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!

Lake Powell

We were invited on a 'couples only' trip to Lake Powell. We had a BLAST. Leaving the kids with my parents, I knew that they weren't going to be too sad about us leaving...party central for Luke and Emma. I think when I didn't have my kids with me I could actually be the kid. Jeff and Jen did an amazing job pulling it all off. We had 12 couples and our "captain" a.k.a. Jen's brother that made sure everything went smoothly with the houseboat. They thought of E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. !!!! It was impossible not to have an incredible time. 

Driving the houseboat to our destination... (I assure you I actually had no control, but I sure liked that feeling of power.)

Our little piece of heaven for the next few days.

Setting the anchors, man, I was very grateful that they set as many as they did. It saved us from who knows what. Sunday it was horribly windy. So windy that everyone was preparing for the worst. Seriously scary. You hear those sad and crazy stories about Lake Powell, so glad that nothing happened. Some church analogy here about setting your anchors deep...

We only had one day when the weather didn't cooperate, but we still had a great time playing games. The other days were filled with wake surfing, slalom skiing, wake boarding, badminton, swimming, cliff jumping, houseboat sliding stunts, tubing, paddle boarding, spear fishing, potato gunning and the list goes on! We ate delicious food and no one was ever bored. 

The "water weeny"---how to hurt as many people as possible at one time. Worth every sore body part.

The look of pure happiness.

Our sleeping arrangements. By no means was this a "romantic getaway".  :)

Game time.

I'm second one in from the left, Bryan is smack dab in the middle, about to receive an accidental knee/foot to the head....

Wait for it...

Yep, she ended up right on top of Bryan. Luckily, no one was hurt! Plus, she even got an award for her unique style of cliff jumping! :)

The high tech operations of the potato gun.

Pictures of the gang...

SOOOOO much fun! Gigantic thanks to Jeff and Jen (the couple in the red t-shirts) for an amazing trip!