Lilly's Halloween Weekend

Here are pictures of Lilly in her Cheerleader Halloween costume! She loved her pom poms and ponytails! Thank you to my aunt Joyce for the perfect dress! Make sure you scroll all the way down because there are pictures from a couple of Halloween events!

Friday Night Spooky Party

Every year, my mom's neighborhood puts on a Halloween party for the kids and grandkids of the neighbors. This year, mom, Tom, Lilly and I attended and enjoyed story-telling, magic tricks, balloon animals, and the best.....wait for it....PIZZA!

Trick or Treating-Halloween Night

Anna (and her lovely mom, Erin) invited us to go trick or treating in their neighborhood, and boy did we have a great time. Their street is a full looping circle, and was filled with decorated houses, lots of little goblins, and tons of candy! It was a perfect night, with a nice breeze. It only took Lilly and Anna a few minutes to figure out the trick or treating process. Lilly couldn't believe that all she had to do was go to a door, ring the bell (which was her favorite part!), say trick or treat and THEN GET CANDY! After the first couple of houses, Lilly and Anna RAN from house to house! I guess it was all about volume and they realized it! LOL! Eventually, Lilly's bucket got so heavy that I had to carry it!

Update

We've been so busy, oh my goodness, that I've not had a chance to blog. Since blogging last, we've been to lots of parks and indoor playgrounds, taken Lilly bowling for the first time (she beat me in both games), moved to a very big house (built in 1926), had Tom's kids in town, etc. Anyway, make sure you scroll all the way down, as I've put pictures of the Father Daughter dance and Lilly's first haircut pictures. Will be updating more often. Be on the lookout for some fun Halloween pics. Lilly is dressing up as a cheerleader!

Father Daughter Dance

On October 18th, the senior class at Lilly's school put on a fundraising Father Daughter dance. Lilly and Tom were both so excited for weeks! And I loved shopping for a fancy dress for Lilly and a matching tie for Tom! Here are some pictures of the event! Don't forget that if you click on a picture, you can see the bigger version!











Here Lilly goes to her favorite place: THE STAGE!





Here she is likely telling Cassidy what moves she needs to be making!



Lilly definately dances to the beat of a different drummer! Here she is doing her own thing on the stage, rather than dancing with the other girls! (She gets this from me!)



This is the SAME LOOK I give Tom whenever I see him try to dance. To think that she can be embarrassed at such a young age..... LOL!!



She definately felt special on her "Butterfly Kisses" evening with Daddy!

Lilly's 1st Haircut

We were a little nervous about getting Lilly's hair professionally done, and about how she would respond. BUT Tom had had enough of the crooked, cut-way-too-short bangs look on our sweet little girl...so, we took her to Cartoon Cuts that caters to children. She hopped right up in the seat like she had done it a million times before! She sat still and was very cooperative. She told Dawn (the hairdresser) that she wanted a little ponytail in the back and on one side, so Dawn obliged. The best part was that they had sparkly hairspray!






We felt so confident about how well she cooperated that we next made her an appoinment to see the dentist. DID NOT GET THE SAME COOPERATION! She did not follow instructions and DARED them to put anything in her mouth. We have to try again in 6 months!

TOILET TRAINING- MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Yeah! I'm pleased to report that Lilly now (proudly) uses the potty! She has been "going" at school for her teacher, but REFUSED to "go" on the potty at home! Finally, after some serious "tough love" Lilly is officially potty trained! Not a single accident for 2 weeks!

Newest addition to the family

Let me introduce you to Phoebe, the new Buzzerd-Courtney family member! Tom and Lilly picked her out of a litter from the local shelter and brought her home to me for Mother's Day! She is half shitzu and half poodle- she's called a SHI-POO! She is certainly one big ball of PUFF! It's been over 3 years now without Elroy, so I was kindof whining about wanting another dog! Whining over! What a big surprise! Lilly LOVES Phoebe; in fact, she won't leave the poor little dog alone! LOL! Here are the two of them!

Can't say thank you enough!

To my wonderful aunt Joyce for sending us on a much-needed, fun and relaxing-filled vacation to the Caribbean! How can we possible say thank you enough? We love you and are so grateful for your love and generosity.

Thank you from Tom, Kristi and Lilly Grace!

3rd Port of Call - Ocho Rios, Jamaica

When we arrived at the Jamaican port, we found a policeman guarding a road. We asked him if he knew of an honest taxi driver who could show us around the island. He made a call and soon arrived Noel, a funny and knowledgeable native who gave us a great tour!

Noel, our personal tour guide!



We fell in love with the landscape of Jamaica! It was so lush with greenery and beautiful HUGE banyan trees. Noel took us through Fern Gully, Dunns River Falls and Mahogany Beach. He treated us to Red Stripe beer and Jamaican beef patties. We met many natives along the way, some posing for pictures, others selling items from little huts nestled among the winding roads. We bought some nice pieces of wood working from the gentleman pictured below.

2nd Port of Call - Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Rather than touring the islands, we chose to do the turtle and dolphin adventure excursion when we arrived in Grand Cayman. We boarded a tour bus and got to see downtown Grand Cayman on our way to the adventure facility. Once arrived, we started with the turtle exhibit. Some of those turtles were HUGE! Notice how Tom and Lilly are brave enough to touch the smaller turtles - I volunteered to take pictures!






The exciting part of this excursion was the dolphin encounter. What an experience! To be so close and personal with such a lovely mammal was quite amazing. Lilly wasn't afraid at all (which surprise us a little!) - The pictures speak for themselves!

1st Port of Call - Cozumel, Mexico

When we stopped in Mexico, we took a bus to Playa Mia, a private beach resort. We had such a lovely day. We first visited the white, sandy beaches and the pristine waters.



Lilly made a friend named Bella, who is also 3 years old! Tom and I hung out with her parents while they played in the sand!




Lilly had her hair braided and beaded by a local! She wanted 3 braids across the top of her head, and she picked out her own blue and pink beads!




Lilly is not a big fan of the beach. She likes the water but does not really enjoy playing in the sand. So here we are taking a dip in Playa Mia's freshwater pool!



Next, we played with all of the games and toys on the beachfront playground!





My favorite part of our 5 hour visit to Playa Mia (besides the unlimited margaritas!) was when Lilly held a huge McCaw (bird)- We bought the picture because we were so excited that Lilly actually let the bird grab ahold of her arm and sit there for a photo opp! I wish I had a scanned, because it's a great picture! After we saw how fearless our little girl could be around strange creatures, we decided to sign up for the dolphin adventure in Grand Cayman.

After we return to the ship and got cleaned up from a day of beachside playing, drinking and eating, we went back to the port for some authentic Mexican ambience! We had a wonderfully fun dinner at 3 Amigos, which while I think it might be a chain, was the best Mexican food I've had in a long time! We were serenaded by mariachis, made balloon hats by a "Day of the Dead" skeleton clown and enjoyed nice scenery for photos!






We return to ship at sundown and saw the most beautiful sunset! As souvenirs, Lilly picked out a maraca, Tom bought a silver ring, and I bought a beautfully embroidered dress for Lilly (that she will never wear because I wouldn't want juice all over it!)