Fall Fun (Part 2), Vera, and More!

I am so gad that I decided to break up our "fall fun" posts into several posts! I have a lot to write about today and we have not even had our neighborhood fall festival, class parties or Halloween!

We have been very busy over the past two weeks! At the last minute, I decided to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I did not form a large team, as I have done for the past few years, but I was happy to have Carl, Evan, Preston, Bonnie Mom, Heather, Josh, Jackson, Caleb, and Emily join me for the race. We were able to raise a few hundred dollars for breast cancer research and prevention and we had a lot of fun too. (I will admit that racing with the kids was pretty tricky, so we only completed part of the race!)

 

 

We love going on walks in the woods and it is extra enjoyable now, with all of the beautiful fall leaves. We recently hiked through the woods and over to Putney Pond. The boys loved exploring and Evan even got some pond water to take home and "investigate" under the microscope!

 

This picture cracks me up! Evan refused to believe that it was chilly, and insisted on wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Thank goodness Daddy had a sweatshirt to share!

 

My little explorers!

Putney Pond was so pretty!

 

 

We went to The Louisville Zoo's "World's Largest Halloween Party," which has been a family tradition since Evan was a baby. We were excited to have Caroline, Rachel, Teddy, Bonnie Mom and Grandpa join us for the party. We all had fun, but of course, the kids had a blast! Caroline and Preston LOVED the candy and I think they both took a taste of each piece of candy that they received! Both Evan and Preston enjoyed getting their pictures taken. Preston was thrilled with all of the characters and asked to take pictures with just about all of the characters! Evan really liked the character cut outs and scenes that you can pose in. We ended our evening with a ride on the train, which was a real treat, since the line is usually too long to ride!

 

Evan

 

Preston

Caroline

 

Both boys liked "driving" the UPS truck, but Preston is obsessed with "big trucks," so he was especially excited!

 

 

 

Evan

 

 

 

Despite the fact that Preston is not smiling in these pictures, he was SO excited to see the characters! He insisted that we stand in all the lines to meet everyone! 



 

Preston was able to convince "Mario" to pose with him! I am so glad that "Mario" was such as good sport!

 

 

We FINALLY got to ride the train! (We have tried for months, but waiting 30 or more minutes to ride is not realistic with a toddler!)

 

 

Evan took Daddy to Donuts with Dad at school. Both of my guys had fun and Evan was really excited that Daddy took him to the book fair and bought him three new books!

 

There is a battle of the bands fundraiser that The Brandeis School of Law does each year, called Lawlapalooza. Greg, Mina, Darryl, Jordan and Carl formed "The Grateful Decedents" for the show. Not only did they put on a GREAT show that really got the crowd excited, but they also won first place! What a fun night!

Lawlapalooza

The Grateful Decedents

 

After Kaiya passed away, a local shelter posted a need for fostering some cats. I was super sad without Kaiya around the house and I thought that fostering a cat for a few weeks would be good for me and help me feel better. I did not pick the cat to foster. I simply asked for a cat that would be ok with kids. They gave us Vera. She came to us as a very afraid little kitty. (I use the word "little" loosely, as Vera is several pounds overweight!) She hid most of the time, ran away from all noise, growled at the dogs, etc. Over the course of a few weeks, she settled in and became a super sweet cat that wanted to be where we were, loved being cuddled, tolerated the dogs, etc. I fell in love with her, as did the kids. Carl would say our fostering experience was a disaster, because we have now adopted Vera. She is a great addition to our family and we are so glad she is here!

 

Meet Vera!

 

    

Preston is now 2 1/2 years old! He is now adjusted to preschool and he is a super sweet boy that loves to cuddle, sing, play, take a bath, run, jump, climb and be wild! We love him so much! Happy Half Birthday, Preston!

"I am 2 1/2 years old!"

 





Fall Fun - Part One

Fall is here! We have done a lot already, including decorating the house, making a spooky, chocolate cookie house and going to the pumpkin patch! We have had a great time so far and there is still so much more to come, including the party at zoo, the local fall celebration, and more! We can't wait!

Everyone loved making the spooky house out of chocolate cookies, icing and candy! Both boys liked eating the candy and icing, but also did a great job decorating. Our spooky house turned out great!

 

 

 

We visited Gallrein Farm to pick pumpkins. Preston really loves pumpkins, so he was REALLY excited! He kept telling us to look at all the pumpkins. Evan was happy to find a gourd, in addition to a large pumpkin. Both boys also liked taking a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and also playing in the hay "playground."

 

Hay ride time!

 

"Pumpkins!!!"

 

 

"MY pumpkin!"

 

Evan had so much fun searching for gourds! The last one he found was a keeper!

 



Weekend Fun

The past few weekends have been super fun. I am not sure if I appreciate the weekends more now because I am back at work and see my family so much less, because we finally have nice weather on the weekends after several rainy weekends where we were stuck inside, because my little boys are so much fun right now or what, but I can say I have LOVED the last few weekends!

We were able to enjoy some extra fun at the pool, as the weather has been great and the pool stayed open an extra weekend. On our last few trips to the pool, Preston decided that he can jump off the diving board without my assistance! He goes up the ladder, walks to the end of the board and jumps in the water all by himself! He is getting quite independent and even tried to tell Carl that he did not need to help him get to the side of the pool! Preston also worked on teaching himself to swim! In the baby pool, he would place his face in the water and kick his feat and move his arms to swim to the side of the pool! He would often swim 3 feet or more, which we thought was pretty impressive!

Silly boy!

Preston LOVES his "surf board!"

Carl and I attended a couple of U of L football games together and enjoyed watching the Cards win and getting to tailgate with our friends.

Will and Laurel host the best tailgates! We always have a blast!

 

 We love our new conference! 

 

 

 
Go Cards!

We all hiked the trail though the woods that is near our house. Preston has not been since he was a baby and I could carry him, so this was his first trip as a "big boy" that could walk around and explore! We all had a great time and we made it all the way down to the creek. Evan caught lots of crayfish, which is not unusual, but he also caught nine little frogs! Preston had fun throwing rocks in the creek, as well as looking at the fish, frogs, etc. Unfortunately, the creek looked like a pool to him, so at some point, he got right in! He was SOAKED and SO tired when we needed to hike back up the trail and we knew we had to carry him back. We had no extra clothes, but thankfully, we did have extra diapers, so poor Preston had to get carried home in only a diaper! It was quite a sight, but he did not mind one bit!

Preston was very excited to go hiking!

Evan was so sweet with Preston! He took his hand and said, "Let's go explore!" It was so much fun to watch Evan help Preston discover things as we hiked!

Much like Evan, Preston loves creatures. He was so excited to see all of the frogs that Evan caught!

Preston thought getting in the creek was lots of fun!

Evan isn't allowed to keep the creatures he catches, so he likes to take pictures so that he can remember his cool finds.

Evan had his first soccer game of the season. Carl and I are amazed at the skills he retained from last year, as well as his ability to focus more. Evan enjoyed the game while he played and even had fun watching his team play and cheering for his teammates when it was his time to rest. What a great start to the soccer season!

Go Seahawks!

We went to Hayes Kennedy park and walked all the way to the river, which we have not done in awhile. Preston really enjoyed seeing the boats and running around the river bank, while Evan had fun finding "river glass." It was a nice, cool evening and Carl and I had fun watching the boys play and enjoy their time together. As a bonus, we ended our evening with a successful dinner out and watching Star Wars.

"Look, Mom! Boats!"

Explorer Evan

Evan took our picture too!

Preston climbed and ran everywhere!

Evan loves to help his brother. Once again, he took his hand, to help him be safe by the water.

I can't forget to mention that we made a trip to Owensboro during the past few weekends too! We went to visit our friends, the Congletons, and we had a ball! We swam, played in the backyard on a giant water slide, ate, drank, and had a ball! We were so happy that we were able to make the trip and spend time with our best friends!

Evan was SO excited!

Sweet Friends (The little boys were napping.)

Preston climbed this water slide all by himself! WOW!

Being silly with Terri! These clip on earrings John won at an auction, were perfect hair accessories!