Early Halloween Celebration

Today was the Squadron Kids' Halloween Party. Jack finally got an opportunity to wear his Elmo costume outside the house. He's been slightly obsessed with the costume since it arrived in the mail a few weeks ago (look for another blog post about him wearing it around the house) so we were excited for him to have a good reason to wear it.


Jack (as Elmo) laying down before the festivities. Jack and Allie going for a walk in the squadron before the party started.
There were lots of activities to keep the kids busy. Jack (with some help from mama) decorated a pumpkin cookie.

He played "pin the nose on the pumpkin", but was not a fan of the blindfold so he played without it.Going "fishing" for a prize. Taking a juice break.

Checking out his goodies with Reagan the Bee.The final organized activity was a parade around the squadron.The party was a success and Jack and all the other kiddos seemed to have fun.

By the way, if the photos in this post look particularly awesome it's because they are. We bought ourselves a fancy new camera for an early Christmas present.

"I Love You" Book

Jack usually picks four to five books to read every night before bed. One of his favorites is a book called "I Love You, Sun I Love You, Moon" that Aunt Sarah sent for Valentine's Day. Enjoy this video of Jack and Kevin reading the book. So cute!

Kangas and Raccoons and Butterflies... Oh My!

Lions and Tigers and Bears... Oh My!

Kevin had the day off so we took advantage of our family time and went to The Zoo of Northwest Florida. It is a fairly small zoo, but it was the perfect size for an active toddler and his pregnant mama. Jack loved seeing all the animals and said "hi (insert appropriate animal name)" and "bye bye (animal name)" at each exhibit. My favorite? "Bye bye king-a-roooo." When we asked, Jack said his favorite animal was the monkeys!

Our first stop was the "petting zoo" where you couldn't really pet the animals, but you could feed them. We thought the crazy goats jumping and begging for food might freak Jack out a bit, but he loved it. He giggled each time the animals ate out of his hands.



Jack and dada checking out a giraffe.

Another highlight of the trip was the train ride through the wildlife preserve. Jack was just excited to be on a "choo-choo" but Kevin and I were impressed with the set-up. Most of the animals weren't in cages in this section of the zoo - it was really pretty and especially cool when the animals would wander toward the train.Jack and dada got out of the train for a better look at the hippo and the brand new baby hippo.Another great day.

Dada's Shoes

For some reason, Jack likes to try on our big ol' shoes and try to walk and jump around. It often ends rather poorly with his little self falling one way or another. Today he just looked too cute while wearing Kevin's shoes and we had to take a couple pictures. Enjoy.

"Tutdown!!"

We had a Sunday great afternoon. After Jack woke from his nap, we went to Fort Walton Beach to do a little shopping and hit Buffalo Wild Wings for football and food. Kevin and Kate enjoyed delicious boneless wings, Jack chowed on mini corn dogs and we all watched some good football. We took this video of Jack celebrating a big touchdown. Unfortunately, it's really dark, but it's worth playing if only to hear Jack yell "tutdown" repeatedly and hollering with all the hooligans at BW3.

First Dance

The Jack and Claire escapades continue. They shared their first dance to the number 14 song from Sesame Street. They've got some moves!




They also did a little reading. (And eating. I took this picture immediately after Jack stuck an entire pretzel in his mouth. He's so charming with the ladies.)
Claire demonstrating that she knows the answer to the question on the book: "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" Jack always has a great time when he gets to play with Claire!