Halloween

We went over to our friends Mike and Megan's house for carving pumpkins the night before Halloween.

We picked out pumpkin patterns online ...


I carved 2 pumpkins in about the same time that Mike carved 4 (this is their oldest child - Emmie - who is about a year older than Ryan - but they get along very well) ...


The kids helped a bit but they are a little too young to enjoy carving pumpkins yet ...


They mostly played (this is their youngest Jackson who is between Colvin and Ryan as far as age) ...


While the Mom's yapped ...


And Colvin LOVED their exersaucer - which they (kindly) ended up loaning us since they don't have much of a need for it any more ...


Here are the finished products (ours are the 2 on the left) with Emmie, Ryan and Jackson...






Then on Halloween, we went back over to their house for trick or treating and some chili. If you haven't already seen the video of the kids' costumes, Ryan is a sushi chef and Colvin is a piece of sushi ...

Going to School

Ryan is not in school yet but Sharis has been teaching him a few things in their spare time.  What is on the curriculum?  Sorting, matching, lacing, alphabet, numbers, and some other things Sharis could tell you about.

Visiting My Grandparents

Last week, we went over to my grandparents' house to pay them a little visit with the kids. Nonny bought some of those animal sponge capsules that dissolve in hot water so they spent the morning dissolving those ...








And my Mom came over to spend a little time with the kids as well ...

Chilly Evening at the Park

We headed to the park one night after the kids' naps one evening. It was a little chilly but it was a nice little park right on Lake Calhoun.



Colvin watches her big brother run around the park ...

Our Friend Genevieve Visits From Chicago

Thanks for coming Genevieve.  We enjoyed having you here.  Come back soon.

Use Utinsils Like an Adult

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Colvin Is Growing Up

Colvin is pulling herself up and standing on her own ...


And she is playing with Ryan's toys. Ryan is pretty good about sharing ... about 90% of the time.

Santa on the Trolley

There is a trolley that runs along Lake Harriet not too far from our house and they have Santa riding the trolly this weekend.  We went to check it out after the kids' naps today.  Ryan was VERY shy and didn't interact with Santa much - but I take that as a win as he didn't cry and run the other way.











And then after we exited the trolley, we saw a bunch of people crowded by the Lake Harriet and they were looking at a bald eagle perched on a light pole right by the Bandshell...

Painting Project in SLP

Sharis, her Mom and her Dad took Ryan to a painting activity in St. Louis Park where they threw paint at paper.  Sharis said it was VERY well organized and Ryan had a blast!

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we were fortunate enough to spend the holiday with both of our families.  Despite the fact that Sharis' brother and sister didn't make the trip, her Mom and Dad came to the Great White North for Thanksgiving - and we didn't even have any snow for them.

My parents were gracious enough to have them over for the big meal. It was a wonderful day of family, food and football. My Grandma and Grandpa were able to join as was my Mom's brother Tim. And Tim's girlfriend even made it - as well as Kerry's boyfriend for a little while in the morning.





It was the first holiday in my parents' new house...












Make sure to click on any of the pictures to check out all the pictures on Flickr.