New PlayGround In Town

There is a new neighborhood down the street from us and they put up a pirate ship playground! We had a great morning with Eliana, Michaela and Everett playing out in this wonderful, fall weather.

This is the biggest slide Ethan has ever attempted!
E and M climbing together

Jillian is so cute in the big girl swing

wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

the springy animals were a huge hit

all playdates are incomplete until a big snack

a sand box without a box

Pumpkin Patch

The pumpkin patch this year was SO entertaining as the kids easily spent 30 minutes running around, having a ball, picking out multiple pumpkins, putting sticker faces on the smaller ones and just laughing the whole time! Ethan kept encouraging Jillian to hide with him and jump out at us when we rounded the corner!

hiding behind pumpkin
She picked an awesome one for us immediately
Kids at the local church we always buy our pumpkins from

have to get the photo opp

he had SO much fun

fun with dad

A Train At the Mall?

Yes there is now a train at Countryside Mall and all can ride for the low price of only $3 per person! Jillian was skeptical at first, but soon both kids were cruising the mall looking at stores and people passing by! We even stopped by the ice skating rink, where Ethan hoped to see someone fall on their booty like on America's Funniest Videos. Was a great little outing and I'm sure we'll go back for more in the future.

Waiting our turn at the train station
riding in the blue car of course as that is E's favorite color
watching the people go by

a great shot of the engine

watching the train after us leave

and then yummy lunch at the food court and another ride or two

Dannica's got nothin' on my speed demon

Dynamic Duo

So this post started out as a few cute photos of the kids together, because lately they are glued at the hip! Then I found some funny individual ones so I just wanted to showcase not only how cute they are and how much they love each other, but also their sense of humor and stubborness. Giggles... 2 weeks ago when we all had a terrible cold they even napped together in my bed.pretending to camp in the living room-now we need a tent

this had me laughing out loud-she HAD to wear his Diego underpants

And he HAD to swim naked in Mia and Poppy's pool at the end of our little dip

drying off in the sun after a trip to the fountains with Dad

Bath Art

The kids have been enjoying some really cool bath pant this week from their Mimi. I LOVE it because it is soap and with a quick rinse and washcloth it disappears as easy at it came. The kids love to spell their names and paint their bath toys too!

easy on and easy off
decorating a train and turtle

painting each other!

cool mid drip shot

J has to squeeze hard but she can do it!

School Portraits

Hi everyone, I'm sorry there hasn't been a lot of posting lately, but it has been crazy around here! For the past 2 weeks we have been getting the kids adjusted to school, I'm in budget season at work, we took turns with a round of colds, had our community yard sale and this weekend I had a fever with possible reaction to my flu shot! But I promise to get some new things posted throughout this week. The first week of school Creative World had a family event night where you could take family portraits, draw family portraits, make crafts and play in the Exploratorium Center which the kids enjoyed. We got 2 fabulous photos from that night. School has gotten a little better each week. Jillian has made special friends with a boy in her class and tells us "preston is funny", which is adorable. Ethan so far has friends named Calvin, Grayson and Alyssa and he told me last week "Emma threw up on the playground." It's a hoot!

they make it look like this shot was easy to get!

love this one

Starting School

The first day of preschool was yesterday for Ethan and Jillian and overall they had a good one! They were excited to start the adventure and are here holding the school bags ready to go into their classrooms. We met the teachers and attended an event last week so they had been there twice to see and meet everyone. They let me leave for work without any tears and I am told that both got emotional a few times asking for me, but did not ever cry during the day. Ethan's teacher printed out a schedule for him to follow and as he crossed out each section of the day-he worked toward the happy face at the end showing mommy's return. this seemed to help him a lot. The director told me he communicates on the level of a 6 or 7 year old! they already love Miss Pat and Miss Anna and when I picked them up they cried a little in relief, but definitely said they wanted to return. Will keep you posted on our progress.

Slip N Slide

Welcome to our favorite toy of the summer! Ever since a birthday party we went to in July the kids have been addicted to late afternoon slip n slide time in our yard! As you will see it also provided several playdates with our friends. I admit that it has been a great way to beat the heat and watching them splash and laugh has been priceless. Come on over if you want to join us!

Ethan on the run

one of the rare slides he's actually done-mostly they run through the water

she is still a pretty little thing when soaked!

Ethan and Macie chasing each other

Davis and Jillian take a turn together

Marissa taking a turn-that's her house you see in the pictures

best of pals: Dora and Boots for the last 3 weeks if you ask them

mowing?

always trying to drink the water

Ray slides

Jack and Ray are Ethan's best buddies next door-they are older and he adores them!

Where a Kid can Be a Kid

Yep, you guessed the slogan right-Chuck E. Cheese's is where a kid can be a kid. Took the kids for the very first time with some of our friends and they didn't want to leave! What an amazing package/deal they have including coins, large pizza, 4 drinks-it felt like a steal actually and we split it between 2 families making it even better! Ethan is at the age where he wants to play more games and well Jillian, like her aunt elyse at this age wants to ride everything! We can't wait to go back for more fun with the mouse in the future.

Ethan and John loved this roller coaster simulation and would laugh and shriek and probably spent a third of their tokens repeating it.
Jillian likes to "whack em"

this huge rocking horse actually rocked us back and forth. freaked me out, but J squeeled with delight

yes friends, the show is still there

Sarah, Emily and Aiden in the lunch area

riding together only once the whole time

she loved the back and forth on this caterpillar ride

ski ball was hilarious b/c none of the kids could quite get the ball all the way up to the slots. balls were on the floor, in each other's alleys-you name it.