Colorado

Last weekend Emma and I went to Colorado to visit my sister-in-law and her family. I wanted some girl time with her and it was fun letting Emma play with her cousins. She doesn’t get to see them very often, so it was nice. For being such a quick trip we managed to squeeze a lot in.

On Friday morning after Emma and I finally got going (we didn’t arrive until almost midnight the night before) we went to the library with the kids. They had fun looking at books and playing with the toys. They even put on a puppet show for us.
Grandma took Emma and Tyler to see Toy Story in 3D while Steph, Brayden & I had lunch and did some shopping. Lunch was yummy (you can't beat Red Robin! And their lunch special was awesome!!) and of course we found way more cute stuff than we could possibly buy (including what I think will be the best white elephant gift of the season).

We went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house afterwards so the kids could keep playing, and we had dinner with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. I think the kids' favorite part of dinner was trying to add more cheese to their dish themselves. They kept wanting to try it. Very entertaining.
On Saturday we decided we’d go to the zoo. While eating lunch a squirrel kept trying to steal food from us, and succeeded in taking a banana peel. The kids raced and investigated the animals as long as we’d let them. But we had to get home to make apple pie and pizzas.

I love this picture because it looks like they have all partied a little too hard. Emma looks like she's about the join Tyler in a chorus of a drinking song and Brayden looks like he's still going strong.

Anxiously waiting for the train.

And this guy was being very difficult when it came to pictures. Every time I got out the camera he'd turn away. I think he thought it was a game. But as you can see, I won!

If the glass had been thinner I might have lost Steph to this arangutan! He was really digging her.

The kids were exploring everything and everywhere. They even enjoyed putting leaves down the sewer.

But everywhere we went one or both of them HAD to check the map.

After we got home the kids really liked helping to mix the dough and roll it out for the pie. And they loved decorating their pizzas to look like Jack o lanterns. I think they turned out pretty cute!

And while the pie dough chilled in the fridge, they started working on their pizzas. They're not quite ready to start flipping the dough over their heads, but almost.

They added sauce...

...and cheese...

...and their toppings.

I'm not sure whether Brayden got more toppings in his mouth...

or on his pizza! But he was a great helper.

From left to right, Emma, Brayden, & Tyler's pizzas.

And here's Emma's finished product.

After church the next morning it was time for Emma and me to head back home. I think we just barely beat the snow! Though there were still some micro blizzards I had to drive through. We got home late, and although I think she was ready for her own bed, Emma told me she missed her cousins. It was so much fun visiting. Thanks again Steph and Brian for letting us come!


Here is what happened to Emma after we got home. Poor thing was just so tired, she fell asleep!

This And That

I can't believe how busy we've been. The blog has just been left undone. I have loads of stuff to put on here, but never find the time. October is typically my busiest month just because of all the fun activities I want to do with Emma, but when you add her preschool, my new business, a trip out of town, and being sick into the mix, I become even more crazy than usual. I'm going to try to catch you up a little on what we've been up to in a few new posts that I'll hopefully do in the next few days. We'll see.

Every October my family gets together to celebrate Oktoberfest. This year with October being so busy (for everyone in my family, not just us) we combined Oktoberfest with our celebrations of both Eric's and Melissa's birthdays (their birthdays are only 3 days apart). It was fun having loads of yummy German food and playing games. Oh, and the birthday stuff went great too. =)
Eric and I took Emma to the farm for some Halloween fun. She wanted to dress up, so she went as a witch. She took us through a maze and kept leading us to all the dead ends. She LOVES mazes lately and just wanted to stay in there. I saw her eyes find the exit fairly quickly (it wasn't exactly a challenging maze, even to a 4 year old), but she kept going in circles thinking it was hilarious.

We also went to another farm for their Great Pumpkin Festival. We did this last year too. It's a lot of fun. You can go on a hay ride, pick pumpkins, enjoy hot cider, and watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown outside while snuggling under blankets. Awesome. Emma's favorite part was sharing the blanket with Grandma!

We also took Emma to Gardner Village earlier this month. I love it there this time of year. Emma had fun going on a witch hunt finding all the crazy witches they have there. She loved it even more when she learned the prize upon completion was a cookie! Life just doesn't get much better than that.
Jill and I took Emma to an activity called Barnyard Boo that I took her to last year. It wasn't quite as much fun as last year, but part of the reason was due to the weather. It was beautiful when we left home, but shortly after arriving the wind picked up and then it started sprinkling. Emma was a good sport though.

Things started well enough, a bit chilly, but not too bad.

Emma had fun doing the mini maze and the ghost bowling among other things.

And she loved decorating the cookies. Here is mine, Emma's and Jill's.
Not too shabby right?

But then things got a little scary.

So we did the only thing we could - go to jail.

But I had to let her out because I just couldn't resist seeing this cute face.
Could you say no to her?

Just A Cute Girl On A Sunday

Secrets & Surprises

Since tomorrow is Eric's birthday I was helping Emma make a card for him today. She always has fun making cards and I love seeing her creativity as she chooses what elements to include. When she finished I told her we'd give it to Daddy tomorrow, and that it was a secret, and not to tell him about it. I also told her we'd make him a cake tomorrow, but that it would be a surprise. Normally on Monday nights Eric doesn't get home until after 10:00, which means Emma doesn't see him, but tonight he got home at about 6:30, an hour before her bedtime. After greeting him and giving him hugs and kisses I hear Emma saying this to Eric: "I'm not going to tell you about your card." Hmm, I think he might suspect something now. =) Emma then went to help Eric change a light bulb in our room and I heard her say "We're going to make a cake!" Clearly I need to go over exactly what a secret and surprise is with her. All I could do was roll my eyes and smile.