mermaid in a fort, scary stories, splashing on pads, & showering a baby

"Ariel's Begining"

One Friday night, we asked the girls what they would like to do as a family and in response they said, "Make a fort, watch Ariel, & eat popcorn!"

So, we did!

  I had a hay-day watching Seryn's expressions while the movie was playing.  She was so into it.  The above picture is the moment Ariel came on the screen.

 And this one is when King Triton was 'reprimanding' Ariel.  I'm pretty sure Seryn was thinking, "Oh, no you did--n't, Mr. Triton!!"

Scary Story turned Not-so-scary

As we were getting ready for bedtime one evening, I walked into our bedroom and heard Chase whispering underneath a blanket.  I stopped to listen for a minute-- he was telling Sailor a "scary" story.  I didn't hear much of it since I promptly grabbed my camera and starting taking pictures.  All I could see was a tiny bit of light from his phone he was using as a "flashlight."

The best part of it was, later laying in bed that night, he retold the story to me (because he was pretty proud of it). He told me it started off as a scary story, but then led into a "if you get lost in the forest, this is how you get home" lesson.  It was so sweet, and I'm pretty sure Sailor remembers every word!:)

Splashing Fun

What are we going to do without all our friends from here??  That's a question I've been asking myself lately. We will miss them so much!  One day my friend Kayla and I had a fun time shopping at the clearance racks ,at Target, munching on food at Zupas (where we both almost broke down in tears because of our crazy, crying, whining, something was in the water that day kids), & then relaxed as we watched our kids go crazy on the splash pads. We all had a blast.............after a few gray hairs sprouted from the mommies's heads. :)

Shower for Baby Josie

Mid-september, I hosted a baby shower for a new friend/neighbor.  She moved here like 7 months pregnant and soon to be home-bound (for the next couple months) in a new place, so I thought, why not invite anyone and everyone to come meet her or get to know her a little better before she is most likely quarantined to her apartment.  In 4 words:

IT WAS A BLAST!

I was so grateful for the support from everyone--made me realize we are incredibly lucky to have such great people around us in this phase of our lives.  In our little 2 bedroom apartment, we had over 20 people sardined together for Italian sodas, a game, and hours of conversation.  It was a success!  Chase was a champ, especially, because he laid on the girl's bedroom floor after putting them down and then tried studying over the loud voices for 3 hours! After 11, I went in to check on him, I found him cuddled up (crammed) next to the girls on their twin bed.  He's amazing!

Thanks, Chase! ;)

Unfortunately, I haven't mastered the hosting/photographer role so I got very few pictures.

Didn't even get one of Megan, the one we honored! :(

Above are some of my closest friends here!  This was also Kaila H.'s last night in AZ before their family's move, so it was a great last evening together!