fall festival 2012

In early October, we made our annual trek to Butler's for the fall festival. This time, we invited Liora's best friend Elle and her parents. It was a beautiful, warm day.

 

Liora in her backwards hat and upside-down sunglasses. She was decked out!

We started off with our hayride to the pumpkin patch!

Blowing bubbles.

 

Every fall festival needs a monkey, no?

I think this wheelbarrow is meant for the pumpkins ladies.

On a pumpkin hunt.

Beautiful girl!

On her annual pony ride.

 

Feeding the goats. She remains wary of letting them nibble her fingers, but enjoys watching others do it.

 

Speaking of nibbling fingers...

In the hay maze.

 

 

LOVE this photo of Kaya.

In the hay barn (lots of hay this trip)

 

This was probably the highlight this visit. The girls had a ball jumping off of haybales and throwing hay all around.

 

Kaya Kisses

Kaya started kissing us with sloppy wet kisses sometime in September/early October.  

 

Wait, this has nothing to do with Kaya kisses, but Liora IS making a fish kiss face, so it applies to the theme, right?

Cuddling with daddy at the top of the stairs.

Here she is, getting ready for the kiss.

And laying an open mouthed kiss on his cheek.

And here it is, in action.

Rosh Hashanah

In September, MeMe and Amity were in town to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. It was a very special visit for one young lady in particular.

With Liora's third birthday on the horizon, MeMe and Amity celebrated by getting Liora a new bicycle, the best early birthday gift ever! They took a special trip to the bike store and got her the beautiful pink number you see below. Liora took to bike riding quickly.

Liora loves her bike, thank you so much guys!

Liora also had a special lunch out with MeMe and Amity, all on her own, at one of her favorite places, Le Pain.  

 

 

 

We got in on the family fun too!

 

Out for a French dinner.

Liora loves butter with her bread.

And playing under the table.

And at Aunt Nurit and Uncle Roy's for the celebration.

Kaya planning her next trip.

September Specialties

September was a fun month! Here are some high points:

 

We gained a mermaid princess for a daughter.

 

We had a visit with our cousins from Louisiana!

Kaya ate her first rice cereal...

...And was a natural!

 

We hired help.

And Kaya started sitting on her own!

Liora's a Flower Girl!!

In early September, mommy's best friend Elizabeth got married! We were all so excited to be a part of the festivities...mommy was the matron of honor and Liora was the flower girl.

 

The beautiful bride getting her hair done.

 

Elizabeth and Jason tying the knot.

Mommy up front with my lovely rose bouquet.

Family portrait. Kaya joined us for a split second before she went back to the hotel. Thanks to cousin Sarah and hubby Ryan, who provided babysitting services.

Liora LOVED her tutu outfit that Miss Elizabeth picked out for her.

She danced from the time we arrived until our departure.

She invited many guests up on the dance floor to join her and got the party started! Liora took her duties very seriously, and we got many requests for her services at other weddings. :)

silly girls, 4 months old

August 2012 saw Mommy going back to work and the girls going to school full-time (goodbye nanny). It was a rough transition, but one we stil believe was the right choice. Liora is at the age where being in school every day is much more interesting than being at home, and Kaya is benefitting from having one caregiver. Mommy hated leaving Kaya! But we soon got used to the schedule and haven't looked back. Here are some additional August highlights:

 

Aunt Gabi taught Liora that being out in the rain can be fun (she wouldn't learn that from mommy, let me tell you). And so she experimented with her first summer rain in bare feet and loved it!

This cat just will not give up the bouncy seat...

...Unless he has a warm dryer to get into.

Liora started preschool in August, moving from the "cockleshells" classroom and into "beanstalks." She was so excited about the move, and talked for weeks about how she "is a beanstalker now" and thus a big girl.

 

It's true, our Liora is becoming so big, growing into a wonderful, smart, and sweet kid.

We introduced Kaya to the joys of the jumpy, and she really enjoyed the new perspective it gave her.

Smiling sisters!

 

Her four month portrait, which we posted on facebook. We were hopeful that the she would actually start sucking her thumb for self-soothing purposes, but this was really just for this one photo!