No, I didn't X-ray the candy

 No-nap Thomas and Over-eager Batgirl ready to head out to a night of Halloween fun. 

 

 A bunch of costumed kids you don't know.

 Batgirl and Gabe Brees. 

Batgirl hanging with the fourth graders, Referee Addie and Taylor Swift. 

Amalia's inaugural night of trick or treating. It was quite an adventure. She got to pet lots of dogs and cats, since she would walk right into people's houses as soon as she saw an animal inside. She also didn't understand that it's polite to only take one or two pieces of candy. She would stand there grabbing fistfuls as long as people would let her.

This became her outfit for most of the night, as Thomas was abandoned after being tripped on at the third house.

 Amalia Brees. 

 Batgirl Brees.

 

 Ending the night with the neighbor boys, Dinosaur Santi and Horse Bauti. 

Lily's decorated replacement pumpkin, which we had to run out to get at Safeway earlier today -- to replace the one that the squirrels ate.

Rally time!

 The girls were their most moderate selves at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. The crowds, however, were a bit insane. And because we had the girls, we didn't venture deep into the throngs. Therefore, couldn't really see or hear anything. (I think the Comedy Central folks seriously underestimated the number of attendees.) Will watch it online tonight. I heard I missed my childhood hero Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

 Furthermore, cell reception was terrible and Andy and I got separated from each other for about an hour. I did see some clever signs while I was freaking out, though.

 Sorry this one is so far away. It says, "Graphic Designers for Bipartisanship." 

 I particularly enjoy Nixon looking on. The guy with the sign is supposed to be Mr. T.

Well, even though we didn't get to see The Roots or Sheryl Crow, Amalia did enjoy the ad hoc music in our area of the Mall.

Sidebar: Before the Rally, Lily had her Saturday morning art class at the Corcoran, so I got to take some pictures of her in her element.

Princesses and superheroes galore

Last Thursday morning, I had to decide between an important client meeting and getting to see Lily's Halloween parade at school. It was a tough choice, but I think I made the right one. She's only in kindergarten once, right? (Well, at least we hope so...)

 Princess Ariel. 

And the parade begins. Lily is followed by Drew Brees, aka Gabe. To the far right is Ms. Guaraldo dressed as a candy corn.

Lily, Gabe, and the Gingerbread Girl.

 

The class also put on a short production of "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything." Lily had a surprise starring role as "the pants." Apparently the pants didn't show up. I hate it when that happens. 

Place of honor

Kathy and Colin sent us a picture of Lily's "Family Tree" painting mounted above their fireplace. Lovely.

One little monkey

We all know how hard it can be to stay focused when you've got a song stuck in your head.

 

The holiday spirit

 Our pumpkin carving may have come a bit early. As you can see, Lily's became an all-you-can-eat buffet for the squirrels that live under our porch. And mine got all moldy and attracted an army of ants. (I decided to spare you a picture of that one.)

Lily loves this dress. October be damned. 

 

We ran into Lily's classmate Sasha at the park. Here all three are prepping for a ride on the carousel with a refreshing apple juice beverage. Unfortunately for Lily, it was unseasonably warm last weekend; the fur-lined collar and thick black leggings proved to be a regrettable choice. 

Lily finds herself unexpectedly starring in her own movie. 

Homophones

Halloween is in the air. From this  morning:

Me: Amalia, which shoes do you want to wear -- the pink ones or the black ones?

Amalia: Which shoes.

Me: Yes, which shoes -- the pink ones or the black ones?

Amalia: No, witch shoes. I want to wear the witch shoes.

Holy batwings, Robin!

The suspense was almost too much for Lily. Good thing Amalia got something out of it too.

She originally wanted to be a bat for Halloween (you know, like the animal). But then we went online and she saw this one. Big surprise.

Garanimals might be called for

 

Lily always picks out striking ensembles. The above outfit features tiered layers on her shirt and skirt, as she pointed out to me. But I particularly enjoyed Amalia's concoction the other day. Can you count how many patterns there are?

Why am I reminded of Chico and the Man?

 

A portrait of Andy, taken by Lily.

Random anecdote: 

The other day Andy asked Lily what Stanford is (since the girls are often covered in branded apparel). 

Her reply: It's a place where people get married and where they play football. 

There aren't many years where the second part of her sentence is true; happily this happens to be one of them. (Beat Cal!)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Plumply, dumply pumpkins

Today was a beautiful day to go pumpkin picking.

 

Lily's  artwork -- before we carved it all up. 

 Not to be left out, Amalia also drew her own stem hole. 

The goop scoop.

 

Lily tried to do it without coming into any actual contact with the seeds. 

 

From left to right: mine, Lily's, Andy's. Amalia's didn't end up getting carved.

 

What with the porch pumpkins and all, I suppose we'll have to go get some candy to hand out to the neighborhood kids this year. Usually we turn off the lights and hide upstairs. :-)

Water, flowers, and chocolate

While killing time downtown with Amalia yesterday during Lily's art class, we discovered a hidden fountain on the GW campus. Andy would want me to make sure I pointed out that it was an environmentally friendly state-of-the-art stormwater reclamation system. Amalia just thought it was fun.

 Amalia serves as a good reminder that the reward is not always in the destination. It takes a long time to get anywhere when the 2-year-old decides she wants to push her own stroller.

Heard repeatedly: "I don't need help!" (usually declared when I was trying to keep her from running over hapless GW students or anyone else on the sidewalk)

Back home, we did some flower planting. Lily of course wore her chic, black gardening dress. 

Bonus video: Amalia deciding that she does indeed like chocolate and imploring Jake Bird not to eat her.

Workin' on the railroad

There's nothing terribly entertaining about the following video--just a little snippet of our lives. Amalia's been very into trains lately so we've pulled out all of Lily's old Thomas stuff.

Under her breath, Amalia is saying, "Lily take apart." The "no" is much more pronounced -- as it is wont to be.

They Might Be Busy

Last Saturday was a busy one. We dropped Lily off at her new art class at the Corcoran, took Amalia to Children's for a blood draw (allergy testing), made a much-needed shopping trip to Target, checked out a free They Might Be Giants show at The Kennedy Center (Andy and Lily), and then settled down for the evening to watch Stanford lose to Oregon. Despite being a bit overscheduled, everything turned out pretty well -- aside from the game, of course.

Back at Lily's stomping grounds.

Palatable kids music + Kennedy Center + free = lots o' people

Lily behind the camera.

Tough girl.

I guess it stands to reason that when you're in the equivalent of the nosebleeds, a 5 year old is going to start creating her own entertainment.