Super early Halloween morning–which also happened to be the day after the Washington Nationals won the World Series, whooo hoo!–Mike, Caroline, Vivi, and I flew down to St. Pete Beach. We were so excited to meet our family’s newest arrival Baby Bryce, to go trick-or-treating with our family, and to enjoy all things Florida for the weekend. We packed two suitcases: one for our regular clothes, and another for our costumes. Bird costumes take up a lot of space! Caroline was in charge of that precious cargo and she helped Mike steer through Terminal A 🙂

Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport in their new Ford Explorer, which is wonderful and comfortable and can fit all of us. New car for the win! We headed right to Matt and Tommie’s and met Bryce and Tommie in the driveway as they returned from a doc visit. We got to lay our eyes on Bryce right then and there. He was so tiny and precious, with perfect little lips, blonde hair, and a beautiful complexion. Such a perfect little person! We went upstairs, where Matt got to welcome these two:

As for me, it felt so good to hold this tiny bundle–he felt so light compared to the baby I’ve been carting around for 11 months!

Caroline was totally smitten with Baby Bryce.

Right away, she had to feed him a bottle. She has had a lot of practice with the 450 baby dolls she has at home, and was very gentle.

Mike and I had to do some work that day, while Kay Kay and Pa played with our little ones. And then we shut down our laptops for the night because it was Halloween and time to SUIT UP! Matt went first. His costume was equal parts hilarious, toasty warm, and utterly unhelpful in terms of taking care of a newborn. But he had the very best strut and isn’t that what it’s all about??

I dressed Caroline…does anyone know how hard it is to wrestle a two-year-old’s hair into a ponytail while wearing a flamingo suit?!?

We loaded up in the cars and headed for the most amazing neighborhood for trick-or-treating. This is all part of Matt and Tommie’s plan to get us to buy a house in this spot, and it sure almost worked, because each and every house was decked out for the holiday. We didn’t knock on a single door–all of the families were out in their driveways handing out candy at massive tables, surrounded by spooky spiders that dropped down from the trees, smoking cauldrons, dancing skeletons, and flying witches.

A lot of planning went into our costumes…and we went with a flock of birds. That’s right–the family that flocks together, rocks together!

Here we are just starting out–Matt had to dress on site since driving in the blue bird suit was not an option 😉

Matt and Tommie brought a wagon to haul extra candy loot, adult beverages, and oh yeah–this flamingo and that pterodactyl.

These two were all comfy with Kay Kay the Toucan close by!

Preston was so good at showing his little cousin the ropes of trick-or-treating.

Baby Bryce enjoyed the trick-or-treating in his own way–he slept through the entire event 😉

Preston eventually ran ahead with the bigger kids, while Kay Kay and Caroline brought up the rear because Caroline insisted on checking out each and every Halloween decoration on the path.

It was really cute–at one point, she walked up to a dancing skeleton, stood right next to him, and after a few seconds, leaned in and asked seriously, “what’s your name??”

She especially loved the blow up dragons:

And the ghosts she called “spooks!”

Our little penguin Vivi had been sleeping like a champ but woke up eventually in time to take a family shot:

We all had a blast!

The very last house we visited served everyone Rita’s Italian Ice–the perfect way to end our trick-or-treating adventure. We crashed at Matt and Tommie’s afterwards and raided the kiddie’s candy loot just a bit…

On Friday, Mike and I both had to work again, so Kay Kay and Pa came to the rescue and took our kiddos to a playground and to their house to play for the day. They had a ball and we got work done–a win-win. At Happy Hour time, all of us except Tommie and Bryce hopped into the boat for an evening cruise and a few spins around the lagoon on Big Mabel:

Caroline looooved it! She kept laughing and saying “Again! Again!” Mike hopped on too:

While Vivi kept Kay Kay and Pa entertained on the boat:

Caroline and Preston finally came back aboard, lips blue and shivering, but happy as clams.

While we were out, Tommie made a delicious dinner feast and we ate outside on their balcony. Afterwards, Caroline and Preston played hide and seek and it was adorable because she was so bad at it…Preston was very patient!

On Saturday, Caroline and Preston hopped into Preston’s red Jeep and took it for a spin:

The funniest part was when Caroline insisted on “using her cell phone” while she was riding shotgun:

Preston was kind enough to let Caroline drive, but she drove the Jeep into a wall and broke it. Ohhhh Caroline… so then Vivi decided to take the wheel, which was safer for all involved:

Matt and Tommie gave me the BEST thank you gift for their summer baby shower…a masseuse came to their house and gave me an amazing hour-long massage! It was so relaxing and perfect. Afterwards, Mike, Matt, Tommie, and I relaxed on the balcony, kid-free. The littles were enjoying more Kay Kay and Pa time at their house. When we called to check in, Pa and Vivi were taking a nap together. How sweet is that?

Kay Kay and Pa continued being amazing grandparents while the four of us went out to a fun wine gala night with Matt and Tommie and their friends. It was right in Redington Shores at this beautiful park with delicious food, drinks, and desserts:

Sunday morning came too soon and we hopped on our flight home. Halfway through the flight, Vivi got sick all over me and 2 seconds later, Caroline was also ill! We had to get a plastic bag from the stewardess and I am sure we were quite memorable as a family…

It’s a good thing they’re cute! Here they are passed out after all the activity:

Mike and I earned gold stars after this flight. Ugh.

We gave both the kids Tylenol and all crashed early that night, grateful for another amazing weekend in the Sunshine State!