Happy Halloween!

Kole's third and Karissa's second Halloween went off without a hitch. There were actually two events. Thanks to Aunt Dawnell, Kole went as a race car driver.
... while little Karissa, at 13 months old, went as a ladybug ...

First, there was an event at our church over the weekend. If you haven't noticed, many churches are moving away from "Halloween" as a holiday celebrating dark magic, evil and death. Instead opting for a "Fall Festival" where kids get to dress up, get candy, etc. No big fuss made about those who stick to Halloween, just a different title with the same rules and theme of season. It would be nice if Atheists could learn a thing or two - at least the one (sometimes, literally, ONE) who annually gets a bug up his ass about some public display of Christmas and can't let it go without ruining it for the entire town. But anyway - the non-protesting, culturally cohesive and tolerant Fall Festival: Games and a bounce house and things to do for costumed kids to earn candy ...Then came the big day, Monday - Halloween Night ...
They trick-or-treated together for a little more than half and hour. We have a lame neighborhood - lots of porch lights out. Karissa wasn't going to last on a big, extended neighborhood venture, so she and Mommy stayed back at the house to hand out candy then Kole and I took to the streets and made a pretty good haul. A very good haul for a 3-year-old race car driver who can barely keep a Big Wheel on the sidewalk without swaying into the grass.
Happy Halloween!

State Fair Day

We got a sitter for Karissa, figuring she would be confined to a stroller for most of the day, and figured that her napping or lack thereof may restrict or hamper our day - so Kathy, Kole and Daddy all headed for the State Fair of Texas today.
It was a lot of fun and Kole had a ball. He went on far more rides than we thought he would - spooked by none of them, although on some he did want one of us with him. That's not real easy, as you can see in the one photo where Daddy is riding along side him with knees in his chest. We walked a lot, we pet animals at the petting zoo, we ate corny dogs next to Big Tex and cotton candy as we strolled through the Midway playing games and riding rides.
We had a really, really good time. We got to the Fair around 9am and left around 2pm - and the final photo of the slideshow is of Kole completely wiped out in the back of the car. He was like that practically before we pulled out of the parking lot.
Great day!

Karissa In Motion

Time to play catch-up, and prove that while I've been a bad blogger, I have not been asleep at the wheel with the camera. Here are the highlights of Karissa crawling and walking for the very first time.