The Ladybug and the Bumblebee

Today was the annual Mermaid's Lagoon Pumpkin Parade! The girls' daycare hosts this every year, and all the Starbucks partners in our building (many of whom are parents) are invited to come out to the front to see all the kids in costume. I used to come to the parade before I had kids, but it's much more fun now! Matt met us for the festivities.

Emma dressed as a Ladybug because one of her favorite books is Ten Little Ladybugs (from her friend Hailey Wilson). Mia was a Bumblee because her favorite song these days is "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee."

Extreme family close-up.

Last year's Halloween family pic for comparison.

The Ladybug shows off the pumpkin she painted.

The Busy Bumblebee takes a break.

Classmates + parents pic: Jeannie, Sophia the Bumblebee, Sam the Samurai, Lisa, Jenny, Catherine the Fairy Princess, Mia the Bumblebee and me, Matt, Emma the Ladybug, Leesie, Greg the Shark, Nicole, Cedar the Dragon.

Miss Channelle and Miss Mishia with the girls.

The parade route: before.

The parade route: after. The Bumblebee drags Daddy along, while the Ladybug snags Mom's Flip Video to try to take some film. The scary dragon ahead of them is their friend Cedar.

Walking amongst the fallen leaves. Emma is still trying to figure

out the camera. Meanwhile, I couldn't take any video.

Daddy and his little insects - I mean girls.

The bumblebee chases the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. (Our friends' son, Hayden Kruse.)

The Ladybug flies away!

But not before the Bumblebee sees her.

Fly, Ladybug, fly! The Bumblebee is catching up!

Another comparison pic from 2008. It's amazing how much they've grown this past year!

Pumpkin Painting Party

The girls' daycare class had a pumpkin painting party this week, so I made plans to attend. It was to start at 3pm. We probably got started at 3:05pm, and the kids were all done by 3:12pm. It was a whirlwind session with 7 toddlers covered in paint! After getting them washed up, we quickly moved on to apple cider, play doh and storytime.

Emma uses the paintbrush to paint her face and hair, and fingers to paint the pumpkin. Whatever works!

Mia focuses on using the paintbrush, with some help from Mishia.

Emma's finished product.

Mia's beautiful pumpkin.

The girls' made jack 'o lanterns, as well - Mia's is on the left; Emma's on the right.

Apple cider time! Clockwise from bottom: Emma, Miss Chanelle, Sophia, Greg, Mia

Pumpkin play doh time! Sophia, Sam, Mishia, Greg, Emma and Catherine dig in.

Catherine gives Emma a hug! She loves giving everyone hugs.

Storytime with Riley. Mia and Emma (and the rest of the kids) love "Good Night Seattle."

The Pumpkin Patch

We took advantage of a semi-nice day to check out a pumpkin patch and farm. Our friends, the Roddas, have been going to Fall City Farms for years, and recommended it. We thought it was great too! Not too big, not too small, and the price was right...free! We went late in the day, so we didn't even get to see/do everything. But we all had a good time exploring and it was a fun, fall outing.

First stop: Chicken coop. The girls, especially Emma, loved the chickens and roosters. Mia quickly spied the dogs running around on site, and yelled "doggie, doggie!"

Next stop: pumpkins!

The ground was a bit muddy due to all the recent rain. I'd picked up some galoshes for the girls, luckily. As soon as we pulled up to the farm, we noticed everyone was wearing them. This is a cool shot of all of us walking along the path to the pumpkins. Emma is holding my hand, and Matt & Mia are in the background.

Mia is on a pumpkin mission.

Emma stops to adjust her boots. They were a little funny to walk in. We walked back toward the entrance, and stopped to see some cows. Mia practiced her "Moo" sounds and the cow moo-ed back.

Back at the main area, the girls find some pumpkins just their size!

Fall Family Pic - Emma, Mama, Daddy, Mia

We hoped to go on the hayride, but just missed the last one while we were looking at pumpkins. We jumped on to take a photo, at least, but it was too bad, because the girls would have loved it. We ended the trip with some fresh pressed apple cider and handmade donuts. Delish!

House of Pumpkins

Wall of Gourds

Grocery Shopping Can Be Fun!

We rarely take the girls grocery shopping. When we do, they ride in their stroller, and it's clear it's not their favorite thing to do. The other drawback, although well-intended, is that other shoppers stop to ask us about the girls or comment. So typically Matt or I go shopping on our own, leaving the other one at home with the girls. Or every once in a while, we'll each take one girl to run errands and they get to ride in a shopping cart. But that's probably only been a handful of times.

The last few weekends we've taken the girls to Fred Meyer and seen the double seat car carts for kids. They've never been available so the girls have had to suffer through in their strollers. Yesterday, however, we finally scored one, and it revolutionized our shopping experience.

Emma isn't sure what's going on at first.

And we're off! Emma leans forward to grab the wheel.

Wheeeeeee! This is fun! The girls loved riding up high in the shopping cart where they could see everything and everyone.

Mia takes the wheel.

"Mama!" The girls would yell after Mama or Daddy when they saw us coming from down the aisle or across the store.

Mia notices the balloons while waiting int he check-out line. "Ooooh!"

Emma sees them too. Who knew the check-out line could be so fun?

Yay, let's do this every Saturday!

Emma and Mia drive the cart and Daddy to the car.

Vroom! Vroom!

Too much fun. Night, night! Nap time.

Bedtime Stories...and Dancing!!

Emma & Mia love storytime with Daddy, especially before bed.

But they also love dancing! Pre-bedtime dance parties have become a regular activity in the Lund household. The girls know how to turn on the radio in their room, so they crank up C 89.5 or Movin' 92.5 - whatever they feel like. They love twirling and falling down. Mia also tends to point her index fingers on each hand - hilarious! What a great way to end the day.

Editor's note: these videos are rough cuts, and no, Matt is not wearing a dress; that's an apron. He's our in-house chef.