Fall Party

 Apparently Amelia's dollhouse family decided to have a "Fall Party" a few weeks ago.  I was surprised to find the house decorated when I walked into her room.

 

And apparently when I discovered the decorated house, that was only the beginning of Amelia's plans.  To reel the plans back in a bit, I offered to let her use some of the clay I picked up awhile back on super clearance.  She enjoyed making some additional "fall" decorations for the house and then we baked them in the oven to harden them up.  She even made a fancy cake--see it with the heart on top?

 

From what I hear, it was quite the fall bash.

My Little Artist

Just a little picture Amelia drew for her teacher about a month into school.  You know, right about the time she fell head over heels in love with her. 

The tall person is Mrs. Bell and all of the kids are leaving church.  They have the red circle stickers on because they were ALL the star student.  She has since drawn many a picture for Mrs. Bell..and several others in her class.

Big Foot

 

Henry is not at all picky about the shoes he will place on his feet.  Most of the time he goes for Jason's (because those are the ones most left out...ahem). But he has put on my heels or Amelia's slippers many a time without cause for concern.  On this particular day, he grabbed a pair of Jason's shoes and put them on his feet in the laundry room.  Then, he walked (rather well I might add, he had his own his own shoes on inside Jason's shoes, after all) all the way to the family room.  I caught about half the journey on video.  I wonder if he will be a bit of a big foot himself and eventually catch up with his size 15 daddy!

Apple Picking: Part 2

One of the many things I like about fall is going apple picking.  We've gotten into the tradition of taking the ferry to Grafton--2 ferries actually--and stopping at a small pumpkin farm in between the boats.  There are so many adventures, it seems, before we even reach Eckerts!

It's hard to believe, but Amelia is the "big kid" now among Jason's family.  She loves to mother all of the little ones--especially Miss Olivia.

Poor Henry, subjected again to his mother's wardrobe mishaps while she still figures out how to dress a little boy.  Note to self: Henry's pumpkin hat is a wee bit too small, order another.

Not that he seemed to mind wearing it one bit, so there.  As you can see, he is hard core, pumpkin hat or no pumpkin hat.  He gets it from his daddy.

Uncle Dirk sprung for pony rides all around--well, at least for those 5 and under...

One of my favorite things in the fall (besides apple picking) is to ride along the river road.  It is so beautiful and relaxing.  Especially with a belly full of delicious apples.

Oktoberfest

I will never understand why St. Charles insists on holding their annual "Oktoberfest" in September, but that is just how it is.  Regardless of the date, it is a fun time nonetheless.

 This year (at least for me) there seemed to be less beer drinking and more goofing with the kids.  And that was just as well.  It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed running around by the river and Jason and I took turns making sure they didn't fall in.

Amelia even got a chance to hold Baby Owen.  He is getting so big!

Worse than Truman

Not too long ago Jason took it upon himself to make Amelia's lunch for school one day.  And, when Jason makes a lunch, it will undoubtedly be a little less healthy than a lunch I may make.  Regardless, this particular day, he used blue icing to draw a face of some sort on Amelia's sandwich.  And apparently he left a little blue icing behind on the counter....

  

No worries though, it got cleaned up just fine.

Balloon Glow 2011

As I am sure I have mentioned before, the Forest Park Balloon Glow is an annual tradition for us that goes back to our dating days.  This year was no exception!  We packed a delicious picnic, some cold drinks and a few glow sticks for good measure.  We got a great parking spot and even found a pretty good picnic spot close to the action (and the bathrooms).  To make things even better, our friends The Burns' joined us later in the evening with their two girls. 

The later it gets in the evening, the more exciting the balloon glow becomes!  My parents had some sort of VIP pass this year, but they were kind enough to visit our lowly blanket and bring us free beer!  The kids love seeing the balloon lit up at night and despite Amelia's reaction at age two to the fire used to keep the balloon inflated, Henry loved every minute.  Every time he sees a hot air balloon in one of his books, he still says, "Boon, Hen hen, dada".  Translation: Daddy took Henry to see the hot air balloons one September night in Forest Park.

Bookworm

It is true that we have been getting out more, Henry and I.  But, if it was up to him, I am pretty sure that many days he would choose this exact spot.  All. Day. Long.  The boy will sit for any book and I often wear out before he does thumbing through his entire collection.

Apple Picking: Part 1

Since Amelia has been in school full time, Henry and I have been trying to get out and enjoy some activities together.  When Amelia was this age, we were out with our playgroup several times a week, if not everyday.  Henry is STILL napping two times on some days which makes it really hard to get out.  But, we are slowly rediscovering the playgroup about once a month or so.

Back in September, we met the group one morning for some apple picking at a nearby farm.  It was the perfect activity for little Henry and I.  Amelia may have been borderline bored had she been in attendance.  It was the apple picking we are used to, but on a much smaller scale!

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures since I was chasing Henry much of the time.  But, I actually managed to get TWO pictures of Henry and I while riding the tractors.  Poor kid has hardly any with just mom or just dad.  Oh, the life of the second child.

Born to be Wild

The Next Evel Knievel?

With each passing day, Henry is becoming more and more of a daredevil.  On this particular day, he scaled the shelf that separates our family room and kitchen, stood up on top of it, and then dove on to the couch before falling to the floor.  And then, he let out a very happy shriek followed by an even longer giggle.

Some Soccer Highlights

Amelia had her first experience with organized sports this fall.  She joined the kindergarten soccer team at her school!  So, nearly every Tuesday and Saturday for 6 weeks, we headed to the field and watched her team play.  It was a lot of fun despite their 1-9 record (the other team forfeited at their last game).

Some highlights from practices and games during the season:

As we did on the first day of school, we arrived ridiculously early for her first game and Amelia couldn't wait for her other teammates to arrive!