Exhaustion

It feels like our days around here are extra busy lately.  I think it is starting to catch up with the kids, especially Luke.

I think this captures how all of us around here feel. 

I knew he was out when Emma poked showed me his eyes, nose and mouth and he didn't budge.

Two days earlier, Luke was chillin' in the computer chair and Emma must have played him a peaceful lullaby, because when I came back literally 5 minutes later, this is what I found...

Here's hoping for a slower paced week!

Charlie's Zoo

Monday morning, our friends invited us to join them at the zoo.  We headed down to "Charlie's Zoo," a.k.a. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It was a GOOOORRGEOUS day! Emma's favorite parts were feeding the giraffes and chasing after peacocks. Luke had a blast running around anywhere and everywhere with Charlie. As usual, the highlights for Luke were the carousel and elevators.

Our zoo heading to the zoo.

Emma liked roaring at the Lions. Edison wasn't too sure about what he was hearing next to him in the stroller. :)

Attempts at a "selfie" with this group were hilarious, to say the least.

Thanks Cramers for such a great day at Charlie's Zoo! 

Family

We decided one night that we should try to take some family pictures...the next day. I grabbed whatever we had in our closets and called Krista to see if she wouldn't mind snapping a few pics for us. The stars aligned and we managed to get a family picture. Thanks Krista!!!

Say CHEEEEEESE!

We took Luke's 3-year pictures a few weeks ago. Luke was loving the attention and we were able to snap a few that captured his personality. We love this spunky, head-strong, sensitive, silly and loveable kid.

Halloween

We celebrated Halloween a few days early by attending the annual Trunk-or-Treat at the church. It seemed extra crazy this year, lots of kids! We enjoyed dinner, dessert and several fun games for the kids. Afterwards we went out to the parking lot for the Trunk-or-Treating. Luke was a little gun shy at first, but once he caught the hang of it, GAME ON!

Group picture with 6 kids, ages 3 and under.  Nailed it.

Parker ** Max ** Luke

On Halloween night we met up with the Cramers and Evansons for the traditional neighborhood trick-or-treating. We lucked out with weather, again! I know one of these years it will be snowing, but we enjoyed a great evening. Luke had a blast literally running from house to house with Charlie. They are such high-energy kids, I LOVE watching them play together. It was a good thing we put Emma in the stroller; we were on the move!

Cramers did a very clever costume theme for their family. Charlie: astronaut, Edison: alien, Elizabeth: sun and Steven was a rocket scientist. Their wagon was even transformed into a rocket. 

Edison sportin' his alien attire.

Our Bumble Bee.

Headed out to terrorize the neighbors!

There was a neighbor making cotton candy on her front porch. She was the most popular house on the block! This is the only picture I have of just Luke in his costume on Halloween night. All of the other ones are a blur!

Sleeping off their sugar-high.

Another great Halloween.

Lollipop Park

Halloween was the last day to use our Groupon for Lollipop Park, so we headed out for some early  partying. It was a busy day at Lollipop Park! It was like everyone else remembered their discount was about to expire, too! We had a great time with our friends, the Coppins. Parker and Luke (only 6 weeks apart) go to a co-op preschool together and were quite the Batman and Fire Fighter combo. Kennedy and Emma (only 4 months apart) helped each other up the slide and jumped around together. It was a great couple of hours.

"Whip-lash" ride. Luke rode this one and the train the most.

(Love the oober-photogenic kid behind Luke in this pic...if only I knew who is mom was to send her a copy!)

"Just 5 more times, mom." 

Got it.

Great pals.

Ferris Wheel.

Train Ride.

Luke loved being the conductor.

Swings.

Tea Cups.

Whitney and Kennedy.

Emma was pretty good about watching all of the action. Next time, I will definitely need to buy her a pass. She knew that she was missing out on the real fun.

Kennedy helping Emma up the slide. 

Both kids cashed out within 10 minutes and recharged their batteries for trick-or-treating that night.