priceless

Nothing better than being with our best friends and going to a splash park on November 2nd!  We didn't know the fountains would be on but couldn't resist letting the kids get down to their undies and having fun!  Wish I had more pictures to show from our awesome weekend with Emily and the kids in town - it was great and so hard to put them back on the plane to Denver.  We miss you guys already!!

a few more pumpkins

the weekend before halloween we hit a big pumpkin patch north of dallas for some pumpkin time with daddy (and so many of our favorite cartoon characters - what a treat!)

we did this barrel tractor ride, a real hay ride, hay mazes and took lots of pictures (again!)

so exciting to see lightning mcqueen and all our favorite CARS friends

it was like going to california to CARS land for free!  at least for a 3 year old!

Toy Story Kiddos

 

Happy Halloween everyone! we had so much fun preparing for halloween this year. I thought Kate would make a perfect Jessie (the cowgirl from Toy Story) and planned out her costume. When I asked Brooks if he would like to be another character from Toy Story he was excited! I thought he would pick Woody or Buzz Lightyear or even Rex the dinosaur, but no, he said "Mr. Potato Head." I had a lot of work ahead of me!

 

Brooks's school halloween concert - this is his class.  He wanted to wear the shoes and all to the concert and managed to walk around the gym with 50 kids and sing the songs.

 

Getting ready to trick or treat with the Browns, McCollums and Turners - what a cute group - and they all sat together so well for pictures!

Earlier in the week we went to a church carnival - kate's first taste of trick or treating and she loved it!

For the second time in a month, Brooks waited in line to do the big trampoline bungee jump - our cautious and reserved little man loves this thing!

He also loved all the carnival games and winning candy - putting, baseball, ring toss...it was awesome!

More trick or treating pics with Henry - what a cute cowboy/cowgirl couple!

 

We had a great halloween!

 

It's pumpkin time

you just can't beat the Dallas Arboretum for great fall pumpkin pictures - tens of thousands of pumpkins, pumkin houses and bails of hay just waiting for people to dress up their kids and grab their cameras - i'm a sucker for it!

The "Home" Team

They aren't even that good, but our family is still excited about the Broncos!  Tebow isn't there and neither are we, but oh well - we're hooked!

Kate's first day of "school"

Unbelievable really, but Kate has started her first Mother's Day Out one day a week and will tell you that she is going to "school."  Our baby thinks she is a big girl, and in so many ways, really is!  Two weeks in, "school" is going well.  Her teachers love her, she hasn't really cried at dropoff, she slept one day at nap time for 45 minutes, and she seems to want to go back. 

On the first day Kate wanted to bring every lovie and baby from her crib - that has been the only sticking point in going really.  She loves her new running shoes that she got for school - she picked them out at target and loves the pink!  Kate is becomming so chatty and loves the color pink - such a little girl!  I keep thinking I should write down all the words she is saying, but then i realize she will say any word that you say - there must be hundreds in her little brain right now!  just today I asked her if her lunch was going in her tummy and she told me "no, in my mouth."  then she started lifting up her dress to put the ham sandwich "in her tummy."  this girl keeps us on our toes for sure.

 

 

Brooks helping to carry all of Kate's school stuff to the car.  she has a little bag of clothes, a lunch and her napmat.  Both kids go to the same little school and overlap on Thursdays.  I think it would be cute to be a fly on the wall watching them interact as they pass in the hallway or on the way to the gym. 

1st day of Preschool

another school year has begun!

 

Brooks is starting 3-year-old preschool at Ridgewood Park Preschool, and so far he loves it.  He is going Tuesdays and Thursdays and is in Mrs. Throckmorton's class.  (I still can't believe he can say her name so clearly!)  There are seven kids in his class, and he even gets dropped off in a carpool line outside the front door and walks in by himself.  He loves going to music class with Mrs. Gresback and also the gym.  It's a long day for this guy (who still naps thank goodness) - I don't pick him up until 2:30.  He is usually wiped out and comes home and sleeps a bit before dinner.

Brooks loves telling you that he isn't just three, but three and a half right now.  Other things I want to remember about our guy as he starts preschool...

 

• He loves singing, making up songs, playing his guitar, and "jamming".  His favorite songs right now are "Do you know the muffin man?" and "Jesus loves me"
• He memorized his first bible verse at church this month "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" - Genesis 1:1.  He is very proud of himself and so are we.
• He is still into his trains, but more into trucks, construction, Bob the Builder, imagination play - he always wants to play "airport" and he is usually the baggage guy.  We are also usually flying to Denver to see Xander and play golf.  :)
• He loves his new golf clubs and wants to play all the time.  it has been pretty hot and buggy, but we are starting to get outside more.  He asked why we hadn't been to the golf course in Dallas yet and would really like to go. At lunch with friends last weekend, he talked on and on about his "driver, hybrid, iron and putter."
• He is really excited about reading and wants to practice his letters all the time.  He is confidently identifying all the letters and pretty good and telling you what a word starts with.  Some are harder than others - C & K, W & Y, F & V get mixed up a lot.  I find it hard to tell him why words that sound one way actually start with another letter!
• He still loves his strider bike and riding it to the park near our house.  He especially likes when other people notice his bike (not as many striders in dallas as denver) and then he puts on a show riding laps around the park! 
• He has started his first "responsibility chart" (chore chart really) and is interested in helping out and also putting something in his piggy bank!  We are just in week one but so far he has started setting the table and clearing his dishes more.  He has also showen more initiative in getting dressed by himself because he will get a sticker!



Our funny little guy! 

Road Trip Family

A little delayed, but after we left Georgian Bay, we drove north through Sault Ste Marie, Canada and back into the US.  We loved the beautiful drive across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and stopped to have  picnic dinner at an elementary school.  It was one of the sweetest parts of our entire trip.

After staying the night in Michigan, we continued driving south through Wisconsin (hence the cheese heads) and back to Chicago where our adventure began.  We had Kate in a cheese head too but couldn't keep it on her long enough for a picture!

 

Back in Chicago we stopped by "the bean" - so cool and a fun place to take pictures.  We had already done the zoo on the front end of our trip with our friend Christy Parker (sorry no camera that day) and now we enjoyed seeing more of the city. 

It seems like so long ago now that I am just getting to putting these pictures on the blog, but we had a wonderful long trip and really enjoyed it all.  I will remember that the kids did great in the car and long drives worked well leaving just after lunch and driving into the night with the kids in their pjs.  With these two summer road trips behind us we are encouraged for more family adventures to come!

 

 

Georgian Bay

To get a break from the Texas heat after we had been here about two weeks so headed up north to Canada for a wonderful family vacation with family friends, the Maags, at their Georgian Bay cottage north of Toronto.  I remember going here when I was younger, and I couldn't wait to share it with Richard and the kids. 

Getting ready for a kayak trip with daddy

 

Kate with nana and nana's longest friend, Heather

Kate loved all the lawn chairs and playing outside for 4 days - no bugs even!

We took a great day trip on the pontoon boat - Brooks loved it!  We stopped for ice cream and lemonade, and Brooks thought he was the captain!

Kate actually loved wearing the life jacket and wanted it on all week.

The kids fought over these little binoculars all week (and really thought they should look in the big end!)

Henry's "tractor" - the biggest hit of the trip.  Brooks was king of the cottage getting to drive the boats and the tractor with Mr. Henry.

A family game of croquet - we used to play this when I was little at the cottage. 

Brooks gave concerts every night and let us all in singing his favorites - Itsy Bitsy Spider and Tiny Tim.

 

Thank you Heather & Henry for a wonderful visit - we loved all the relaxing and adventures!