What’s a wordless Wednesday on the first Wednesday of November without cute Halloween photos? We had a great time enjoying the local shopping area with 500 of our closest friends. I am actually loving this tradition because it’s daylight, safe, and whole families get in on the action. Lots of fun.

Out of respect for my neighbors, there aren’t many shots of others here, but here are some of my little Toy Story heros.

Preparing to head out. Poor little Mr. Man got a fat lip about 30 minutes earlier when he fell running in the hall. No matter. He didn't seem to notice later, though you do see it in the photos.

Buzz and Jessie hit the mall.

Too cute. You can't see him, but just behind them a kid is dressed as Darth Vader. When Sweetness asked "what's that?," Hubby and I laughed and said "you'll soon know."

On a mission. I put their costumes on over their coats. It works great for Mr. Man as Buzz is a bit bulky. Sweetness however looks as if she needs to lay off the candy.

Examining the plunder.

Diving right in. Joy!

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It’s been a while since I participated in a wordless Wednesday. This one has been making the rounds on the net, but it was just too funny not to share. Happy Harvesting.

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I can’t believe it’s been two years since you came into my life, all warm and snugglely baby boy. You’re my sweet little dude and you’ll always be Mommy’s Little Boy. I love you Mr. Man.

Happy 2nd Birthday Little Man!

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This past week we went to Zion National Park for a family vacation. It was beautiful and exhausting, all at the same time. I think the best piece of advice I can offer for traveling with small children is to have very low expectations of what you’ll do while on your trip and be very flexible to go with the flow, even is that flow is the storm surge of a hurricane 5 tantrum.

This family vacation will forever be remembered as the one where Sweetness stood in the center of the D terminal of the Las Vegas airport screaming at the top of her lungs “I’m peeing!!” as her daddy tried futilely to take her to the bathroom for a change. Sorry, no photos of that little adventure. I hope you enjoy these:

Trail to Canyon Overlook. Sweetness became terrified of the drop off and we never made it all the way.

The waterfall was their favorite part. We couldn't get out of site of it without hearing much protest.

Sitting on the Virgin River on the Riverwalk to the Narrows.

Hiking down the Canyon Overlook Trail. This was the hardest workout of my life, taking a step then holding as the little dude moved slowly up and down the trail. My legs burned.

Everyone happy to be close to the end of the trail, despite the fact we only made it about 1/4 of the way. Maybe it was the park rangers coming down on either side of a woman covered in dirt and sporting a rather impressive head bandage that scared the children?

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In keeping with the excitement this past week, where I got to go to CatchCon and take a ride on the Northwestern, here are some shots I haven’t posted yet:

Edgar Hansen on the Northwestern.

With the delightfully friendly and intelligent Captain Keith Colburn of the Wizard. He even tweeted a photo of us together. Nice guy, with a great team behind him.

Captain Sig Hansen's smiling at me. Sigh...

Familiar view for any Deadliest Catch fan. So cool to sit there and watch the man work, as well as see him teach a couple of kids all about it.

With Jake Anderson on the Northwestern.

Can't not have a photo of Johnathan for everyone. Here's Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand from the Time Bandit, and Jake Harris from the Cornelia Marie.

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U-Haul is hiring. Luckily, you don’t have to know how to spell to work for this fine establishment.

(Sadly, no April Fool. This sign has looked like this for TWO months now. Two months. I kid you not. What kind of people are running this joint anyway?)

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He decided to give up cuteness for lent. Another resolution crushed in 2011…

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1. Let It Snow

Today we had our first snow of 2011. We took advantage of the three inches of white stuff to play before the typical Seattle spoiling arrived to take it all away.

Pure joy.

Knee deep in the white stuff.

Having a blast together showing Mr. Man how to throw snowballs.

First snow angel of 2011.

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Sweetness dug into her dress up box and came out of her room looking like this and announcing “I look pretty!” I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.

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It snowed Sunday, Nov. 21, ever so briefly. There is just something about that first snow of the season. Even though the adult worries of childcare, work, fear of getting stuck or in a wreck, concern over using vacation time, etc. tend to come up, the little kid in me just gets so giddy when the snow starts to fall. But not much developed Sunday.

However, we woke on Monday, Nov. 22, to a light dusting and the snow falling. Sadly, I had to go to work, but our nanny made it in and took the kids out to play in the morning because, well, Sweetness just couldn’t handle the excitement of snow without throwing herself head on into it. In fact, once it started snowing, she announced it was time to put up the Christmas tree.

Sweetness and Mr. Man check out the overnight dusting of snow Monday morning.

I had bought Sweetness a little snow outfit on a whim in September since there was all this talk of a really rough winter. I’m soooooooo glad I did. She stayed toasty warm in her adorable little purple outfit.

Mr. Man had just received a hand-me-down from a friend of mine last month – a waterproof winter coat that’s about a size too big, but perfect when a thick sweater is on underneath. Not a moment too soon, I might add.

The snow was really coming down all morning and our office decided to call it a day at about 11 a.m. so we could get home at a descent hour. Not more than 5 minutes after our team decided to start packing up and heading out Hubby called and announced the Prius was not going to make it out of his parking lot, let alone home. He was walking the three blocks to my building for me to bring him home in my 4WD compact SUV.

When we got home, the kids were climbing the walls with excitement to hit the backyard again. This time the snow was really coming down and it was blowing. I was as excited as they were.

It really got to blowing snow, but the kids kept laughing.

Handsome man in the snow.

I was trying to get a shot of the snowflakes in her eyelashes. Look at those red cheeks. She was having a blast chasing Daddy all over the yard and throwing snowballs at the side of the house.

In the end, we got about 2-3 inches and it froze hard overnight. School and work were canceled on Tuesday, so we kept the snow play up, even though it was a brisk 25 degrees. The sun was out Tuesday and so were the kids. Perfect beginning to the holiday season, if I do say so myself.

And, for your viewing pleasure, here’s how Daddy taught Sweetness the fine skill of throwing snowballs. A true right of passage.

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