Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

A Boy's Best Friend

It always amazes me how different my boys are from each other.
For instance....

my first two didn't have a care in the world about Sesame Street or Elmo. I don't think they even knew who Elmo was when they were little. They were all about Thomas the Tank Engine and Disney cartoons.

Now Evan, on the other hand, has no interest in Disney stuff at all. BUT, Elmo rocks his world! He can sit and listen to Elmo tell him stories and the two of them can dance together like nobody's business.
And there is always a hug at the end of playtime!

Happy November!

Happy Halloween

May the Force Be With You!
(sorry about the poor picture quality)

Angels

Like FATHER, like SON!!!!
Hee! Hee!

Influenza

Yes, it struck our house.

Hide-out

I decided to bake some cookies on Sunday with the weather being so cold and yucky!
There was a nice little perch on the shelf in the pantry with the mixer being out and in use.
Evan decided this was the perfect place for him. He crawled up on the shelf and closed the door!! He thought that was the best game of peek-a-boo ever. You can only imagine his disappointment when the mixer was back in its place the next day.

Winter Cometh

Please bring Fall weather back!!
I don't fit well in my car seat with all this stuff on.

Fall Weather....

A couple pictures of the boys playing outside on a nice fall morning.
It seems we might skip fall altogether though. We woke up to snow this morning!!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Owen!

Owen has been asking for a skateboard for some time now. I finally gave in and we got him one for his birthday. He actually had quite the skateboard themed birthday!! Everyone must know he loves skateboards because every article of clothing he received had skateboards or skulls on it and he also got lots of skateboard toys!
Thanks for a great birthday everyone!!

Soccer

I have truly become a soccer mom!

Andrew decided to give soccer a try this fall. He has proven to be quite good!!

Munchkin

Golf Tournament

Andrew played in his first golf tournament this week.

He placed 3rd out of a group of 18 kids.
We are so very proud of him. He is shaping up to be a great little golfer!

Goofballs

Rapid City, SD

We loaded up the van and headed over to R.C. for a little family vacation.
My cousin and her family graciously hosted us for 4 fun-filled days of sight-seeing and good times!
Our little trip just happened to coincide with Sturgis Rally week. One of us thinks that we need to return every year during Rally Week (any guesses who that might be???!!!).

Our 6 happy troops that we loaded up every morning!

Thank You so much, E & S!
We had a great time and just might have to do it again next summer!!

Mt. Rushmore

What's a trip to South Dakota without a picture of Mt. Rushmore??

Biker Boy

Future Sturgis participant!

Owen was so in his element here. His favorite part of the trip was NOT Reptile Gardens or Bear Country, but walking down main street Keystone and checking out all the bikes lined up!!
He chose to spend his money from Papa and Nana on two Rally shirts and a "pleather"/American Eagle skull-cap!
Lovely.

Playing

Evan had so much fun just hanging out at the house and playing on all the new and different toys!

His new best friend!

Story Book Island

This is an amazing FREE park in Rapid City. They have just about every story book character you can think of around the park.

Bear Country, U.S.A.

Baby cubs playing in the trees.

Cuddly Grizzly!!

No more pictures, please!

This is a terrible picture but I had to show how close the bears really get to the cars. That is my cousin's van in front of us and the bears cross between all the cars and rub up against them. The boys loved it!

Reptile Gardens

Owen sitting pretty with a 128 year old tortoise who loved to have his neck rubbed!

Andrew petting a snake...Yuck!! He also pet a baby alligator while we were here. He is getting to be a much braver kid!

There were probably 15-20 alligators and crocodiles roaming around (behind a double fence!).

This guy sat like this for about 25 minutes without moving once! Waiting for a tasty treat.

Say cheese....

They say it is impossible to take good pictures of your own kids. For some reason I always think that maybe "this time" they will cooperate and I will get some good pictures.
Well, on Saturday we decided to go to the park for "picture day" and we left less than an hour later with a very frustrated mommy/photographer!!!
It's true. Impossible to take good pictures of your own kids.

Washing the car

Evan had so much fun washing the car. He helped scrub the wheels for a good hour!
(He also took a great nap after all the hard work!)

Didn't mind showing a bit of skin either!!!

Only Owen.....

This child has a style all his own!

Playing with Oma

Evan had a good time playing in the yard with Oma on a sunny day.
He even shared some of his "fishy kisses" with her!!