Halloween Preview

We got all dressed up this morning to go trick-or-treating at the local shops. It was a beautiful, sunny day with temps in the upper 60s...far nicer than any weather we'll get on Halloween night, I'm sure! The girls had fun painting ceramic pumpkins, making glitter masks, and comparing their candy hauls. Jack just tried to suck all the sugary goodness right through the wrappers.

Apple Picking

It's officially fall! And if you know me, you know what that means. It's apple picking time! We went to Butler Orchards to pick enough to enjoy "apple a day" for a week and bake a fabulous apple pie for our anniversary. Yum. And now we can return to pick more apples later in the season!

While the Parents Are Away...

...the children will play! And play they did! With all four grandparents in town, the kids had a fabulous time swinging and climbing at parks, riding the carousel, feasting on a picnic, throwing a pajama party, baking and decorating sugar cookies, and roping everyone into a fabulous tea party!

Ciao!

Matt and I had an amazing few days in Italy! We started our trip by meeting up with my dear high school friend Wendy and her husband Matt for tours of San Gimignano, the "Manhattan" of medieval Tuscany, and Siena. We climbed ancient stone towers to watch the sunset, drove tiny cars through even tinier cobbled lanes, gazed admiringly at stunning architecture and artwork, ordered antipasto plates every day...and ate our weight in gelato. It was a fabulous time!

Then we packed our bags and headed to Montepulciano for Sonali and Jon's wedding. I've been friends with Sonali for nearly two decades, and we've lived in the same cities for a remarkable amount of that time--Canfield, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Now she's in London and I'm in D.C., but there could not have been a better place than Tuscany to watch her celebrate her marriage. We stayed in a beautiful villa with sweeping views of the Tuscan countryside, climbed the picturesque streets of Montepulciano, indulged in the finest cured meats and wines, and met and mingled with warm, wonderful friends gathered to share in Jon and Sonali's special day. It was perfect.

Our last day in Italy was spent hobbling through the streets of Florence (darn those blisters) and cursing the pigeon that pooped on me! But despite these minor irritations, we were in Italy, sans kids, and we savored every moment. We just knew it was time to head home!

A special thank you to our parents, who spoiled our kids rotten in our absence. They are still talking about all of the amazing adventures they had while we were away.

A Week at the Beach

Well, suffice it to say that I am way behind on my posts. The Hartings clan headed to the Outer Banks back in July for a fabulous week of sun, sand, surf, and sensational cocktail hours! All of the kids loved the beach--they were fearless in the water and spent hours making sand castles and sand dinosaurs (Claire's favorite!)