Kate - Halloween 2011

We decided Kate was going to be Rapunzel from Tangled for Halloween as we were walking outside the theater the first time we saw it....last year! I LOVE this movie. It makes me laugh and cry. every. single. time. We have the soundtrack and we sing it at the top of our lungs together. Despite the fact that Sawyer knows all of Flynn Rider's words in "I See the Light", I couldn't talk him into being Flynn. (That is okay, though, he makes a cute Jake!)

And this girl is one GORGEOUS Rapunzel!

Sawyer - Halloween 2011

Do you know who Jake is? I wonder how many people do. A while ago I thought I had Sawyer convinced to dress up in a coordinating costume to Kate's...until he decided he wanted to be Jake and there was no looking back! He was SO excited to be Jake. The problem was, when people ask him what he's going to be for Halloween, he will happily say, "Jake!" Then I see the question mark in their eyes and I have to explain it every time. So if you don't know Jake, here he is:

Its a cute little show and Sawyer is semi obsessed. And here is Sawyer as Jake:

He makes one cute Jake!

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

This year I joined with a few moms to do a co-op preschool twice a week. Saturday night in Sawyer's prayer before he went to bed he said, "grateful tomorrow is Sunday and the next day is Monday and the next day is preschool day." That just about sums up how he feels about preschool. He is always asking, "Mom, is today preschool day?" or "How many days until preschool day?" and then he counts down the days, literally. We have a good group of 4 little kids that play really well together and I am just loving all the moms. We have planned at least one field trip each month and this month we went to a pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin. It was a foggy and chilly morning but the kids loved it!

We took a little hayride out to the patch

They had a corn stalk tee pee that the kids could explore inside

Sawyer found the perfect pumpkin

Writing his name on it

This little kitten followed us around the whole time. At first one of the moms was holding him and asked if anyone wanted to hold him. Sawyer said he did, but when his friend Scott went first and the kitty jumped on top of his head and took a rest there Sawyer wasn't so excited anymore. But he did enjoy petting her!

Showing off their pumpkins

After we found our pumpkins the sun came out and the fog burned off and it warmed up a bit. The kids played in the sand box they had while the moms talked. It was a great preschool morning!

Gecko Kate

On Saturday Kate was invited to a birthday party for a boy in her class. She as excited because she knew her favorite friend Farren was going to be there too. I was wondering how she would take the rock climbing and was slightly worried she would be too shy for it, but she jumped right in and loved it. They started off climbing horizontally while the parents learned the ropes and then they got hooked up to their harnesses and started climbing up vertically. Kate did really well and the owner of the place said she was a natural and should join their competitive league. On the way home I told her they had a team like swim team and asked if she wanted to be on it and she looked at me like I was crazy and said, "NO!" But she loved it and has talked about wanting to go back as a family.

Riverview Farms

On Saturday we went back to Riverview Farms, where Kate's field trip was, with the whole family. We picked Honeycrisp apples (my favorite, and every time I got to the store I buy the last few on the shelf...so we stocked up!!) and picked out some pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. We also bought some apple cider, went on a hayride, and played in a big pile of fall leaves. It was a nice, warm day, perfect to be outside enjoying nature!


Sawyer and Kate as the first Royal Governor or New Hampshire

The kids loved finding worms under the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch

Happy Fall!

Sawyerisms

Sawyer is at the stage where he is saying some pretty cute things. This past week he had a slight cold and his only symptom was a frog in his throat which made everything he said all the more cute.

One night Ryan took the kids out to ride bikes while I stayed home and was cleaning up and making dinner. My dinner ended up not working as planned so I asked him to go pick up some KFC on the way home. They were enjoying the nice fall weather with their windows rolled down and as soon as they pulled up to the ordering box Sawyer loudly says, "Can I get some chicken please?"

Ryan took Sawyer to run an errand and when they were pulling into the garage...
Ryan: "We're home! Aren't you glad to be home?"
Sawyer: "yeah."
Ryan: "Is home your favorite place?"
Sawyer: "no, my favorite place is where Kate is."

While swimming in the hotel pool the kids were climbing out and jumping in over and over. One time, after Sawyer pulled himself out, he tip toed over to me and said, "I'm tip tap toeing."

We sure love our Sawyer boy and all the funny things he says!

Maine trip day 4 - one last lobster

The next morning dawned foggy and rainy. It made us very grateful that our full day in the park was sunny, when it was book ended by 2 rainy days.

We got all dressed in our rain gear anyway and headed into the park for a quick look at some tide pools. We found some mussels and clams but no starfish or urchins.
So we headed out of the park and started the long drive home. On the way out of town Ryan got a lobster roll. He thought the kids might like it this way better but both of them were lobstered out so Ryan had it all to himself. When he finished he said it was good but he would rather have had a whole lobster again. I think we've created a lobster monster.

We were 6 hours from home so it was quite a trip. Luckily our kids are good car trippers (especially with a whole bunch of DVDs). It was a great trip! We can't wait to go back and experience Maine again!

Maine trip day 3 - Acadia National Park

We woke up from our good night's sleep in our little cottage to an amazing view of Bass Harbor. The kids enjoyed playing outside as we collected our things and headed into Acadia National Park. We bought a

Sawyer and Daddy in their matching lobster shirts

Sand Beach

After playing chase with the waves, trying to not get their shoes wet, they finally lost the shoes, rolled up their pants and enjoyed the water and sand

Hey look, a beached whale! Oh wait...that's just proof I was there

Thunder Hole

Jordan's Pond for tea and popovers. This tradition dates back to John D Rockefeller. We got ours minus the tea....plus the ice cream. Popovers a la mode....yum!

After a full day in the park we headed home for a little rest before dinner. I took a blanket out on the grass and fell right asleep. The kids and Ryan went down to the water and explored, finding shells and living creatures. I woke up to a lovely sunset and then we headed to dinner.

We headed to the second lobster place that Ryan had researched. Ryan picked out his lobster and we sat outside and watched it get cooked in the big pots out front. This time Kate was brave enough to try it. She actually chewed and swallowed and said she liked it...but didn't want anymore. Sawyer tried it again and didn't gag...but it didn't make it past his lips either. Ryan enjoyed every single bite.



After the lobster we headed to Denny's for the rest of us to eat dinner!