Makenna's Baptism

Meredith, Dan, Kellan, and Makenna flew in from San Francisco for a visit. Makenna was baptized on Monday. Congratulations little Makenna!

Lunch with Uncle Taylor and Jess!

Uncle Taylor and girlfriend Jess came for lunch on Sunday. The kids LOVED playing with them!  (Watching the Bears lose...not so much.)

Firepit

We had our first firepit of the fall last week. Who doesn't love roasting marshmallows and eating smores????

Clayton started Quick-start soccer this past week. It's a parent-child activity and he loves the special time out with Daddy.

 This is how Austin felt about being left behind.

All 3 love playdough!

One of the great things about having 3 kids so close in age is that they can all now do certain activities together. They all love to play playdough.

Feelin' French

Last week, I was inspired by my love of anything french and decided to make crepes for dinner. Savory mushroom-spinach stuffed for me and Kevin, and nutella stuffed for the kids.  They were delicious and oh so messy!

Garden bounty...sort of.

I learned an important lesson this year.  You can't really grow vegetables in the shade.  We just don't get full sun anywhere in our yard because of mature trees and neighboring rooflines.  We tried to grow tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and carrots.  We got a few beans, and about 3 tomatoes. The cucumbers started off OK, but could never grow to full size because of the lack of sun.  Oh well. It was fun making the attempt!

I'll have to research "shade vegetables" next year...or maybe just go for herbs.

My little hamburger

Austin plays hide and seek

VIDEO of Austin playing hide and seek.

Go Bears!

Cheering on the Bears for their first game.

Independence Grove in a boat

Kevin and I took the kids to Independence Grove and rented a rowboat again this summer. It was a beautiful afternoon and we all had a really good time. We made our 2nd attempt at fishing, but alas, no fish were caught.  Hmmm...maybe we should enlist the help of someone that knows something about fishing...

The ever popular "rice box"

The kids can dig and scoop to their hearts content and I just have to sweep up a little rice afterwards. It sure beats the mess of sand!

First day of tap class!

First day of Preschool!

Clayton's first day of "Fours" preschool!

Austin's first day of Tot Co-op!



My Pie Pizza

We spent last Friday night at My Pie in Northbrook with the Sontags for pizza and train-watching. The kids had a blast making their own pizzas and watching the metra trains go by every 15 minutes or so. (The train tracks were a few steps from the restaurant and in full view of its front window. When the first train went by, Austin stood up and screamed TRAIN! in the loudest, most excited voice he could.  It was a huge hit and we'll definitely do it again!

Labor Day picnic with BB and Papa at Westmoreland

Bouncey houses, finger-lickin'-good ribs, brats, sweet potato tater tots,  cotton candy, a loaded dessert table,...What's not to love?
Thank you BB and Papa!  We had a blast!