W&L October 2022

In the beginning of October, we were invited to a birthday party at a local petting zoo!

Wendy was brave to hold alllll the animals. 

... ALL of them!

While we were putting out our Halloween inflatables, I felt like there was something watching us...

An eerie presence...

Staring at us through the window!

Then we took a very impromptu trip to NYC. Lilly attracted a lot of static in her seat. 

It was a long day. The girls went to school, we picked them up just after lunch, parked at the air port, caught a shuttle to the air port, boarded our plane, walked around to figure out how to use the New Jersey train station, and we were finally on our 30 minute train to NYC. We still had a couple of blocks to walk in order to get to our hotel so we let Lilly sleep...

Oh, but she woke up!

It was long for us too though...

After a 15 minute walk through the city, we made it to our hotel!

The view 30 stories up. 

The next day, we took the *free* Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty!

Lilly was a pro at sitting each time we took the subway. 

Wendy felt very cool standing. 

We stopped at the 9/11 memorial. It was very touching!

After hanging out in the hotel to recover from our jaunt through the city, we hit the streets to explore and ended up at the World of M&M Store!

So many options!!

Said hello to Time Square!

Took silly tourist pictures!

And finally the main event of the evening: Wicked!

This is Lilly's "royal" pose. 

The show was so fun and the girls loved it! Lilly sang right along with Glinda when she sang "Popular".

The next day we visited Central Park!

The girls loved riding this ancient carousel. 

And then it was on to the main reason for the visit! When we heard Phantom of the Opera was closing on Broadway, we really did feel like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the girls to see it. 

Walking in to the theatre and seeing this scene was  exhilarating!

Then at intermission, we watched the crashed chandelier rise again to the top of the theatre. 

Wendy loved it and sang a long at "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again". 

We made sure to pose with each and every poster outside the theatre. It was set to close in February when we were there and they have since extended it to April. I wish it would stay open forever!

We were so happy to get home to our own beds and away from so many people. Lilly celebrated by taking a bath!

Then it was time for field trips! Lilly was able to go to the caves close-by.

Wendy went to the Wildflower Center. 

Then it was Wendy's class' turn to lead the school in morning prayer. 

They did a great job!

I had had enough of the Playroom being messy so I packed up all the toys. The only place to store them was my closet however...

These were the only toys left in the playroom until Christmas!

Lilly was invited to a frist grade Halloween party at a friend's house and they went all out! There was jewelry making, pumpkin painting, playing with friends, pizza...

And a witch's hat for everyone who came!

Wendy had the opportunity to have professional dance pictures taken. I thought they were stunning!

I ventured into a new category for my cookie business and taught a few cookie decorating classes this month. It's not any less work but it's different work. 

Baxter being beautiful...

And then it was Lilly's turn for her class to host morning prayer. 

She thought she did a good job too. 

For trunk or treat at church, I made my first sheet cake! 

We dressed up as different characters from the Wizard of Oz. 

And we won the costume contest!

Before October was over, we needed to go to the Pumpkin patch!

It was freezing this day so we had the patch mostly to ourselves for the first hour or two. 

The girls loved riding the ponies!

Jumping on the giant pillow. 

And we made it to the bell in the corn maze!

Good ol' Barrel train!

At this point I realized... maybe Wendy is getting a little too old for all of this...

But Lilly was loving it!

Finally, the hay ride!

The next day Wendy had the opportunity to participate in a flash mob with her dance company. 

Afterwards, the girls played until the sun was good and set. 

"She climbs a tree and scrapes her knee, her dress has got a tear"

Our final Halloween portraits on Halloween night. 

Happy Halloween!