Katie and Rocco!: February 2010

Florida trip

In early December we took a semi-impromptu trip to Orlando. We decided it was our best family trip ever. Everyone had a great time. The weather was perfect, and we loved the place we stayed (a Marriott condo community type place, with lots of pools and a couple of restaurants, located close to lots of attractions).

The only Orlando-specific thing we did was a visit to Sea World. That was really cool - we had a dinner with Shamu. Our seats were RIGHT in front of where he leaps out of the water. Really neat if you're 35, but not so much if you're 2. We left the dinner a little early to avoid scarring Katie for life with images of a giant killer whale lunging at her.

Katie was our navigator.

Riding on a real ride! Katie did it once with Dad, and then rode all by herself!

Even navigators need a little break.

Highlights of the dinner with Shamu. The food was terrible, but Katie loved the blue jello!

Shamu - maybe a little better from a distance.

Shamu - up close and personal, in front of our table.

Pool time! Katie is always prepared!

Rocco loved hanging out, poolside.

What's a vacation without a huge ice cream sundae??

Baby Stella came along on the trip. And Katie is showing off her fancy pen from Sea World - with a fuzzy top!

Halloween

Just realized I didn't do an October/ Halloween post. The kids were so cute in their costumes, I'll have to do that! Many thanks to Aunt Anne for making Katie's butterfly costume, which was cousin Jorie's when she was Katie's age. It has held up beautifully and she received MANY compliments on it.

First, while our kitchen was being remodeled, we took a trip down to Indy. Thanks so much for having us, Grandma and Grandpa Henn!

Katie went to a giant party with Dad and two of our neighbors - dads and daughters only! They had a blast. Of course, what 2 year old wouldn't have a blast when dinner is a huge cookie? Note that all 3 were butterflies for Halloween.

Everyone looks just a shade guilty here - "Dad said I could eat this cookie!!"

Katie even trick-or-treated this year. She got to do it twice -in our neighborhood, which was busy as always, and at Latham, where all the attorneys and secretaries had treats out for the kids. Despite the cold, it turns out that getting candy is pretty awesome. And it was great to have Jenny there to help!

We also went to the same Halloween concert we attended last year. Everyone had fun and Katie got to dance up front by the stage.

And Katie was really good at making Halloween cookies!

Oh, and one last thing - a picture of the screen on the Today show - our (literal) moment of fame. I just happened to look at the TV while the Penna family was wandering across the screen. This is us, leaving the H1N1 shots line after we realized it would be a 3 hour late. No worries, we all eventually got the shots.

And because I just recently figured out how to upload pictures from my iphone onto the computer, I thought I'd share this one of a nice moment with cousin Louie from last summer! I'll have to upload some more because I know we have some cute shots of the visit from Aunts Anne and Jennifer and Uncle Christian in October!

November

Climbing out of that hole! Pretty soon I'll have us in 2010.

Here are some pictures from November and Thanksgiving, and few from early December. Rocco got to meet all his grandparents and we hosted a delicious Thanksgiving celebration. Lots of fun for all!

Another big event in November was Katie's first day of school at Creme de la Creme. This is a real school - mom drops her off and leaves. She is going 2 mornings a week, and LOVES it! We especially enjoy the cute uniforms.

In action:

Katie's old preschool hosted a Christmas celebration, complete with Santa. Rocco enjoyed Santa just about as much as Katie enjoyed him last year. Of course, Katie only enjoyed Santa this year from the comfort of Dad's arms. Baby steps!