 year old. Really, sometimes her maturity blows me away. Here she is just after her last fever broke - she finally starting eating again, and was miraculously fever free just in time for Mommy to leave for Vegas the next morning with no guilt. I can’t help but think she’s just a little (okay incredibly) amazing for that. 

She wanted chicken noodle soup after she heard the doctor suggest it at her appointment this morning: 

I think sometimes it’s good for Cade to have to go it alone without Lyla - he revels in hanging out with Big Boys, especially Eli. I love that he loves Eli so very much…there’s no Big Boy I’d rather him emulate. I hope their friendship transcends these early years. 

Here is one of my all time favorite images. All. Time. Favorites. Thank you, Lance for capturing this one. 

Cade loved his firefighter costume. We waited for the last second to present it to him as we didn’t want to take any chances of him changing his mind if given the chance to do so - he does have a mind of his own...

Love this one: 

And this one...

I think Cade really believes Eli is Superman. 

Sometimes things don’t work out according to the original plan, but maybe that’s the whole point….maybe things work out just as they’re supposed to. 

Nonetheless, here’s to next year!