Fall Flies By

The first big adventure of this month was that mom got to go to Orlando Florida on a "girls trip". The express purpose of the trip was to visit Harry Potter World in Universal studios. (Yes, I really am that much of a Harry Potter geek, I mean fan. ) We did hit up a few other stops while we were there as well. Outside of travel the trip consisted of three days. The first day was spent recovering from our red-eye flight. What better way to do this than the beach?!! We visited ___________ beach and the weather was perfect and the water warm. After playing in the waves we all fell asleep on the beach for a nice long nap. I got terribly sunburned but it was all worth it. Seriously amazing. After cleaning up we visited Downtown Disney for a little shopping and Cuban Cuisine. I was so excited to find a stuffed Mickey for baby boy that was almost as big as he is! I had to "lighten my luggage" (aka: dump a few things) to get him on the plane home, but it was so worth it. Day 1:

The second day was dedicated mainly to Harry Potter world and exploration of Harry Potter world was dedicated mainly to eating, shopping, and nerding out. I fulfilled such dreams as walking through platform 9 3/4, eating at the 3 Broomsticks, sampling pumpkin juice and butterbeer, purchasing a wand at the famous Ollivanders, getting my first Chocolate Frog and other goodies, and absolutely soaking up all the nice little touches the creators of universal studios added to create an epic Harry Potter experience. It was, as said, epic. And yes, we did completely forget our age, nerd out, and pretend to cast spells and duel with our new wands throughout the day. (oh, and as a little side note we did ride a couple other rides at the Universal studios parks, but who cares when compared with Harry Potter World! Am I right?!) Day 2:

The last day we spent the first half at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot. This obviously included some fun rides and shows. I loved how Animal Kingdom is just a large zoo done Disney style. Lovely. The best part for me at Epcot was that they were doing the annual food and wine festival. I cannot even express to you what a heavenly experience this is for wannabe foodies like me. It is definitely now at the top of my bucket-list for visiting someday with my hubby. I am already SO EXCITED!!!! Day 3: picture to come.... After a fun-filled trip I came home tired and ever-so-ready to hug my baby and my hubby. I have never been so homesick on a trip as I was on this one. A baby and awesome husband will do that I guess. I think I missed baby more than he missed me though, as he had so much fun with Grandma S. and Daddy. What an amazing family I have! Here he is hangin' at the farm while I was gone: Another highlight of October was a weekend in Utah we took just for us three. The weekend was fun-filled and it was nice to spend time together after a few days apart. Sweet P on the moon and mars! (at the SLC Planetarium):

Playing in the leaves at Thanksgiving Point:

Eating at Dairy Keen for the first time (an old family tradition) and getting our first kids meal toy!:

We also visited the aquarium and Ikea for a little Christmas shopping. Family vacations are the best, especially when your baby is a good sleeper in the hotel! (Primarily because you have to face everyone at the continental breakfast and random fire alarm episodes that evacuate the building......) And last, but not least, October means HALOWEEN!!! It was Sweet P's second Halloween and he was Mike W. this year from Monsters Inc. we started our festivities the night before Halloween where the glorious tradition of cooking a ginormous pot of gumbo ensued! YUM!!!! The next morning we decorated pumpkins, kid style, which means we finger painted them with edible flour finger paint. We thought baby boy would love this, but he didn't really care for putting his fingers in the paint. With guidance from dad it turned out pretty good though. That night we got all dressed up in our coordinating costumes. Me: Sully from Monsters Inc. Baby: Mike from Monsters Inc. Dad: a human "extra" from Monsters Inc. Then it was off to trunk-or-treating at the church. Sweet P. didn't seem to interested in the fact he was collecting candy, he was more interested in checking out the costumes of the other kids and loved it when one went to play with him in the leaves. When it was time to go he was stripped of his new friend, all his candy, and the small choking hazard toy his new friend gave him. Life as a toddler can be so hard. He wasn't too happy til we made it to Boo at the Zoo which he absolutely loved. I was impressed with all the lights and décor they put out. The hubby and I decided that it is now a must for our Halloween celebrations until our kids outgrow it. Then, we will probabloy have to wait until we are old and wrinkly to continue the new tradition. Yes, we loved it that much. On the way home we stopped by Grandma S to trick or treat. We love grandmas and grandpas! Baby boy was off to bed when we got home and mom and dad enjoyed his candy and our traditional Hotel Transylvania movie. (by-the-way, we are not completely horrible, baby boy is getting large amounts of his candy that he can eat. No children were sugar deprived in the making of this Halloween. :) )