Halloween, a birthday kitchen and dancing at Heming Plaza

all the woodland creatures plus a kabuki grandmama
the fairy and the elf
loving the merry-go-round
putting together the birthday kitchen with the birthday boy in his birthday suit
cooking in his birthday suit

Halloween was a wild three time event as well it should be. First, Spooktacular at the Jacksonville Zoo with Tita Jeanna, Little Frida, Magdalena and me as assorted fairies, woodnymphs, sprites and pixies, Augustus the elf, and Abuela the Kabuki character, followed by actual Halloween with Tito Chuchi and Aunt Su-su out at the beach with the best candy I have ever seen, then we wrapped it up Friday at the Library with all the other regular library kids and then a visit to Heming Plaza to show off the babies in full regalia and dance, of course.

Jeanna was dreamy and glowing before the zoo Spooktacular and Halloween. She has been dreaming of all of us together for so long and there we were, Sunday before Halloween, hot gluing up a storm, doing costumes, covered in glitter I mean fairy/pixie dust, having a spontaneously huge family day and event and our kids together like three peas in a pod.

We have become quite the regular members of the Friday afternoon community at Heming Plaza downtown across the street from the library. We go after the library for real city living and there are vendors and folks hanging out and music. We have kettle corn and the most delicious crab cakes and visit Renee at her Farmer's Market. Life is good and rich and full of love and yummy treats, whether the treats are ripe peaches or Halloween candy or dancing to loud synthesizer music in the plaza outside under the blue blue sky, it's all good.

birthday, congo, some chickens and dancing

Magdalena's photography debut

2 year old beautiful birthday boy

help with candles from the experienced four-year-old

following Tito Chuchi and Abuelo's well beaten musical path

city mouse

a very silly visit with Uncle William

Magdalena's inspired style

When I fall asleep at the proverbial blogging wheel, I have so many images so many anecdotes so much to write that it's overkill. Oh well.

Augustus is 2. He's divine and delicious and delirious and devilish. He's our whirling dervish of love and mischief. He looks at me out of the corner of his eye, sly grin spreading, and bursts into some forbidden action, his determination to be the master of his own destiny exploding out of that tiny perfect big boy toddler body.

Our birthday picnic at the park by the river, a la Tita Jeanna and her floating fluttering balloons and streamers, was a mad success with cake and presents and the single most fabulous ever-lasting game of hide and seek ever played. Dave is the master at hiding in plain sight, Abuela is so tiny she hid behind a sapling, Ethan is the hardest to find, and Jeanna's billowing cigar smoke ratted her out every time. The babies were shoeless and could never wait to be found, screaming out of their hiding places before the seeker was even done counting.

Jeanna, Frida, Magdalena, Augustus and I took a trip out to our friends Manny and Yvonne's rural wonderland to commune with truly free chickens and roosters, guinea hens, turtles galore and a lizard or two and it was such a trip! The kids were mesmerized by the chickens and those crazy red Long Island Red Roosters. Feeding the chickens, being outside the city, taking home small perfect brown eggs, a perfect day for the city mice to brush up on our country mouse aspirations.

We had a lovely visit from Uncle William, in town from Amsterdam to meet his new niece and of course get some Barnas love. Magdalena experimented with various tattoo techniques, perfecting the old little girl effect.

The Houstons have us over for random lovely family dinners, where we eat, play and dance to our hearts content. Magdalena asks to "close the evening with a last dance" before we leave. Who are we to refuse to close the evening with a dance?

And finally, there is just perfect little girl style. We were going for a walk around the neighborhood and Magdalena needed to be properly attired. She has Sunflower, her baby doll, in the pouch/scarf around her waist, a purse for collecting found treasures, and a plastic golf club head for whacking small hard objects. Pure joy.