Pumpkin Patch

This weekend Grandpa Bob came for a visit. We went to the zoo Friday night for a special zoo evening in the amazing weather! Saturday we went to Luke's frog birthday party, and Monday we went to the pumpkin patch at Deanna Rose. This is easily my favorite time of year! We love being outside and enjoying the weather and activities that Fall brings!
Little scarecrow #1

Little scarecrow #2

Walking and jumping off huge hay bales!

Bella had a blast "hiding" in the pumpkin maze.

Benjamin thought he was big stuff with his new spike and getting to play in the corn!

He proceeded to swim in it, he was actually doing the breast stroke like he does it the bath tub! He saved several kernels of corn in his diaper for me later! ha

Enjoying the hayride! Yes, Benjamin is really waving "Hi" to me! It was the first time! So sweet!

Family Vaca in St. Louis

This past weekend we went to St. Louis, MO with the Armstrongs, the Williams, and the Meyers. It was a really fun weekend with a lot of great kid activities and time together as families. Friday night we got to see a little of the Hot Air Balloon Festival and fireworks. I think it was the thing to do that night! It was so packed! Saturday we went to the Magic House. There we so many rooms and exciting thing for the kids to do. I had to guide Bella room to room to see what was next, otherwise I think she would have played in the grocery store all day! I think this was my favorite place we went. She freaked out a little when the hair stood up on our heads! It was hilarious! We've got the perfect hair for it! We went back and took naps, well the others napped and Bella didn't. Then we swam, had some amazing Mexican food, watched a train up close, walked to a cute little park, The Sweet Shop, and got a tour of the fire station by the local firemen! It was such a relaxing fun night out! We woke up to a lot of rain Sunday morning but that didn't slow us down from going to the zoo! We are hard core zoo goers! The St. Louis zoo was so fun and offered great attractions for our little kids! As we pulled into the driveway Sunday night Bella started crying "no, no, I wanna go back!" I asked, "back where? St. Louis?" She says, "Yes!" I asked, "Do you want to sleep in your special bed at the hotel?" Bella, "Uh huh!" I think it was a hit!

First week of home preschool

I went into this week thinking I had really low expectations, but the 1st grade teacher in me secretly had high expectations! We are adjusting things to be more realistic for next week, but I think she enjoyed trying some new things. Here are a few of her projects she did. We also did color matching puzzle, tracing with dry erase marker, size sorting, apple jacks collage, and read a few books! If nothing else is accomplished, at least this is a special little time for her and I to spend together during Benjamin's morning nap.


Of course she got a little silly during Benjamin's photo shoot and wanted to pose again as usual!

10 months and counting!

I was hoping to have only one extremely active child, but I just don't think it's in the genes! Benjamin can't be more thrilled that he's mobile now and he goes nonstop! It's a wrestling match to just change his diaper or get him dressed, and he is strong! He's into all the toys and wants to do whatever Bella is doing. He's recently got his first two teeth on the bottom. I feel so bad for him, he's drooling sooo much, and is congested. Everything goes into his mouth! We had to lower the crib one level because he's getting close to being able to sit up himself.

Here's how the photo shoots go these days...



A few of his favorite things would be his golf club, soccer ball, and train! He's all boy and I love it! I know he'll always be sweet to his momma! ;)

The Greatest Show on Earth

Bella and I had a special girls night out with our good friends Emily and Samuel at the circus this week! At the beginning of the show she kept wanting to get up to go to the bathroom and was covering her ears, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. As the night went on she warmed up Bella seemed to really enjoy it and the popcorn helped keep her occupied! Her favorite part were the tigers! She was growling like a tiger long before they even came out and kept asking where they were!

Outing with Sophie and Porter

This week we enjoyed the Deanna Rose Farmstead with Aunt Val, Sophie, and Porter.



One of our new favorite things we do there is feed the little baby goats with a bottle! it was quite the experience with Sophie screaming and crying, Valerie getting butted in the shin, a goat grabbing and eating the peanut butter crackers out of my pocket, and the goats grabbing Bella's bottle and taking off with it!




Bella is all about posing these days for pictures!

Randomness

Here are a few fun captured moments. I've had a lot of fun making things with my laminator that I got for Mother's Day this year. Hopefully no more naps will be interrupted!

Poor little guy wore himself out!


We went to the zoo as a family awhile back and Bella got to pet this huge snake! Brandon didn't want to pet it, but he couldn't be out done by a 2 year old!

We celebrated Samuel's 3rd birthday at an indoor pool! We had so much fun!