Halloweeeeen.

I'm just going to mention, so I can remember later, that we have had an awesome summer/early fall here in NYC.  I think we used our air conditioners a total of 5 times this summer.  Going to "lua's park" has become part of our every day and I am so thankful that this particular New York City park has a fair amount of green and trees and rocks and mud that Lua is absolutely obsessed with.  I'm sure, when she spends an hour making "soup puddles", a fair amount of that water contains pee and/or beer, but I'm focused on making these lemons into lemonade here, people.

For Halloween, even though I had some pretty awesome ideas (Esmé would have made a fantastic Lt. Dan:), we let Lua pick and she chose to be a pirate.  A lady pirate.  A lady princess Lua pirate.  

The weekend before Halloween, the cast of Aladdin hosted a little trick or treat party at the theater, which was super fun!  Each dressing room was decked out and the candy was plentiful!  Then, on Halloween, we decided to venture out to try and find some real, door-to-door trick or treating.  I remember as a kid, being dropped off at one end of a block.  Set free to go from house to house, with mom or dad waiting around the corner in the car.  Those days are long gone for most kids, but we did find a few blocks of storefronts that were all handing out candy, so that had to suffice.  We also stumbled upon a street that was closed to traffic and the brownstones were all decorated:)  It turned into a madhouse pretty quickly, but both girls were awesome and I'm so glad Lua was able to experience a little Halloween spirit!

Harvest Festival

Lua has been taking a few classes this fall and one of them is the Dance Project of Washington Heights.  It is a 'by donation' class and, by far, Lua's favorite.  Last weekend, our neighborhood hosted a Harvest Festival and Lua's dance class was invited to dance in a "parade" around the park!  Lua was so excited:)

And then she wasn't so excited...

Until we found her teacher, Miss Heather!

We were joined by our dear friend, Simon and his mama, Ashley:)  Simon didn't like Lua leaving him to dance!  I don't have any pics of the actual parade, because it was pretty crowded and Lua insisted on me walking next to her the ENTIRE way (pushing the stroller and carrying her sister).  Ah well.

After the parade, we got to have some fun at the Festival!

I'm starting to feel more and more like a functioning human some days (this day was one of them).  And on the days when I feel just like a machine that goes through the motions of being a teacher, janitor, milk maker, cop, chef...something like this happens at the end of the day that just fills my little heart and reminds me that we're going to be okay.

I was getting the girls ready for bed and I was tired.  And irritated.  And tired.  Andrew was gone a lot last week and I missed him, Lua missed him and we just all get along better when daddy is here to pick up some of the playtime-always-on-the-move-i-ness that Lua throws down.

Esmé was getting cranky and yelling to be picked up, Lua was STILL eating supper and jumping on the bed (not at the same time) and "helping" her sister learn to roll over.  She spilled something on the floor and I stomped off to the kitchen to grab a towel.  I came back to this.  The girls were talking to each other.  Esmé was babbling and Lua was telling her a story and holding her hand and they were just so....sister-y.  I love it.  How could I be upset?

Have a great night, everyone!

3rd Annual Cao Family Trip to the Amazing Maize Maze!

So, I know we didn't make it last year, but we've been going to the Queens County Farm Museum every year since Lua was born.  See our very first trip here :)

This year we went as a family of FOUR! and were joined by our dear friends Becca, Audra and her adorable babe, Hugo!  It was just about the perfect day.  

Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween!  I played Betty CreamCheese Homemaker this year and did some at-home decorating this year.  I had planned for some mommy daughter craft time and that lasted about 5 minutes, so most of what you see (up at the top there) was done my Andrew and me after midnight ;)

With the show starting previews TOMORROW (what?!?!), I was surprised when the cast invited all us mamas and kiddos to come trick or treat at the theatre on their dinner break.  I expected to go around to each dressing room and take a piece of candy, but they had gone ALL OUT!  Everyone was wearing some type of costume,  each dressing room was decked out in Halloween goodness and there was loads and loads of candy and toys (Lua nabbed playdough and a Mickey Mouse doll!).

Lua was given her awesome Sully costume by her uncle Buster and everyone thought she was cuter than cute.  She has been watching some of the Aladdin promo videos and is still a bit overwhelmed and starstruck when she meets everyone in person, so all of the ROAR-ing and TRICKORTREAT-ing we had practiced kind of took a back seat to fingers in mouth, but she warmed up after a little bit.  I'm sure by the end of our time here, she'll be ordering everyone around!

As for our everyday, we've been trucking right along!  It's hard to believe we've been here for two weeks and are going to be here until January.  I feel like I'm missing so much of my 'normal' life back home and yet, I'm glad for the change of scenery, the new friends and the three month 'vacation' I feel like I'm getting.

Lua continues to be a chatty Cathy (when she's not meeting Jasmine and Aladdin;) and is entering the phase of "no mama, i do it".  Everything from cracking eggs, to putting on socks and shoes, to playing at the playground, to swimming - she wants to do it all herself.  She misses her daddy a lot when he has to leave for work and insists on saying goodbye with hugs and kisses multiple times before she lets him out the door.  Some cute phrases lately:

"No, mama.  I'm good." (when I tell her we need to get her coat on)
"Come'on, Soph! Come'on Soph!"(asking to nurse in the middle of the night)
"Hold on.  I'll be riiiight back"
"Thank you/I love you SOOOOO Much!"
"Yer funny Dadda(Mamma)."
"Whater ya doin dehr?"
"Whole mouf? Whole mouf?"(EVERY SINGLE bite of food she picks up, she asks if she can put the whole thing in her mouth)

I guess that's all for now!  Happy Friday!

Hope everyone is having a fun and safe Halloween!!!

Oh, Canada!

It is so so so fun to pack all your stuff into boxes to put into storage, while remembering to keep your winter stuff out, while trying to think about what you can travel with for three months, while remembering that you need to continue to live and eat and work for the next month.  Add to that a two year old and a husband who is in the thick of rehearsals and has 1 day off a week that just so happens to fall on football Sunday (obviously no working on THAT sacred day).  Oh, did I say fun? I meant

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY WRETCHED.

So, that's where I've been the past month.  

My family came out last week to help me move everything (except 5 suitcases, the stroller and the carseat) into storage.  I don't know what we would have done without them.  They continue to be such a selfless presence in our lives (as have all our family) and I often wonder how Andrew and I got so lucky.  I'm betting it has something to do with the 23 pound wonder that is currently napping.  She has managed to take all of the moving in stride and is so excited to visit "Canada's house".  Ha :)

All of our hard work paid off, however, and we are in the nicest apartment, in the busiest neighborhood with some of the kindest folks.  I'm so happy to be spending the Holidays with my loves - hopefully some more loves will come visit! - and so grateful that we can afford (financially, emotionally, physically) to all be together.  Let the Canadian adventure begin!!

I haven't uploaded many pictures yet - we've only been here one and a half days - but here are a few pics so far!

last meal with some astoria friends and family 

such a cheesy lady

thank God for moms :)

all packed up! 

myles and dad goofing off after all the hard work was done

selfie at the airport :) 

ALADDIN! 

our building gets some pretty great light 

totally off topic, but i just picked up this candle for sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond (8.99, i think?).  i'm used to seeing really expensive candles, so when i happened upon this yummy thing on the clearance shelf, well, fugghettaboutid :)