Random Disney Moments, October 2015

Because I know how much I love looking back on great memories.



Jeff strolling down Main Street expressing faux Disney happiness and trying not to think about how much this is all costing.

As an aside, I absolutely loved fall Disney décor.  The orange and black and pumpkins and yellow mums everywhere - love!  Halloween is my favorite holiday, and spending it at Disney during a rare school week off that doesn't coincide with any of the American holidays was priceless.  Very unlikely to happen again, so I savored it all.

Disney during the Christmas season is pretty amazing too.  I still remember Main Street's Osbourne Festival of Lights and the snow falling.  I've read they are going to phase that out this year.  So sad.  But if I know Disney, they will find a way to make something else magical happen.




Theo is not a big tv watcher.  He just doesn't have the attention span.  But he loves Woody and Buzz, from A Toy Story.  Not that he can sit through a whole movie.  He loves them because his pediatrician's office has these larger than life murals of them on the wall.  When we walk in there for appointments, his face light up.

Getting to see the characters at Disney was such a kick.  He was at the perfect age for it too - I know at some point the little kids get scared of these enormous characters, right up there in your face.  Theo was spellbound.



The Barnstormer - Jordan's favorite ride.  He rode it over and over again.  At last count - 6 times in a row.  Thank goodness it was raining and the crowds had dispersed and there was no line.



Of course he dragged Grace, Jason and Mina along too.



Exiting triumphantly from the ride for the umpteenth time.  This was the first year we let Jordan and Mina have more independence as far as rides and splitting up and meeting us at designated locations.  It is a far cry from years past when I never let them out of my sight.



and then there's this guy - riding Dumbo for the first time.  Kristen took such a great shot of the three of us from the Dumbo in front.



Jordan's windswept look on Test Track.



Theo waking up to lunch at Rainforest Café.  I can't even imagine what was going on in his head when he awoke to the animatronic creatures and jungle rainstorms around him.

Halloween 2014

It was my favorite time of the year ... Halloween!  It took me till the end of the month and two hurricanes later, but I finally pulled the decorating bin out and gussied up my home. 



We (i.e me) bought some pumpkins and set out carving (ok, Jeff carved) on Halloween eve.  We don't carve earlier than that because the heat, humidity, and ant assault would destroy the gourds if we did it any earlier. 



Finished products.



Last minute costuming - Jordan as the demonic chef!  For the record, he wanted to go as a "carrot."  When I looked at him blank faced, he laughed and said, "Ok, how about a kiwi?"  This is what I countered with.



Face-painting I can do.  Kiwi costuming - no.



Mina made it easier for me - Anna (Frozen) to coincide with her friend's Elsa.  Look at Jordan hugging her for the picture.  That cracked me up.



No, the makeup did not scare the baby.



Speaking of which - here he is.  My little skeletor.  Look how chunky he is getting.  Two months old, just had his doctor check up and passed with flying colors.  Look at those chins!

The Hounds of Hell in Bermuda. Halloween 2013

Cujo, they are not. However, they do their best. 



Twins!



This might be the best picture of Oscar I have ever taken.



Before heading out with Jeff and the rest of the kiddie crew.



Our fierce watchdog, awaiting the brave souls who dare ring our bell.

All Hallow's Eve in Bermuda.

'twas the night before Halloween, and in the Trimarchi house.. the monkeys got busy, carving the overpriced orange gourds?? 

We've been waiting awhile, as the humidity died down, for just that perfect night.. to get our scary groove down.





Never let it be said that lawyers can't carve it up.



Pumpkin guts!!!



Feeeed me...



"It's alive!! It's alive!!!"



Yummo!



Digital delights.. and so much neater too!!!  Love him!!



Happy Halloween my creepy little friends!! Cannot wait to raid the kids' baskets tomorrow night!! Bwah hahahahahah!!

Halloween comes to Saltus, 2013.

Dreaming of..



Halloween!!



Both kids had their class parties last Friday.  It also happened to be the last day of school before the traditional "mid term break," in Bermuda.  A break for a whole week, just in time to enjoy Halloween night - what more could one ask for!



I know.  Glitter pumpkins, obviously!  With a wee witchy hat.  Oh Pinterest.



At Jordan's party, we organized tables into craft and gaming stations.  The gooey gak is always a favorite.  As I cut out the straws, I pictured the kids burying their faces into the gooey gak (it's slime.  The recipes vary, but this one is combo of Borax and Elmer's glue.) 

If you stick the straw into it, and blow, you come up with enormous bubbles. 

You have to be a kid to understand.



See?



I loved this craft - mummy sticks!  The teacher printed out each child's face to attach to stick skeletons.  Wrapped in gauze, the effect looks very mummy-ish! 

Not mummy in the Brit sense.



Although I did the baking, I begged to be put at any other table.  I can bake, but I really, wanted to avoid the gaggle of kids decorating.  (ugh.. sticky frosting, sticky little hands, bits and bobs of candy flying everywhere!)

Armed with a color printout and loads of candy accessories to decorate - a dear granny assistant manned the table.  I hid my smile.  She was dressed so nice too.



The kids always love this station.  I know.. I've handled it in Mina's class one year.  It was definitely the happiest table in the room.  The ants (always present in massive formations in Bermuda) were also having a field day.

Sugar highs.



Crazy sugar highs!



Jordan's masterpiece. 

I like the bloody, red eyes.  Looks like some Polyvysol is in order.  This is the stuff they sell over the counter here in Bermuda to treat pink eye.  It amazes me you can just walk in and get this without a prescription.  I recall having to go to a doctor in the US, for a full exam before he would prescribe anything.

The pain killer, Alleve however does requires a prescription.  Not that I use it, but my doctor made a point of mentioning it to me the other day. 

He was trained in the US, and married a Bermudian.  So, he has been working in BDA for a long time.  He mentioned patients who are partial to Alleve, will buy big vats of it at Costco and bring it back to Bermuda in their luggage.

I laughed, because I think all of us in BDA have certain things we are cramming into our suitcases to bring back here from trips abroad. 

Jeff is partial to golf balls and Fiber One bars.  Yay Costco!



Back to the Halloween party - I was happily stationed at the beading table!  Jordan presents his masterpiece, Oriental Trading necklace. 

Never let it be said that beading is for the girls only. 

While I manned the table, many little men came over and spent just as much time designing their necklaces.  They are too cute in all their seriousness.

Jordan was in his element that day.  Barred from wearing actual costumes, the kids were encouraged to wear "Fall colours."  Yes, colours with a "u."

I've never seen so much orange all in one place... well, except for Dutch soccer games.  Also an amazing sight.

I'm one of the assistant class mom's for both kids. This year's Class moms are so super-organized and creative. We held a planning meeting at the start of October to discuss the class parties!  And everyone came up with such great ideas. I'm loving this group. Those print out labels alone made my day.

Halloween odds and ends.

"Mommy, what's your faaavorite holiday?"  Mina likes to ask.

Funny, you should ask.. it happens to be HALLOWEEN!!!  I just love this holiday.  It fits in with all the things most precious to my soul ... candy, dressing up, scary movies ... candy..  chocolate.

My kids are still pretty young, and easily scared .. unfortunately. 

I contrast this with myself, as I distinctly recall one of my earliest childhood memories.

There we were - my mom and I in a small kitchen dining table in Queens, NY.  She was telling me in vivid detail, all about her fun night during which she, my father, and another couple had decided to go out an watch the "The Exorcist." 

Yeah, the original.  I'm seriously that old.

But I remember my eyes getting progressively bigger as she told me all about it.  The child who turns into a demon.. the priest leaping out the window.. the head spinning around.

And then I remember hiding under the table.

She dragged me out so that she could drop me off at pre school.  Thanks Mom.

But fast forward to this day.. I still love scary movies.  And Halloween. 

I don't torment my kids that way though.. and we still decorate cutesy in this house.  Although, I am waiting for the day when I can sneak in more creepy décor.



Cute little ceramic animals and a happy pumpkin house?  Smiling jack o'lanterns? Yes, yes...



Sparkly-eyed spiders made in school?  Of course..



Yard sale finds and Grandma H's hand me downs from teaching days?  Sure!



Cut out masks from the back of Pillsbury fake bake boxes?  You betcha!



Cute little witch with googley eyes, magic wand and a pretty purple dress? Aww!



I did sneak in two new items this year for outside.. I snagged two of these LED purple and green light up glitter spiders. If I can find some hay bales somewhere on this godforsaken island, I thought they'd look slightly creepy outside.. lit up next to the carved jack o lanterns we'll make. Slowly but surely.. maybe one of these days we'll do those cool tombstone scenes I see all over the Halloween Pinterest boards!! 

I can see my kids running already.

Our Halloween rules.

I totally forgot to put this one up...



First dibs is a critical lesson to learn early in life.

My favorite Halloween pictures, BDA 2011

Jordan and Mina both had parties at school on Halloween. I was determined to make an appearance at both, and help out with at least one. Mina and I pose at our cupcake decorating table.

And then I sprinted upstairs to Jordan's classroom to check in. Together we made a creepy spider, dangling from a stick.

Mina's approach to decorating - the "more is more" philosophy.

Yes, Jordan is a bird. But what kind of bird? When asked what he was going to be for Halloween, Jordan promptly replied, "a Kiskadee!" That elicited some looks back in the states, but here in BDA, everyone loved it! If you know what Kiskadee sounds like, you'll understand why I thought this was the perfect bird for my guy. If you don't know, feel free to look at Jordan's favorite website.

Mina asked to be a witch. But not any witch, mind you. She wanted to be a "pretty witch." Here she is posing, "like the girl on the box, mommy!!"

One of the best shots - Let the Mad Rumpus Begin!! Thanks Josh and Oneka for letting us join you! We had so much fun!

I love Halloween!!