Halloween

We went trick-or-treating with both monsters this year. Last year, Drew stayed home with mom to hand out candy, but this year, everyone was interested. Drew was a fireman and Cailin was a Lion - shocker. So, we were invited to trick-or-treat with Christopher and Uncle Dan, so we had dinner, loaded up and headed over to their place to visit and trick or treat. It was a bit chilly, but only when the wind was blowing, (which was kind of strong when it did) but otherwise kiddos stayed fairly warm. No snowsuits needed this year!

Cailin wasn't so sure at first, but then would say "on to the next house right mommy?" So she got the hang of it. We brought the stroller, but that was only good to carry 'stuff', no kiddos. So mommy carried one kiddo between houses and daddy carried the other one. Drew was sort of overwhelmed by it all - he was quiet and still, watching everything!

They both made quite a haul and had fun too!! Then when we came home, Cailin wanted to go across the street and see her friends, Caleb and Dawson for a quick 'hello' and a trick-or-treat there. Busy night!

Carving the Pumpkins

We made our pre-Halloween trip to Chanhassen to carve up some pumpkins with the Lechelts. The kids had a blast, although I don't know if either of them actually touched a pumpkin or not. Drew likes to look at the pumpkin and say "ball", then we say "no, it's a pumpkin". This goes on several times, then he laughs and then says 'pumpkin'. Or some version of it. Cailin was happy to play with Milo, play the piano and everything else in the house, but would come over to check in every once in a while. The Lechelts have a bunch of fun toys in the basement, so Cailin and Drew LOVE to go down there to play as well.

Daddy even made a Lion Bear pumpkin for Cailin - not that she's spoiled at all. Well, needless to say, that was her favorite.

Multi-tasking

Drew likes to multi-task. He will do many, many different things at once. Like this photo for example where Drew was holding his most favorite puppy (he carries it everywhere, kinda like his big sister carries a lion), carrying his cup of milk, carrying a toy in one hand (which is obstructed) and a small snack in another (also obstructed). He's quite the character. Usually one of the tasks in the multi-tasking is food-related.

Computer Time

Cailin loves to do what mommy and/or daddy do. She thought it would be nice to spend a little time on the computer. And we definately were monitoring her time while on the computer. She also likes to spin around in circles on the office chair.

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

For some reason, brushing your teeth is BIG fun in our house. We have accumulated a toothbrush for everyone in each of our three bathrooms. So, whenever we go in the bathroom, that usually inspires us to brush our teeth. In this photo, Cailin and Drew took a seat on the edge of the shower to do their business.What you don't see is that in about 5 minutes after the photo was taken, the two kids decided it would be fun to yank on the curtain - and then you can guess what happened after that. Kind of funny, no one got hurt when the curtain fell, but then they thought it was great to play in the curtain that was on the floor.

We really do own toys, we don't just force them to play with shower curtains and such.....

Funny boy

Drew found the old baby bouncer that we had and decided he had to try it out - of course he figured this out after watching big sis do it - what fun!

Seems every time I try and put the 'baby' toys away, Cailin digs them out, because then she plays 'mom' with her bears and the baby toys. I guess I just have to hide them deeper in the storage closet - at least it may take her a little longer to find.

Andrew likes to play ball

He LOVES to play ball. We'll be in a store and he'll see a ball up on the highest, top shelf and he'll want it. So needless to say, since we are such push-overs, we have about 20 balls rolling around the house. One night, we had gone to the store and found a Nerf Football and he loved it, we got it and then the next morning, he insisted on having it with him in the highchair for breakfast.

Cailin and daddy were hanging out - Daddy was out of town on business for a few days, so when he got home Cailin reported that she needed 'extra snuggles' from Daddy. Please forgive the cheesy grin from her on this one...

:)

Pig Tails

Lately, Cailin has wanted to have us put pigtails in her hair. Not sure why now she's decided to do so, but who knows right? The only bummer is that daddy has a hard time putting them in. Her hair is still pretty fine, so it's a little tricky. Although, she does look pretty cute.

The funny thing is that lately, she's been the ham bone every time the camera comes out - She gives you this really cheesy smile. Kind of a goof ball. Of course when the camera comes out, Drew needs to join in the action too! Maybe we have a couple of ham bones....

Apple Orchard

This past weekend we hit Nickle Dickel Days in Waconia. We spent the day with the Lechelts and had a blast! The weather could not have been more perfect. It was around 70 degrees and just a perfect fall day. We went to the fair they had in Waconia - saw fire trucks, old cars, had some snacks at the fair. Then afterwards, we went to an apple orchard - Deardorf's, which is somewhere between Victoria and Waconia. We didn't bring the camera, but had my telephone which we took a few pictures with. It's not the best by any means, but did capture a few good ones. We enjoyed running around and playing on the haybales. Kayla was kind enough to share her apple with Cailin too. Cailin and Drew had fun playing with Kayla and Christopher on the haystack. At the orchard, they had bunnies, sheep and horses that we visited with as well. It was big fun!

Grandma Betty's Birthday Party in Pine Island

We spent the second half of Labor Day weekend in Pine Island for the birthday party of Grandma Betty Pipho. It was held at their farm and we had a potluck lunch and lots of play time.
The kids mingled together playing with tractors, balloons, picking raspberries, playing with the walnuts as they fell off of the tree. We also played badmitten, volleyball and chatted. Everyone seemed to have a great time. The whole family was together and Grandma Betty seemed to really enjoy seeing everyone.

After the party we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's house and spent the night. The kids raided the raspberry bushes there as well, Andrew getting the hang of finding berries and picking them himself. Since the bees were out in force, he needed a bit of help.

Cailin liked to basically keep busy. She had Grandma running around, they seemed to enjoy one another's company quite a bit. Cailin and bear rode the tractor a lot, pushed by Grandma around the circle.

Family Time at the Farm

Since Uncle John, Auntie Melissa and cousin Michael were in town, we made a trip down to Nelson to visit with everyone for the first part of the Labor Day weekend. We stayed at a hotel in Wabasha for the night as Oma's house was full-up with family! The hotel was nice, had a pool and hot tub and it was a lot of fun to run in the halls as well.

We played at Oma's house, playing with the puppies, including a new black lab puppy named Emma. (Andrew likes to give out kisses to the puppies...) We played with the chickens, went to Carousel Toys in Kellogg (of course to ride the Carousel) ran around outside and generally had a great time.

The Tichlins Visit........again!

Karen's brother John, his wife Melissa and their baby Michael came for a visit this past week. They were here for a whole week, visited in the cities for a few days, then headed down to the farm in Nelson, WI where Oma is to spend the rest of the week.

The three kids seemed to have a very fun time, although Drew was very jealous of mommy paying any attention to 'other' babies. Every time mommy would talk to Michael, Drew would complain and then plop himself down on top of mommy. Cailin, on the other hand, seemed to love being a cousin. She played with Michael, gave him toys and chatted with him. Cailin also took quite a shine to Auntie Melissa. She followed Melissa around quite a bit. Probably didn't hurt that Melissa was willing to read some books with Cailin. She always seems to love that. Melissa also sends postcards and notes to Cailin throughout the year, which she proudly displays in her room. Those two are buddies!

Soccer Game

We went to watch cousin Joey play soccer when he was in Shakopee playing against their team. You see, Joey is a soccer all-star and it was nice to be able to watch him in action when he was playing right across the street from our house at the stadium! It was a very humid, misty day, but we still had a lot of fun running around and even Andrew got into soccer, he must have been inspired. He was kicking the ball around pretty much the entire game. It got the Chaska JV coach's attention as well as many players and fans. He liked getting all the praise and kept on kicking the ball. The only bummer was when he would kick it down the hill - that was a long walk!

The big haircut....

Cailin got her first haircut, well at least the first full haircut. She's gotten her bangs trimmed, but this time, she needed the whole thing done. She was very patient and willing to sit still while being cut, but you can certainly tell the difference!! She also loves to 'ham it up' for the camera a bit too. Notice the bear hasn't gone anywhere yet though.... She is however, working on the potty training!! YEAH!!

Weekend at Oma's house

We spent the weekend down at Oma's house in Nelson, WI. We were very, very busy. I even think we wore Oma out! We went to Lark Toys in Kellogg, MN - they have a carousel that is indoors that all the animals have been hand-carved out of wood. It is beautiful!! Plus, the kids thought it was a blast! They were also having Riverboat days in Wabasha, so we went down and went swimming in the river and then checked out the parade as they were lining up.

We also visited with the chickens and puppies. Cailin likes to tell them all what to do, like telling the rooster to "be quiet" and telling Rosie to come in the house and such. She might be a little bossy at times, but Oma needed a good helper, so that was good.

We also visited a farm and saw baby lambs and goats and both kiddos thought that was fun.

It was a fun weekend!

Playin in the crib

This is one of Cailin's fun games. After nap time, she wants Drew to join her in her crib. They just sit and play and chatter and such. Nothing major, just a lot of fun I guess. Both of these two had just gotten up, so their hair is a little wacky...

The 2007 Kern Summer Party

We attended the annual summer event at Uncle Gary and Aunt Rhonda's place in the middle of July. Last year when we attended, Drew was just 10 days old!! My a lot has changed. Drew and`Cailin had a blast! We played in the water a lot that day.


We didn't stay overnight, but came back on Sunday to play again with those that did stay over.

Cailin even enjoyed a tea party with Bear on a small tea set she found.

Andrew's Pine Island Birthday Party

We went to Pine Island for a visit and had a birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We spent a good chunk of the day outside playing, Grandma got her tractor out and took kiddos for a ride.

Cailin went around the circle 3 or 4 times before she would get off of the tractor. She loved it. Andrew was very curious and kept a pretty straight face, but seemed to enjoy it.

Grandma Bea came over for supper and a birthday party. Andrew managed to get his foot in the cake and Cailin 'helped' blow out the candles. She thought that was pretty fun. She liked the cake too. They were both so busy and exhausted by the time the day was done. Daddy, Grandma and the kids went to the nursing home to visit Grandma Betty and Grandpa Bud. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day!