Trick or Treat on William Street

Mikaela loves holidays particularly Halloween because she LOVES to dress up. She loves picking out pumpkins, painting them with me, and carving them with Daddy. We were a little concerned about living in the city and how Halloween was going to work seeing as we're in a condo building. Baltimore is also not known as a city where families choose to live although that's changing.

That said we were bound and determined to make the most of our first cosmopolitian Halloween. I asked around and found out that we actually live in the funnest area of Baltimore (even more from than the burbs) to trick or treat.

Our condo is in a neighborhood known as Federal Hill. It is known for historic row homes within close proximity to the Inner Harbor. And of course, Federal Hill. The view point from Federal Hill (our closest park/playground) is pretty impressive.



Aside from Light and Charles Street where all the "stuff" happens, William Street is one of the better known streets in the neighborhood because of the beautiful and especially large row houses that line it. On Halloween it comes alive with spooky decorations and all the residents dress up, sit on their stoops imbibing while handing out candy to the treaters.





Our little Strawberry Short Cake and G-dog enjoyed their experience on William Street and are no doubt looking forward to next Halloween whether it be here in the city or in the burbs.

Carving with Daddy-

Ready to roll-







Collecting her loot-



Happy Halloween!

First East Coast Fall

October went fast didn't it? I knew that I hadn't had any time to post, but I didn't realize it had been an entire month.

We're all moved into our new place. I have to say that while I did like my big house in Houston I do not miss all the space. All of us love being on a single level. It's so much easier to keep up with our kids and our stuff. I'm especially happy about it given that after 2.5 years of having cleaning ladies, I am once again cleaning myself. It's much more difficult to do than I remember. Maybe that's because we have 2 kids, a dog, and a ton more stuff than we did back them.

Mikaela is now officially a little girl and not a toddler anymore. She will be 3 in 22 days. I can't believe it! I had two goals to accomplish by her third birthday: potty training and baptism. As of this past Saturday, Mikaela is officially potty trained.

To celebrate this grand feat she got a new bike. The sales man at the bike store showed her a few, she got on the one she liked and rode off. He said, "I've never seen that before. She's fearless." Yep. That's our Emme.

We've enjoyed our first East Coast Fall. Dave was saying he hasn't seen a proper fall in at 10 years. We loved seeing the leave turn, but could not believe how quickly they fell.

The kids and I have been getting to know Baltimore and all it has to offer. We regulary visit the science center, children's museum, zoo, and many great parks/playgrounds. Everything is walking distance from our place with the exception of the zoo. Even that is only a 7 minute drive.

Science Center- what's the job outlook for paleontologists?




Children's Museum- Born to cruise


Watch out! She likes to drive fast.


Around these parts-


Mikaela's stage. She loves to sing and dance from this.


Pumpkin Picking at Sharp's Farm
They had lots of animals to feed:


Graeme thought it was nice to be in fresh air


She is, isn't she:

And the winner is???