Fall 2013.

We had such nice fall weather this year, Indian summer really. Which just kept us busier since we want to be out and about enjoying the last of the outdoor activities every moment before hibernation sets in. Hence, just getting to post about activities from the last TWO months. One fault of an Indian summer is that we had to wait until now to see awesome colors like this......

But before then we were able to still wear shorts and enjoy the sunshine....seriously Brady and that shirt....its killing me.

 

I got to volunteer for Pumpkin day in Brady's class....

we measured, learned if pumpkins floated or sunk, counted seeds, carved...they were good little scientists!

saw one of the most vibrant double rainbow....

Participated in an 80's run.....

the fact that we all had this clothing available at a moments notice is a bit frightening.

We enjoyed Artprize 2013.

A couple of my favorites....Tire panda.

and mossy nature guy.

And of course this was one of the kids favorites.....hmmmm I wonder why.

Crazy hair day at school

Brady made hair out of a hat.

Brady joined a Lego club this year, the first session was all motorized modes of transportation, really stepping it up! Here they are racing the finished products...

Getting pumpkins....taking in the colors.

Crazy hat day....the school is really capitalizing on the fundraising.....

Brady came around the house petting a bird the other day...yup a DEAD bird. BOYS=GROSS.

Cue the bleach bath.......

enjoying outdoor meals still.....Seriously the shirt.....I guess I didn't realize how much he has it on...note to self ......must have laundry bandit hide this.....

Found a dog park down the road from us where Roxy can get her wiggles out and be leash FREE....she loves it.

We end up going for a hike there a few times a week, sometimes we have to entice the kids with companions.....

Also got to see a lions game with the hubby.

And that my friend was fall....

Roxy update.

She is getting big, fast, smart, and attached.

She is also sometimes is naughty, has accidents, and throws up.

But she is part of us now and is getting her share of love.

 

She continues to not know what it is like to lay on the floor.

She is always up for a snuggle.

Her interest in my guilty pleasure tv watching at night, is non-existent.

She did graduate from her obedience class, not sure she should have, she may be getting by on her looks.......

She leaves surprises for some inattentive kids running through the yard....this was so great....we laughed for a long time about this.....guess who's been picking up the yard a bit more....

Poopie knees....

morning cuddles with Brooke.

I have a feeling a winter doggie sweater is in her future...

We also continue to wear her out. Chris has her rollerblading. I have her running up to about 1.5 miles (with a few sniffing breaks in between), she also loves to run around a dog park or the kids soccer games.

The two snugglers of the family seem to find each other quite often.

She's got it rough.....she must be thinking.....those poor down trodden dogs who use the floor.

Wrestle mania at Saturday soccer.

Double Digits!

Brookie is climbing the numbers ladder and hit the double digit milestone! It's such a weird thought that she has been around an entire decade, but then again we look back on baby pictures of her and it does seem like a long time ago that I was dealing with her unmanageable hair or her annoyingly loud screaming (Colic).....oh wait aren't we still doing that? (hair still never gets brushed and her volume, let's just say its not soft)  haha...not much changes except for my baby keeps gets older and older. She is exactly who I imagined her to be as I stared at her for hours on end as a baby. Sweet, smart, feisty, caring, a leader and a definite social butterfly! I am enjoying her as she is getting older, she understands and relates to adults so well that sometimes I have to scale back and think wait, what are we talking about or thinking about doing.... this is my daughter, but she makes it seem effortless and I find I want her joining me more than I say, "No, she's just a kid".

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.

Having a weekday birthday always makes for a rushed day, but we were able to sneak in a sugary breakfast, deliver her a surprise lunch at school (because for 4 years I have been hearing about how ALL the moms and dads bring their kids special birthday lunches)  I figured as her last year at this school and probably the last year that she won't be mortified that I am standing in the Cafeteria with Jimmy Johns - I would cave, and celebrate as a family at PF'ers (her request) at night.

Brooke opted to forgo a birthday party this year, her request instead was to head to Chicago as a family after sports ended and hit Ed Debevics (she got wind the waitresses were rude on purpose and is automatically intrigued).  Again, ahead of her time, travel & food instead of gifts.....my kinda gal!

I did feel bad that she had to wait until November so I told her to pick a friend and we would go out to jump at Sky Zone for an hour and grab a pizza. Here is her bud Ruthie ready to get their jump on!

Two peas in a pod .......these two are!

Topped off with a pie from "the hut"

Well I caved and brought her lunch, but Chris caved and bought her a bow and arrow. No "you'll shoot your eye out" words were spoken here.  She had tried it at a friends house and really loved it. So our little Katniss Everdeen suited up this weekend. Hold the phone calls supervision rules were a part of the gift too.

Ready, Aim, Fire......

Poppa the house may or may not have a few more dings in it than prior to her birthday!

Happy 10th Birthday to our Brooklyn.

Mini Vacation - Day Four.....

We went back to the Magic Kingdom for our last day. This was the kids favorite from last time and this one was also open to midnight (think get the most for your $$)  

Apparently the castle was getting some renovations for the night time spectacular....

Is anyone getting to sense what Brady's favorite outfit is??

Brady was able to get up on stage with Captain Jack Sparrow for a bit of the pirate show.

Hands up for the coaster.....

So glad our kids are at an age where we can send them on the spinning ones by themselves.....

Sometimes mom would get total cooperation for selfies.

and other photo ops....

And then sometimes I would get this action where I sense they may have had enough of the picture taking. haha.

It's a small world after all, is a favorite of all of ours.....

We tried out the new Ariel ride.

We made really poor food choices.

This was the creme de la creme this year. Neither of them would try it two years ago and this year I think we went on it 6 times. They have graduated.

Castle at night is always a sight to see.

 

They did this really cool laser light show on the castle which was neat...here is a short snip it from it.

 

 

Trying to muster up energy for the night time festivities....our dogs were barking.

Dad surprised them with some parade treats!

Electrical parade.

Saying good night to another fun night in the magical land.

This was Brady on the Monorail ride home....dunzo.

And that my friends was it....next morning flight home and reunited with puppy.