Gulf Shores, AL

October 23 - 30
We spent a week with my parents at Gulf Shores, AL. Christina was able to come down for a few days. The weather wasn't great, but it was still nice to relax and be at the beach!

Jake got a hole in 1!

Grace practicing walking on the beach with Daddy

Carving Pumpkins

October 18, 2009

 

 

 

Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch at Iron's

We had a great day picking the "perfect" pumpkins at Iron's. The kids loved the hayride and were so proud of their pumpkins!

A Day Out with Thomas

Jake has been talking about riding on Thomas and counting down the days until our ride for quite some time. Last year, we went to see Thomas and thought Jake wouldn't care about actually riding Thomas. Well, we were wrong! So we told him we'd ride the next time he came. Finally, the big day arrived! Unfortunately, I got sick the night before and was up all night feeling awful and thinking about how awful it was going to be riding the train feeling so nauseaus (sp?)! I started to feel a little better about 4:30 and got a couple hours of sleep. Our tickets said to arrive an hour before your ride so we got there about 8:45am and Thomas was still asleep! So...we had a little time to kill before our big ride. Luckily there was lots to do...

"When is Thomas going to wake up?"

Jake marched right in for a picture of him and "Topham Hat".

Waiting for the "All Aboard"...right after this, Thomas pulled away....WITHOUT US! We were all a little distraught. After waiting ALL that time, we didn't even hear them say you could board. I guess we were too busy. We had to trade our tickets for the next ride. I think I almost cried!

We were very excited to see Thomas come back.

Here's Thomas!

Finally on board the train!

We can hardly wait for him to pull out of the station.

Ready to go!

Drew and Lilly met us when we got back and she and Jake jumped in the inflatable castle.

Then we checked out the fire truck before heading home.

What a day!

Jake's 1st Day of Preschool

This was Jake's first week of Preschool. I was really worried that he would be upset about being "left" at school, but he actually did great. I feel like I have to pry information about school out of him, but here is what I was able to gather about his first day...they played on the playground, his teacher helped him down the pole, he went to the bathroom by himself but didn't wash his hands, he had 1 cookie and water for snack, and there is a boy in his class named, Elliot. Sounds like a great time to me! Today he came home and proudly showed me the picture that he painted for me. (Aw!) I think school is going to be really good for him.

Grace's 1st Birthday Party

Below are some pictures from Grace's 1st birthday party. It was fun spending time with our family celebrating such a special occassion. We are so happy to have Grace in our lives. She's a special little girl! Grace loved when we sang happy birthday to her. She acted very dainty when trying her cake, she didn't like getting her hands dirty and wasn't even sure about the taste (that will soon change!) She is ALL girl!

Grace is 1!!!

Our sweet baby girl is 1. It's hard to believe. I know every parent says that, but seriously, this past year has flown by. Grace has been such a joy. She is getting more independent...she doesn't "koala" me quite as much as she used to, but she's still my girl! Explanation of "koala"...I called her my little koala because she often clung to me gripping with both arms and legs when someone tried to take her from me. :-) She is crawling all over the place and pulling up easily now. She'll be walking soon! She has figured out how to climb the stairs and always looks to see who is watching her because she is so proud of herself. Just a few of our favorite things about Grace...her (open mouth) kisses, her crinkled nose and toothy grin, her rolls and especially sqeezeable thighs, her wild morning hair, her new giggle, the way she calls for Jake (drawn out like "Daaaaaaaye), and the way she snuggles before bed.

We fixed her blueberry pancakes for breakfast and spent the day at the pool...what a perfect day!

"I'm 1!!!

Getting ready for bed and opening a few presents.

Sunday family time at the pool...Jake did great swimming and Grace was really into the goggles.

Pool Day Fun

Jake and his long-time buddy,
Braden, having fun at the pool then back at home.

Red's Game

Mike and I took Jake to a Red's game and had a blast! Jake really enjoyed it except for the fact that the Red's would not hit him a ball. I know, how rude! He would yell for them to hit him a ball and then he'd get mad and say "They're not listening!" The game was pretty exciting and went to extra innings, but unfortanetly the Red's couldn't pull through.

Mmmm, Lemon Chill

Rosie!

"...And it's 1, 2, 3 strikes your out!..."

Who's that Reds in the middle!?