Last year the Royals took us on quite a ride (I blogged about it here and here) but they came just short of winning it all. This year, the Boys in Blue were determined to be the last ones standing. The boys looked amazing almost all of the 2015 season (with the exception of a slightly scary slump in September) and easily secured themselves a spot in the postseason (no wild card game needed for them this year!). I can’t recap the playoff run that the Royals had nearly as well as someone that gets paid to do so, so here is my favorite article to sum it all up, but, just in case that article isn’t still available years from now, here’s my brief personal synopsis:

The first series (ALDS) in the postseason was against the Houston Astros and we were THIS CLOSE to losing in the elimination game 4. In fact, the Texas Governor had already tweeted to congratulate the Astros on moving on to the next round. Well, being down 6-3 going in to the 8th inning didn’t scare our boys. They fought back to win that game. They then went on to win game 5 of the ALDS at home (M attended with his buddies R and M) and were on their way to play the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS.

The ALCS was a wild ride as well. The Royals fought hard and won a few games in the “come from behind” fashion that they became famous for and clenched their spot in the World Series in 6 games.

It was down to two teams, us and the New York Mets. The World Series opened up with a very exciting/exhausting/labor inducing game (however you want to put it). They were down by one run in the 9th when my fave player, Alex Gordon, hit a home run and tied it up. They were finally able to end the game with a walk off in the 14th inning. M and I (and baby #2) were able to go to Game 2 on October 28th and it was luckily much shorter and much less stressful than Game 1. The Royals ran away with that game 7-1. It was such a fun environment and a game I will never forget! I also love that E got to go to the Wild Card game last year and Baby #2 got to go to a WS game this year.

The Royals were leading the series 3-1 going in to game 5 (in NY on November 1st). Yet again, the boys were down late in the game. 2-0 in the 9th to be exact. The Royals somehow managed to tie the game and forced extra innings. Not much happened after that until the 12th inning where the Boys in Blue scored 5, yes 5, more runs! Our star closer, Wade Davis, was able to hold off the Mets for the bottom of the 12th and the World Series trophy officially became ours with a final score of 7-2!

The big win meant that good ole KC got it’s very first championship parade in 30 years! We, along with 800,000 other people, felt like we couldn’t miss it (sorry E, we left you at daycare because you were a little too young). We got fairly lucky with logistics since my office was only a few blocks from the parade route and I had a parking spot. M and B/the girls got there super early to snag a front row spot and I met them a little later. It was a sea of blue as far as the eye could see. The city was electric that day and it was obvious that the fans and players were experiencing something they would remember forever.

I would say the entire season can be summed up in one phrase: “Winning is fun!”.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year with little E. I decided fairly early on that I wanted her to be Madeline. Madeline was my favorite book when I was little and E absolutely loves it as well. M was hesitant about this costume because before he had E, he had never heard of the book Madeline. I assured him that EVERYONE knows who Madeline is and he just doesn’t know because he grew up with only brothers. Well, it turned out I was wrong. I would say only about 50% of people have heard of or read Madeline, but that still didn’t sway my decision. I asked my Mom if she would make the costume and she was luckily as excited as I was about this idea. She is a very talented seamstress and made a dress, coat, AND cape that could not have been more spot on. I bought a straw hat for E, spray painted it yellow and hot glued a black ribbon to it (my part was pretty easy). We threw some white tights and black mary jane shoes on her and she couldn’t have looked any cuter! M came around to the costume once he saw how adorable she looked and it didn’t hurt that anyone that DID know who Madeline was raved about the costume. Thank you to my mom for her hard work and to M for going along with my idea.

Our Halloween festivities began the Sunday prior at the Fairway Trail of Treats in our nearby park. E had a great time painting a pumpkin, attempting some of the games, and just watching all of the other kiddos.

The Friday before Halloween (Halloween fell on a Saturday this year), E’s class had a parade through the 1st floor of the Federal Building (like last year).

On the actual day of Halloween, we visited great grandma and my parents before resting up for a long night of fun. That night we headed to our friend’s house in Westwood Hills where they close down the streets and the houses decorate big. Our friend B even had a projector set up outside so that we could make sure to watch Game 4 of the World Series (more on that in another blog post). E really enjoyed following around her buddy, E, and was much more eager than I thought she would be to march on up to the doors to get her candy. We stuck around B&C’s house late to watch the end of the game and didn’t get E in bed until after 10:30 but she was such a trooper! I had a blast with her this Halloween and I know it will only get better from here.