Goofing Around

Cute Cousins

Aren't the cute! They are nice enough to humor me as I practice with new lighting, lenses, etc. These are a few from the last Vikings game get together that I liked. Thanks guys!

A few more from Florida

playing on the beach...

Ben's favorite, swimming in the very warm pool...
drawing animals with chalk on the veranda..

visiting the aquarium...

We had a wonderful visit with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol in Longboat Key, FL this last week. The weather was perfect every day and the kids had a blast. Lindsey's favorite was the aquarium where they saw everything under the sea, even manatees and hammerhead sharks. She also loved the ocean and beach. It was very calm water so she had a bit more freedom to just run and swim, two of her favorites. Ben loved the pool which was more like bath water, so warm! Both loved spending time with the grandparents and were sad to leave. Thanks again for having us!

Florida Pictures

Well, sadly it's our last day here. Here are a few pics of Lindsey playing in the water and chasing the birds today. More to come later once I get through all of them!

Halloween

We went to a halloween party tonight so the kids got to show off their costumes a little early. No surprise we went with the animal theme. We all had a great time! Can't wait to go trick or treating, I think Lindsey will understand it more this year. She's going to love all the candy!

Ben's 1st Birthday Party!

Our little guy is 1! Time flies so fast. We had a birthday party on Friday...the kids almost outnumbered the adults. We had 9 kids under 7 so it was a little chaotic in a wonderful way. Ben loved it and he thought the cake was pretty fun too. No encouragement was needed!

And one of Lindsey too

Well, Lindsey is always goofy so I thought I'd throw in one of her too.

Goofy Ben

I took these while Ben and I were waiting for Lindsey to get up from her nap today. He was in a really goofy mood. The last one is the face he kept making when the toy phone would ring. He looks almost scared but then he'd start laughing. He's getting big, can't believe he's almost 1. He's starting to want to walk now but still isn't letting go. He uses anything he can find to pull himself up and push around.

The Corn Maze

We skipped the apple orchard this year and went to a corn maze. We didn't actually do the corn maze but it had camel and pony rides, an exotic animal petting zoo and a wild animal show. ..perfect for Lindsey. She did it all and Ben got into some of the action too. She also left with the impression that daddy could BUY her a camel (wonder where she got that one from GRANDMA). Luckily, she seems to be satisfied with a little camel figurine that Ben picked out for her while she was at school. He got big points with Lindsey for that one.

Cousins

Every time the cousins get together, they always have so much fun. Lindsey talks all the time about wanting to see them and it's fun for us to see them forming little friendships that will last a lifetime. Ben just likes the attention and commotion! Here are a few pictures from this week.

Summer Fun

Technically, it's Fall but it's been feeling a little like summer the last few days. The kids are loving it and we've been making good use of our backyard and park. I'm SO glad we redid the backyard this year! Here are a few pictures of Lindsey...the girl just never smiles!

Little Ben

New Camera

I picked up my new camera today, wow do I have a lot to learn. It was ten times easier to catch the kids in action rather than Lindsey running past resulting in a big blur. Here are a few favorites, I'm sure I'll have new favorites tomorrow but you have to start somewhere, right?

A Father's Love

Tonight I was going through a bunch of the pictures I took at the park today and loved the ones of Kevin and the kids. They say pictures tell 1000 words, I think these say more...

So Big!

Ben learned a few new tricks this month. He's now mastered clapping, so big, waving, and walking along the furniture. He's saying uh-oh and da da pretty clearly and is trying to say hi and ball. I think it may be a while before he walks, he hasn't really shown any interest in letting go unlike his crazy sister at this age.
Here's a clip of him doing so big the first few times. The video is a little choppy. Please ignore the annoying parent voice.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

When Are We Going to the Zoo?

This is a question I get almost daily from Lindsey. She continues to be a total animal nut which is obvious when you walk into our house and look at the toys. We have animal figurines, animal books, animal puzzles, an animal lunchbox, and the list goes on and on. Being a bit of an animal lover myself, I love it although when your 2 yr old knows the difference between a macaw and a regular old parrot, it makes you wonder.

Here are a few pictures of Lindsey at Como Zoo

Ben's Baptism

Our little Ben was baptised in August. He smiled the whole time, even when the Pastor put the water on his head although he looked like he had a mohawk when he was done. Thanks again Nina and Jerry for being Ben's godparents!


We had a brunch afterwards and the cousins all had a great time running around. It was great catching up with everyone. Thank you for coming, you made it a wonderful day!

The New Backyard

Our big project this summer was re-doing our backyard to make it more kid friendly with a fence and playset. We moved my gardens, took out a bunch of trees (none worth saving) and put sod down. It gave us a ton more space and it's been wonderful for Lindsey to have a bit more freedom and saves me from worrying about her getting hit by a bike in the park! Here are a few pictures along the way...