UT Halloween

We went the Friday before Halloween to the UT Golf Club for their Halloween festivities. We had a blast!! There was a train ride, a bouncy house, a live band, a fireworks show. You name it and they had it. I should've taken a million pictures, but we were all so busy and having so much fun that I really only took a few.

 

Claire aka Jessie in the bouncy house

Claire got her face painted and loved looking in the mirror at it. We must've taken the mirror out 500 times that night for her to check it out!

Charlie's face paint... THE SCARY MUMMY!!

Claire and I danced the night away. She kept putting her cheek up to mine and saying, "Mommy, we are dancing cheek to cheek." Could she get any sweeter?

Claire and Pops throwing up their "Hook 'Em"

Charlie and Pops throwing up their "Hook Em." This is the point where I insert a sidenote: I tried a million times to get a picture of Chris but he is much like Harper...BUSY!!!

Grandma and her girls...

I love this picture because you can tell she is up to something!

This picture doesn't do justice to Claire's night on the dance floor, but its the only one that isn't blurry. She was a dancing machine. We didn't leave the dance floor all night and the girls didn't tire out until after 10:30?!

Our family

Hallelujah Halloween!

Our church held it's annual Hallelujah Hoedown and we all dressed up and made our way. Grandma, Pops, Christi, the boys, and my little family headed to church for fun with the petting zoo, inflatable slide, a live band, dinner, games, and more. The kids had the most fun on the slide and in the petting zoo.

The kiddos

Charlie and Claire danced to the band. Here they are together taking a break from cutting a rug...

The girls enjoyed the animals. Harper would've stayed in there all night. She was afraid of nothing and giggled at all of the animals. Unfortunately, her way to show affection to the animals is a big tight pinch. Ha! Claire ran around chasing pigs and goats. :-)



Here are the kids on one of many trips down the big, big slide... This was Chris's favorite! He was fearless!

Claire

Chris

Charlie

From wagon rides to slip and slides (and practice Halloween!)

We went to Houston to celebrate LaLa's birthday at the end of October. Halloween was fast approaching so Mimi and Papa decided to have a "practice Halloween." We dressed up, got ready and trick or treated at their house over and over again. The girls loved it! Mimi and I tried, at the beginning of Halloween season, to manipulate Claire in to being a princess, a fairy, a ballerina...something like that. We showed her all the costumes on Disney, several on other sites, but she insisted on being Jessie from Toy Story. We gave in, a bit reluctantly, but never looked back as soon as we got her all dressed up and saw how much she loved seeing herself all dressed up like her favorite movie character. It was a priceless moment.

 

Claire seeing herself as Jessie for the first time

Claire really wanted to pick out Harper's costume and decided Harper should be a "pun-kin." Harper loved it! We wore it so much, though, that by Halloween, Harper wore Claire's ladybug costume from 2 years ago. :-)

 

Harper the "pun-kin"

Harper and Claire - Punkin and Jessie

Mimi and her girls

Trick or Treat!

Papa and Claire had big fun on the pool raft. Papa would take her to the top of the hill, slide her down and then fold her up.  They must have done that for hours. Papa had to be tired at the end, but it was worth it watching Claire laugh hysterically.

Papa pushing Claire down the hill on the raft

Where's Claire?

The wagon is a big hit at the Nix's house. Both girls ride around as often as they can.They pull it themselves.  It is a fun treat to ride in the wagon.

Papa had a turn...

LaLa had a turn...

Mimi had a turn...

Claire had a turn...

Sweet girls in the wagon

Silly sisters

Cat came to town!!!

When Cat comes to visit, the kids freak out!! They have so much fun! Cat's just like one of the kids. She plays on the playground with them. They dance. They get dirty. They laugh. They watch sports. They play sports. They swim. They have good old fashioned fun. All of the grandkids love their Cat.

Claire and Cat

Cat sliding with the kids

D and Cat

Cousins on the slide - my best attempt at a group shot

Primrose adventure

Claire and Harper started at their new school and they LOVE it!! We worried about the change being hard on Claire because she'd been at her other school for 3 years and has some really close friends there, but the new school is so wonderful that she hasn't skipped a beat. She is now in a bit more structured environment and is learning a lot. She can write her name now?! But, they also know how to have big fun! She is worn out at the end of the day after learning and playing so much.

This is Claire on the drive home from school after her first day. Worn out!

A week after they started at Primrose, the school had a Community Helper Day. The whole week was geared around all the different community helpers in society- doctors, teachers, nurses, veterinarians, firemen, policemen, etc...They even had a visit from the fire department to let them play on the firetruck and to teach them to "stop, drop and roll." Harper's week was packed with the same fun, including puppet shows and other fun activities. Harper's class didn't dress up for the fun day. They are too little.

Dr. Claire and just a few of her new friends and her teacher, Ms. Darling (who is DARLING, I might add)!!!

The Pumpkin Patch

Pops and I headed to the pumpkin patch. Typically, Claire is a camera girl. She will let you take pictures of her all day. She poses. She smiles. She sits. The works... Harper, on the other hand, is so busy that you are lucky if you can catch a picture of her at all. She never slows down. This time, the tables turned. Harper posed and smiled for the camera, but Mommy had to bribe Claire with treats to get pictures of her in the pumpkins. She wanted to run around and play in the pumpkins. Pops and Claire went in the church to decorate a pumpkin while Mommy and Harper continued to play in the pumpkins.

Harper and Claire in the pumpkin patch

Pops and Harper

Pops and Claire

Claire

Harper sitting on the pumpkins

She loves it!

Pops and Claire decorating a pumpkin

Happy Birthday to Pops!

After a disappointing loss in Dallas, we had to take Dad to celebrate his birthday! So, Grandma and Pops, Daren and I headed out to dinner after the football game. It was a really fun night and a nice way to celebrate my sweet, awesome Dad after a long, frustrating day. :-)

Mom and Dad

We all drove back to Austin and met up with Christi and the boys for some afternoon fun by the pool and birthday dinner and cake with Pops. The boys gave Pops a Spiderman t-shirt which he loves. They threw Spiderman webs all evening and it was so funny!

All the Spidermen

The girls love their Pops!

TX/OU Weekend and While We Were Away...

Grandma and Pops, Daren and I headed off to Dallas for Texas/OU weekend. Daren and I were ecstatic to celebrate one of the most festive UT games of the season, and also so excited to have some good quality time with each other. Mimi and Papa came to Austin to take care of the girls and off we went...

The night before...

Horns up pre-game

Mom and Dad pre-game

We made it to the fair and walked around. We had a few paper cup beers(yum!) and we stood in line for a Fletcher's but gave up. We should have known, at that point, that things weren't looking good for the Horns.

We promised Claire a picture of Bevo so here is Mommy's promise fulfilled. I just wish we could've brought home a victory!

While we were away, the girls ventured to Lady Bird Lake (formerly known as Town Lake) and played. I love these pictures that Mimi took of them. They make me smile!

Happy Harper

Sweet cowgirl Claire

Mimi and Papa promised Mommy and Daddy that the girls would wear their burnt orange on game day, but we never dreamed they would wear it too!!

Papa and Harper

Mimi and her girls