oktoberfest

I'd been looking forward to Oktoberfest since......the first day that it got really hot in the summer.  Oktoberfest is the un-official beginning of Fall to me.






It wouldn't really be Oktoberfest without our traditional pizza dinner beforehand:









I knew we weren't going to get past the rides (and closer to the CRAFTS) without a fight so we let the girls go on a few.























Arissa was prepared to ride her favorite ride solo, except as soon as she sat down, these two little boys hopped right up next to her.  It was cute.

Then came the Frog Hopper.  Mariah's favorite ride.  All 3 girls got on.













So much fun!


Then the ride started.











And the way each girl felt about the ride can be clearly seen here on their faces:








Mallory is not laughing.  She is screaming/crying hysterically.










But she made it through.  And I bet she'll be on that ride again cause she'll forget how terrified she was.


All 3 girls brought their wallets....hooray!  That meant that all WE had to spring for was the pizza & the ride tix.  The rest was all on the girls themselves, and Jesse was able to save a little somethin for the beer garden!


Here, Mallory's face is saying "can you hurry up and take the picture so I can go spend every last penny in my wallet on stuff I won't play with after 2 hours?"










These girls are lucky I can photo-shop those fingers outta my pics!!







One of the things they wasted spent their hard-earned money on was....sweets.


Highly over-priced sweets.












But watching them do their own transactions is always cute, and always entertaining for the clerk too:










"Please take our hard-earned money that our Mommy & Daddy gave us to teach us how to save for things we really want, and in return please give us some sugar with added sugar and a sprinkle of sugar on top":







Mmmm sugar.  Mariah's came in the form of a Root Beer Float:






Arissa wanted hers in the form of shaved ice:











Then they all ran around in a little sugar-frenzy with their empty wallets until it was time to leave.


I so LOVE Oktoberfest. 

I do not love the smell of bratwurst cooking.

GROSS.

car wash

(Yes, stripes & patterns DO go together.  It says so in Vogue.)




"Somebody come to our car wash":









"Won't anybody come to our carwash?":







They did.  The girls (+ a few boys) worked hard.  It was hot.



























My BF really wanted to join in and help, you could just tell.  Maybe in a few years....

lanterns

We made halloween lanterns with mason jars, painter's tape, and acrylic paint.

I cut little templates out of the tape, then the girls plastered the jars with paint.















When they were dry, we pulled off the tape and threw a tea-light inside and watched 'em glow.







It's hard to see in the photos, but in person they're much more clear.  We did two jack-o-lantern faces, and one spider + the words "boo!".

Musical

I told Mallory it was her turn to get involved in activities like her sisters, and she could pick whatever she wanted to do.  She ended up picking like 5 different things, and I told her she could try all of them to see what she liked best, but we had to start with just one.

And it made Jesse really happy when she chose Piano.








He quickly set up his big keyboard so that Mallory could practice at home.









She successfully completed (and then memorized) Mary had a Little Lamb and is now working on Clair de Lune.

I love hearing her play.

bonitafest

The Drill Team's first parade of the season was at Bonitafest. 

It was Mariah's first parade ever.





(I'll never forgive myself for not being able to finish crocheting that hair-net for her the night before....I totally failed.)


Waiting......














"Moms and their cameras, what can you do...."















She was nervous &excited.  Mostly excited, I think.








I tried to keep Mallory busy.









Then Sherry gave her a very important job:  handing out flyers for the dance studio to any and every kid/parent on the parade route.  She was only shy for a second and then she did awesome.

Her socks were two shades of neon pink.












Guess who we randomly ran into?












Working on her forced smile for all the many cameras that get shoved in her face at these events:







All the girls are so sweet to Mariah.  Sherry asked the leader-girls how come they were treating her different than the rest of the team (i.e., not shouting at her) and they said "because!  she's so soft and sweet!".  :)









Bright smiles, curly hair, dimples, and big old kissable cheeks....i love 'em.