Anna Grows

It has proven to be a beautiful fall in Northern Virginia. Oh sure, we did not get to to head to the mountains or even the local parks to enjoy the leaves at their peak because it rained practically every weekend in October, but we could enjoy them through the week while en route to work or other locations. The leaves are much more beautiful ON the trees than trying to bag them up after they have fallen...unless of course you are Anna who had a great time jumping in leaf piles. We can only hope her enthusiasm for raking leaves will carry into later years when she is big enough to actually participate in the raking and bagging. While there are many lovely things about fall....the changing leaves, the crisp chill in the air, apple picking, fall holidays....there are some not so lovely things. One of the more unpleasant items is animals seeking shelter for the winter. In this case the shelter is our house and the animal is a squirrel (we think). Last week, Joe awoke around 1 AM saying ...

Now that daylight savings time is over and the evenings are dark, we need to find inside activites, which usually means retreating to the basement for family entertainment. Usually this involves playing soccer; however, this week Anna invented a new game: Bolley Ball. At first we thought she was saying "volleyball" but she corrected us immediately and decided to do a demonstration of bolleyball. First you line up at one end of the room. Second, you throw your ball across the room. Finally, you run across to grab your ball, lay down on the floor on your back with your feet in the air and yell "touchdown!" You then get up, run back, and do the whole thing again. At one point, Anna declared "I'm Cinderella, Mom's Sleeping Beauty, and Dad's Belle." Who knew that princesses played bolleyball (or that Dad was a princess for that matter)? Apparently the bolleball player's uniform is red and blue beads, which we all wear as we run. So....t...

At last, after much anticipation, Halloween arrived and Anna got to wear her princess costume. She had ample opportunity to wear it during Halloween week as there were several celebrations, beginning with the neighborhood party on October 24. Since this is our first year in the neighborhood, we had not attended the neighborhood Halloween parade and party before. The parade was slated to begin at4 PM on October 24; however, due to the continuous rain was postponed until October 25. What Mom and Dad failed to notice was that the time changed to 3 PM, thus we missed the parade. Anna was able to make it for the end of the party (better late than never). October 28 was the annual Vienna Halloween parade, which apparently is the biggest event in Vienna all year. We managed to get the right time for the parade and watched the local parades, floats, and politicians along with kids in Halloween costumes. Friday Anna wore her Halloween costume to Ms. Be's place for another Halloween party,...