Super Colti

Today is a big day for both kids.  Both of their schools are having their Fall Harvest (aka:  Halloween) parties.  Brynn's school will be changing into their costumes at school but at Colton's school they are wearing their costumes all day.

Colton is going to be Elmo for Halloween but his costume is really hot so I didn't want him to have to wear it all day. Fortunately, I found a Superman costume for half price so he is wearing that today for school and Trunk or Treating (another BBA event).  He looks adorable so I had to share a couple of pics:-)

He is really mad in the above picture.  I made cake balls for Brynn's party and Colton spotted them this morning.  He just could not understand why I would not let him have one for breakfast!

The cape is my favorite part:-)

Meet Jackie Lanny

I already told you that over the weekend we went Pumpkin picking.  As soon as we got home Brynn started to ask when we were going to carve them.  We had originally planned to do it Thursday night while we watch The Great Pumpkin but then we were invited to a jewelry party Thursday night and let's be honest... Brynn (and I) couldn't stand to wait!

So we decided to go ahead and carve one pumpkin on Monday.  Brynn and I drew up the design for the pumpkin and then Dan cut off the top.  The idea was for Brynn and Colton to scoop the "guts" out of the pumpkin.  However, Colton took one look inside that pumpkin and said "No, yuk!".  Brynn may have picked out a seed or two but also said, "This is yucky!".  So, I dug in thinking that they would see that it was okay and help out...didn't happen.  I ended up cleaning out the pumpkin while the kids watched.  Colton did stick one finger into the pumpkin guts a couple of times and then taste it (so my kid).  Once I got it all cleaned out Dan was in charge of the cutting.

Ummm...that is yucky!

Cleaning out the pumpkin

Carving time

When it was all done I told Brynn that we needed to name it and she quickly said, "Jackie Lanny".   Did I mention that I love fall?  :-)

Jackie Lanny...the newest member of the String household:-)

Happy First Birthday Henry!

Because I am getting behind on my blogs, I have decided to make today a double blog day.

My youngest nephew Henry turned one on Monday.  I cannot believe that it has been a year already.  Henry came into the world six weeks early while Dan, the kids and I were in Florida. I remember saying to Leigh (my sister-in-law), "Don't you dare have that baby while we are away". She laughed and said it was way to early.  On our second day in Disney we got a phone call from Patty, Dan's sister, with the news that Henry was on his way!  I wish he could have waited until we were a little closer but we did have fun heading straight to the store and buying him his first Disney gear:-)

The birthday boy

On Sunday, we all got together at Henry's House to celebrate his big day with a football themed birthday party.  Henry was such a little ham and just loved all of the fuss and attention!



The girls in their Eagles gear



 Colton was so happy about the bubbles!

Arts and crafts

 Henry was not sure about the cake.  He acted very pleased with himself and a little confused as to what was going on.  He liked getting his hands dirty but didn't eat much...he preferred his cheerios.

Happy First Birthday sweet boy!  We love you...and remember you are an Eagles fan no matter what your Grammie tells you:-)

I Love Fall!

I love fall!  I love everything about it...the changing leaves, the cooler temps, all the fun fall activities/festivals/parades, Halloween, the clothes, camping, foods...seriously I could go on for awhile.  Because Dan and I love fall so much we try to fit in tons of activities.  I'm getting seriously behind on the blogs because there is so much I want to talk about in order to preserve the memories. 

This past weekend we took the kids pumpkin and apple picking.  We picked a local pumpkin patch and orchard in Bridgeville. This is a no frills kind of place (no face painting, corn maze, etc.) but we still had the best time...and I of course took a ton of pictures!

Colton was not a fan of walking through the pumpkin patch because the vines kept tripping him but Brynn was happy to give him a lift:-)

 

Both kids found some comfy seats.

 

I had never been apple picking before but of course I loved it...it is a fall activity.  The kids have always liked apple's if they are sliced up but will not touch an apple that is whole.  This trip may have changed things!!

Colton picking his first apple.

Daddy sharing his apple with Brynn

This is yummy!

Now Colti wants a bite

 Pull!!!

Such a ham...

Loving the apple!

Finishing up the picking adventure with fresh apple doughnuts (Colton like the apple better!)

Following all of the picking we went home and all took a nap...good stuff!



Catching Up

If you follow my blog you will remember that awhile back a beloved dance teacher (who also happens to be the grandmother of a good friend) passed away.  At her funeral, I saw a bunch of my old friends and we decided that we all needed to get together for dinner and do a girls night.   We are all moms, work full time and volunteer for various things so actually planning a date when most of us could get together took a bit of planning.  We actually set the date about a month ago and I was really excited to get together with those would could still make it.

We ended up going to Doc Macgrogans in Dover and had such a great time.  We shared a few (okay four) bottles of wine and had some dinner.  It was so nice to catch up on where we are in our lives now and to reminisce a bit about the past.  It felt like no time had passed at all since we were last hanging out and having girl talk.  After dinner we hit the dance floor where we danced the night away...even when no one else was dancing.  We had a blast and have already planned a couple of future get togethers:-)  Thanks gals...I have missed you!

PS.  Happy First Birthday to my youngest nephew Henry who turns ONE today:-)  I will blog all about his birthday party soon.  We had a jammed packed weekend so I have to break the weekend wrap-up into a few small blogs:-)

Vegas Baby!: Part 3 (Monday and Tuesday)

As usual Dan and I were up early on Monday thought admittedly it was a slower start to the day (at least for Dan).  We decided to walk to Paris where I had a delicious crepe for breakfast and Dan...he had a hangover;-)  We stolled around for awhile, did a little bit of soveneir shopping, and then went back to the hotel to meet up with the gang.

Wall of M&M's at M&M World

We spent several more hours touring the resorts along the strip.  We went to Circus Circus (so ghetto) and watched the "circus" which consisted of one act (who was on America's Got Talent).  We also spent some time checking out the Venetian (my favorite!) before heading back to our castle for some pool time.  We had big plans for the evening that night so Dan and I even managed to squeeze in a quick nap.

Act from America's Got Talent.

The entire gang met up to go to Mix Lounge for cocktails.  This place was amazing!  Mix is at the top of Mandalay Bay and the view were stunning.  We all had fancy cocktails which were almost too pretty to drink.  I had a Purple Haze Martini.  I couldn't tell you what was in it but it was delicious.  At some point while we were there I had to go to the bathroom.  To my shock, when I opened the door it was a little room with a toilet sitting in the middle of it with a floor to ceiling window right in front of that.  Lol...gotta love a room with a view I guess!

All dressed up for our last night on the town.

At Mix.

                             

Pimpin at Mix

After cocktails it was time for Happy Hour (lol...yes we did our fair share of enjoying adult beverages).  Happy Hour was at Minus 5.  I was really looking forward to this and it did not disappoint.  Minus 5 is a bar that is literally -5 degrees inside.  Before you go in, you are issued a heavy coat, gloves and a pair of boots that look like Uggs. Everything inside of the bar is made of Ice...the bar, the seats, the tables, the chandeliers and art and even your glass (Dave ate his glass when he was done drinking out of it).  It was such a "cool" experience.  In spite of the coats and boots it got pretty cold in there so we had no choice but to dance around to keep warm.  If you go to Vegas...you should do this! 

  We weren't allowed to take pics inside (have to order those) but this is a pic of Nora holding her glass when we came out of the bar.

         
After Happy Hour we were all feeling pretty good but had agreed that it was going to be couples time for while.  So the plan was to pair of and go to a nice dinner and spend some time with just our spouses.  Heidi (who is not my spouse;-)  )and I got a little distracted on our way to dinner and snuck in a bit of shopping for a few minutes but then we all went our seperate ways.

Now, we had been to a really fancy dinner the night before and Dan and I had planned on going out to another fancy dinner for just us but when it came time to do it...I just wanted to do something simple (I'm a cheeseburger girl at heart I guess).  So as we are trying to figure out what we are going to do we walk past a place called the Burger Bar and I decided that we should go there instead.  It's not quite as bad as it sounds because they did have a "gourmet" burger menu but for our fancy dinner we had a burger and fries.  See...I'm not high maintence...really!  It was delicious!

Dan with his "beer sampler".

After dinner Dan and I met up with Heidi and Dave and went for a limo ride.  After that the whole gang met up at New York, New York and went to an awesome Bar that had dueling pianos.  The pianists were amazing and played/sang everything from Sweet Caroline (our group's favorite.  Dave requested this song and dedicated it to Jim and Nora in honor of their 40th birthday) to Pour Some Sugar on Me.  We were all pretty tired by then so we went back to the hotel to get some shut eye.

On Tuesday Morning we snuck in one last breakfast at the buffet and got all packed up before heading to the airport for the ride home.

So that was a slightly edited story of our trip to Vegas:-)  It was honestly the trip of a lifetime and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity!  I know I will remember it forever:-)  Happy Birthday Jim and Nora and just remember Dan and I's 40th will be here before we know it;-)  Good times...

Vegas Baby!: Part 2 (Sunday)

Sunday was my favorite day of the trip.  It was jam packed with activity.  Because Dan and I are incapable of sleeping in, we were up at 6:00 so we decided to head to the breakfast buffet in our hotel.  This was the most gigantic breakfast buffet I have seen and I swear I ate everything:-)

After breakfast, we met up with the rest of the gang and decided that the guys were going to go to the Sports Book to watch some of the Eagles Game and the girls were going to head to a Pool Club called Liquid.  I have never been to a pool club and didn't really know what to expect.  A pool club is essentially a night club but at the pool...really loud music, lots of people dressed in very little and very expensive drinks.  I LOVED it!  We were the first one's at the club that day so we had it to ourselves.  We rented fancy lounge chairs (though admittedly spent most of our time in the pool), drank the most expensive drink I have ever had in my life (A super large strawberry mojito...worth every penny), had a light lunch and just spent some time girl-talking.  The guys decided that they were missing out so they did end up joining us (believe it or not the Eagles actually won!).  We had a great time hanging out and doing some serious people watching:-)

Dan and I chillin at Liquid

A view of the empty club:-)

                              

Yummy drink!

                                                                        

After lunch I was signed up for a class called "Night School for Girls".  It was a burlesque dance class and we also learned a chair dance and some pole tricks.  I had a great time!  There were probably 10 of us (girls only) in the class and it was a "girl's night out kind of atmosphere".  Everyone was drinking, laughing and just having a good time.  I probably should not admit this but I had so much fun learning to do pole tricks...and such fun photo opps:-)

After class it was time to get ready for dinner (can you tell I like to eat?  I talk about food A LOT!). We made reservations for all six of us at a super fancy steakhouse in Bally's.  Everything about this dinner was perfect!  The food was amazing!  Everyone ordered fun appetizers.  I had lobster bisque and Jim ordered escargot which everyone sampled...well not me...I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to snails;-) Everyone ordered steak except for me and I got Lobster Macaroni.  The steaks were ginormous and my lobster macaroni was one of the best things I have ever tasted.  Our waiter picked up on our personalities right away and spent the entire time joking with us not to mention giving world class service.  The best part was truly the company though.  We were all completely relaxed (well...except when Dan was bugging me but that's another story) and laughed until we cried.  I can't remember the last time I have laughed like that and it felt so good!

Escargot (am I spelling that right?)

Dan's dinner

                                    

The whole gang:-)

We finished dinner just in time to attend the show Jubilee.  Jubilee is a classic Vegas show complete with showgirls in sparkly costumes and giant head-dresses. Dan and I had actually seen it the last time we were in Vegas but I swear I could watch it over and over...but you know how I love sparkles and dancing.  I'm sure that Dan could watch it over and over again too but that may be more related to the fact that some of the dancers are topless.

All dressed up for dinner/Jubilee

After Jubilee we went outside to watch the dancing Fountains at the Ballagio.  It's pretty impressive and one of those touristy things that everyone who goes to Vegas has to do.  By this time we were all getting pretty tired and decided we had to up the energy or we were all going to crash. We had VIP tickets (not because we are important but because we paid for them) to go to a couple of nightclubs but they weren't open yet so we went to The Ballagio (or maybe it was Cesar's?) while we waited for them to open.  We wasted the time by having drinks at a place called Shadows (very cool place where they have girls dancing behind screens so all you can see is their silhouettes) and did a little gambling.

The fountains.

 At shadows watching the dancers.  We were watching a girl who looked more like she was having a seizure than dancing...hence the looks on our faces:-)

We decided to use our VIP passes to go to a nightclub called PURE.  None of us had ever been there so we had no clue what to expect.  We waited in the VIP line (which had as many people as the regular line but I guess ours moved faster).  We went through security and then were escorted upstairs.  We go up several flights of stairs and end up on a rooftop lounge.  It was AMAZING!  We had no clue that we were headed outside and were stunned by the views.  Such a fun place to hang out.  There was a DJ who was so much fun and we spent the next few hours breaking it down on the dance floor and taking pics.  We eventually gave in to exhaustion (and sore feet) and went back to the hotel to crash.

Blurry picture of the view

They guys

                 

The gals

                                           

The gang:-)

What a day!!!!  Stay tuned for the third edition of "Vegas Baby!" to hear about the end of our trip;-)

Vegas Baby: Part 1 (Saturday)

As you know, this blog is my "journal" and I don't want to forget a thing about this trip so I am going to break it down into two (maybe 3) blogs.  Off we go...

What an amazing trip!  We had a fabulous four days in Vegas.  We shared this journey with two other couples:  Dave & Heidi (Dave is on Dan's volleyball team but also a Felton boy so we have known him forever) and Jim and Nora (Both Jim and Nora are on Dan's Volleyball team).  The trip was planned to celebrate Jim and Nora's 40th birthday.  Obviously we are all really good friends and our personalities mesh well together so we knew we were headed for a great time.  Between us, we have 9 children and I can't even remember another time when we were all able to get away without any children.  Mama's and Daddy's gone wild...;-)

Happy 40th Jim and Nora!!

In order to maximize our time in Vegas, we took a super early flight out of Baltimore which meant that we had to leave Mom's at 3:30 am.  Getting up at that time was not a problem because we were completely amped up so we were ready to go when Dave and Heidi came to pick us up.  We had a direct flight to Vegas and because of the 3 hour time difference we ended up getting to Vegas at around 9:00 am.  We dropped off our bags at the hotel (Excalibur...not a great hotel but it was cheap and we spent very little time there) and then headed out to find some food.  We were all starved because it was lunch time back at home. We went to New York, New York and found some pizza.  I don't know if I was just starving or the pizza was just that good but YUMMY!  After lunch we just walked up the strip checking out the scene and the various resorts.  We stumbled across a street party where the day before they had broken the world record for the Largest Margarita.  We spent a few minutes there and then continued the tour.

Dave "planking" the elevator.

First (and last car bomb) of the trip.

                     

Nora and I at the Street Party

It took us about 3 hours to make it half way up the strip and by that time we were all getting pretty tired and hungry so we decided to go back to the hotel, check-in and head to the pool.  We spent several hours just relaxing by the pool and eating our second lunch.  The plan was for us all to catch a nap while at the pool.  I think a few people were able to sleep for a few minutes but our excitement and a belly flop competition (brought to us by a group of really drunk guys...not the ones with us) made sleeping a little difficult.  After some R and R in the sun we went back to our rooms to get ready for the evening plans.

That evening we headed to Old LasVegas which is off the strip a bit.  We were taken there by some kind of SUV-like limo.  It sounds really fancy but it actually worked out to be cheaper since we would have had to take two limos.  It was neat to see Old Vegas.  There are just lights everywhere and lots of little bars, bands, and shops.  We also did a little gambling while waiting for dinner at Tony Romas the home of the $11.99 steak and lobster dinner.  We of course had to sample the $11.99 dinner...not bad.  After dinner we continued the tour until we were all completely exhausted and then caught cabs back to our hotel. By this time we had all been awake for 24 hours so most of us went to bed.  Dan and Jim did spend a little time gambling at our hotel.

Dan and I at Old Vegas

Wow...that was really long and it was only the first day. This is definitely going to take 3 blog entries...stay tuned for Day 2:-)