HOPPA HALLOWEEN!

For the past few months, Jude has been obsessed with bunnies, which he refers to as "hoppas." Runaway bunny, Knuffle Bunny Free and Guess How Much I Love You are night time story favorites. Then there is a song we sign at Montessori, Sleeping Bunnies, that he adores. So the halloween costume choice seemed easy this year. I Googled images for toddler bunny costume and found one similar to what I made. Nana brought over all of the fabric and notions from Jo-Anns to save me running all over town to get everything I needed. 

Jude loves the costume and we had a full day of wearing it yesterday. 

In the morning we went to Pete's school (soon to be Jude's school!) and helped daddy pass out candy to the trick or treating pre-school.  

He was a hit in the bio classroom 

After nap time, we drove into the city and attended a halloween party hosted by one of the moms in our Winter Baby Mamas group. It was controlled chaos and adorable to see so many dressed up little ones in one place! 

We returned home in time to pick up daddy and head out for the Trunk or Treating event sponsored by Pete's school in our neighborhood.  Houses are solicited to participate (candy is provided) and cars are set up to pass candy out of their trunks.  

Getting ready to head out. 

Psyched for Jude to score Pete and I some candy, we practiced "trick or treat," which became some version of "trick." It worked and we made out big :)

All was good until we ran into our babysitter who was chaperoning her younger brother and his friends. One of the friends was wearing a very realistic and scary wolf mask and it freaked Jude out. Try as we might to avoid him, we kept walking in the same direction so we had to see him a few more times before telling them to please pass us. Poor Jude woke up twice last night crying (unusual) and we think he may have been having nightmares :(

Once we ditched the scary wolf, we beelined it to our friends Melanie and Richard's place to see Super girl Norah and watch them pass out candy.

Checking out the loot back home. 

Hoppa Halloween!! 

Be Back Soon!

The Durneys are just back from our fall break trip to Istanbul and Greece with Opa and Oma. There are lots of pictures and stories (good and bad) to share from our trip, but for now, I have more pressing matters to attend to: a toddler halloween costume! Time's a ticking so I better get going!

Ok, one gem from the trip:

Istanbul's Magnificent Hagia Sofia and my Goofballs

Nana's October Visit

Last week, Nana came on her own for a visit to see us! 

Waiting at the airport

Jude and Nana were very happy to see each other and read and play together. 

Nana knit Jude a handsome new sweater. 

Jude stayed home from daycare on Monday so we could all go to the goat farm together. 

Jude likes to help in the kitchen

With Nana behind the camera, I made it into a few pictures with Jude.

On Wednesday, Nana and I had the day to ourselves while Jude went to daycare. We went downtown to Museum Our Lord in the Attic. When Protestants took over in the Netherlands, Catholic churches were all converted, but because the Dutch are so open and accepting, they allowed other faiths to practice as long as it was not in public. So wealthy citizens created churches and synagogues in their homes to worship in. This church is in the attic of three canal houses. 

Second stop, Dutch pancakes at the Upstairs Pancake House. Yum, I want more now!!

Then Pete and I left Nana and Jude behind and traveled to Nice. We knew that Jude was in good hands and enjoyed all of the photo updates she sent. They had a great time together

On their nature walk, making flower petal soup. 

Walking to the goat farm. 

Nana was impressed with Jude's ability to eat. Like father, like son!

The sweetest update we got was that Jude decided on his own to make birthday soup for cousin Peyton. 

Or was he making cousin Peyton soup??

All Aboard!

Safety first

Thank you Nana, for coming to visit and for all of your energy hanging out with Jude! Please come back soon!

A Nice Getaway for Pete and I!

There are no cute toddler pictures in this post because Pete and I had our first weekend away together since Jude was born!! It was something I had dreamed of once I finished nursing and my mom offered to come over to visit and stay with Jude so we could get away. 

We wanted to go somewhere within a few hours, with warmer weather than the Netherlands and with good food since we would get so many uninterrupted meals out together! After finding the most ridiculously low airfare, we settled on Nice. Twist my arm to go to the South of France for the weekend. 

Pete took one of his personal days so we had 3 days and 2 nights in the city. We didn't know what to expect, but fell in love with the old town, winding streets, blue, blue waters and the food of course. We even got to the ballet in the Opera house. The final piece was basically a graceful Chip 'n' Dales show with 8 scantily clad male ballerinas. Fantastique :) 

Jude had a wonderful time with his Nana, who sent us regular updates on our little man so we didn't feel too far away. Thank you, Nana! You are welcome back anytime :) 

Google maps found the most obscure route down to the beach in Villefranche!