Autumn Days

We enjoyed a beautiful October. We made the most of the weather with several trips to the zoo and lots of picnics at the parks. It seems like it is the most vibrant Fall we've seen in Colorado.

Emma's favorite thing at the park is definitely the swings.

Luke is quite the climber and mastered this tower.

Several fun days at the zoo. On this day, the McCrackens joined us. It was a little chilly and I may have over-bundled Emma.

Luke's favorite part of the zoo is the carousel and elevator. How about the animals??? 

Brotherly love: Max and Kyson

These monkeys love to play tricks on people crossing the bridge. Let's just say you don't want to be directly below this naughty monkey. Luckily, I didn't have to learn this from a personal experience.

Tradition to stop and eat lunch somewhere after the zoo. Love Rubio's fish tacos.

Emma was exhausted from the zoo (or had heat stroke from me bundling her up too much) and passed out on the way to the restaurant. One perk of her being so petite...she still fits in her infant car seat so she could keep sleeping during lunch! Hoping this beautiful weather continues for a little while longer.

CHECK-UPS

I combined Luke and Emma's well visits because I figured misery loves company. :) They both did well, but I'm glad that their pediatrician is also a dad so he definitely helped me out when a little extra "convincing" was needed.

Luke was slightly apprehensive about having his blood pressure done, but when he found out that it was also "measuring his muscles" he thought that he needed to have it done several times. He loved it. I was pleasantly surprised that Luke didn't cry when he received his flu shot. However, when Emma received her shots, Luke had some empathetic tears for his sister.

Luke's stats at 3-years-old(!!!):

Height.......40"........92 %tile

Weight......39#........95 %tile

Emma wasn't thrilled to even walk into the Dr.'s office. After more than a few ear infections, this is not Emma's idea of a good time. Luckily, her ears looked good today and she checked out healthy everywhere else.

(forgot to snap a pic of Emma at the Dr, but here is a recent one from our "Girls' Morning Out".

Emma's stats at 15 months:

Height.....30 1/4"............36 %tile

Weight.....20# 8 1/4 oz...38 %tile

Head........47cm..............84 %tile

Love these two kiddos!

Pumpkin Patch

We attended our neighborhood "Pumpkin Patch" event this afternoon. We had perfect weather and they did a great job with all of the various activities. Luke wanted to be a "Fire Fighter" for Halloween. I love that he is old enough to get into the holidays...and love that his Fireman costume from last year still fit him. Emma was a Bumble Bee and was content to roll along with whatever was happening at the moment. Including some whip-lash sustained while Luke was pushing/full on sprinting with her in the stroller and decided to make an abrupt 90 degree turn and hit a 2-3 inch barricade. Suffice it to say it was a miracle that Emma nor Luke were hurt...and since they weren't hurt, I haven't laughed that hard in a L-O-N-G time.

Hay Rides.

Train Rides.

Luke was in heaven (complete change from last year when there were tears of terror and not joy).

Emma and I even went for a ride on the red train.

Petting zoo.

Such a fun afternoon as a family.

I'm trying to teach Luke to say, "Thank you" this year when we go trick-or-treating instead of last year's comment of, "More!"  :)

5 YEARS!!!

On October 9th, Bryan and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. It is crazy how time flies, I can still remember many details of when we first met on the cruise. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am one lucky girl.

Preschool Co-Op

Luke is doing a preschool co-op this year with two other buddies. We love having it small (especially with active kids) and the boys get along great. Preschool is once a week and we rotate homes every time. Luke loves preschool and frequently asks if today is the day for preschool. We hosted last week and I had so much fun with the boys. A friend took Emma for me in the morning, that also made it tons easier to focus just on the boys. We learned about the letter 'B' and our 5 senses. For our snack, we did some taste testing that I wish I would have video recorded. Between the funny faces of tasting the lemon, baker's chocolate and one boy licking the salt bowl I thought for sure I could win some serious moolah. (I also included pretzels, milk chocolate and marshmallows...but those weren't nearly as entertaining.)

Worked on fine motor skills, colors and sorting in our "Centers Activity".

Then I added a tool that required similar muscle use and control.

The boys loved doing this. We took turns rotating the various tools.

The taste testing.

These were great worksheets to easily record each boys' tasting results.

We did several activities for our senses, but the biggest hit was when we used the Binoculars for an "I Spy" walk. Oh my, such cute and fun boys!

Our project for the letter 'B'. 

I realize that every time will most likely not run this smoothly, but it was an awesome first round!

Las Vegas

We had such a great time in Lake Powell as a couple that we decided to keep with the theme and headed to Vegas with our friends, the Cramers. We have only left our kids two nights in the past 3 years before these trips. I was very nervous about being gone back to back, but the kids LOVED playing with both sets of grandparents. Gigantic thank you to both of our parents for not only spoiling the grandkids, but us as well!

Bryan and Steven prepped for the "$20 dollar trick" upon arrival at our hotel. First "gambling" of the trip!

Bryan working his magic. 

Each couple was upgraded to a suite in the Palazzo with an incredible view. They also waived resort fees and threw in some VIP passes. Score!

Hard to due the suite justice with a picture.

Cramers planned the restaurants we dined at each day. Needless to say, McDonalds was not on the menu, but we made an exception for Bryan to pick up his much beloved ice cream treats from there. Thanks to the Cramers for planning such delicious dining!

Most of the places were fancy enough that to whip out your camera and take a picture was slightly frowned upon, but here is one pic of the deliciousness. 

During the days we lounged at the pool, tried our luck with a little gambling ( I lost a whopping $1 on the penny slots and Bryan came out ahead $10), made our way to 'Circus Circus' for the fun dome and did a lot of relaxing!

Sadly, the fun dome was closed, but we had a great time playing carnival games. Bryan was lucky #12 in the camel race and brought home this guy!

Nighttime we dressed up for some fine dining and enjoyed great entertainment with a Cirque du Soleil Show and watching the illusions of David Copperfield. Seriously, how does he make an entire car appear on stage??? Has he sold his soul to the devil?

Such a great couples' trip!