Enjoying the warm autumn...

We had such a good time at the pumpkin patch. It was the middle of October but was in the mid 70's and sunny. We met Aunt Nicole and Kaulini there and went out to look for pumpkins...one for everyone. Fi and Lini got to carry little toddler-sized ones back. They had a great time climbing on the hay cart and sitting on the tractor, then they spent some time walking through the little country store together.

Fiona's second birthday party!

She's two!! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday she was sleeping in my arms and she fit right in the crook of my elbow. It has been an amazing journey so far.....and it has been a wonderful year for Fi and for us. It is so much fun to watch little Fiona unfold into her own person...

Her party was wonderful. The day was absolutely perfect....cool and sunny. My mom and Bill came, along with our friend Tiffeni ("Aunt Tiffeni") and our friend Nicole ("Aunt Nicole") and Fi's friend Kaulini. Nicole and Lini ended up spending the day with us, which was very very nice. The girls played outside on the slide, played with the ball, and decorated the patio and house with chalk. We had a bubble machine going, which was a really big hit! There was also dancing to swing music inside. Fiona finally got to have some cake, which she was waiting until she was two to be able to do. She kept saying "two!" while she was eating it, feeling very accomplished.


Here are some pictures of the party....


Kaulini and Aunt Nicole arrive... .
























The girls playing outside....

Here is the table all set up with her birthday ring, a baby picture and the birthday cake...

Last year we added a mama swan with a baby on her back....this year we added a kangaroo with her joey peeking out....

The birthday cake.....Fiona's first cake!

Fiona checking it all out...

She was a little embarrassed by us singing to her...

Finally, being offered a piece of cake...

A few gifts to open....
























One of Fi's favorite gifts...a tea set with tea bags....

The girls played the rest of the afternoon.......

Fidaddy retirement ceremony

Here are a few pictures from Michael's retirement ceremony. It was very nice and very moving, and included singing happy birthday to Fi's Pop-Pop for his 70th birthday.

Fiona nursed through most of the ceremony, but mostly did very well sitting through it all. She had a lot of fun playing with her cousins afterwards, and loved getting to see everyone from Pennsylvania.

This was her favorite part.....these people had taps on their shoes, and she kept telling me about it, and told them "bye-bye" when they left....

looking back over the summer....

it's getting closer and closer to Fiona's second birthday, which means this summer is almost at an end...Fi sure has grown and changed a lot....here is a look back at some of our adventures....

in May, we went to an organic strawberry farm, and Fi's friend Kaulini met us there. we had a great time...and ate lots of strawberries along the way!

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Fiona learned a lot about helping...

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she learned to play on her own and cooked a lot in the little kitchen in her room...

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in June, we went to a paint-your-own-pottery place and Fi made a surprise mug for Daddy for Father's Day (she loves those rainboots and wears them alot...rain or shine!)

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Fi went from being afraid to walk in the sand or go near the water to playing in the sand and standing in the water up to her neck and laughing at the waves at the beach...we went a lot, sometimes with friends, sometimes with mama....

we also spent a lot of time at the pool, and by the end of the season Fiona could put her face in the water on her own and could jump in, while sitting, to her mama.

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Fiona got a new house for her dollies, and after helping mama put it together and having it set down in her room, she was so excited she ran right over and climbed inside...

the next morning, as soon as she woke up, Fi said "dollies!" and went back to playing with her new house...

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Fiona got a new bike and helmet, with a handle on the back so we can push her...she can reach the pedals and is working on steering...she is very proud of herself....

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my mom got married in July, and Fi had a great time at the reception after the wedding....

here she is with her mama and grammy....

...and here she is dancing the night away with the newlyweds....

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