Rewind to October.

From what I remember, October was a fun and busy month (as most months are for us). Of course most of the month was the anticipation for halloween. Of course we also had to visit a few pumpkin patches and farmers markets. I love the fall (and miss it now so much since winter is upon us).

The kids began ice skating lessons which has been so much fun. The lessons just ended and lasted 7 weeks. They both passed the Tot 1 level and we plan on signing them up for the next session. It has been so fun to watch the kids skate on their own, fall down and get back up with very minimal tears and just really enjoy it!

I love this picture of Addison taken at a Kirkwood farmers market. She loved the purple flowers especially since it matched her dress. It sure made for a pretty picture!

Here are the kids at one of our many visits to the pumpkin patch in the month of October.

Later in the month, Bob and I (and our friends Tre and Julie) went to Florida to visit our other friends Steve and Sarah. We had a great time on the beach one day. I was thrilled to even see dolphins come up so close to the beach (too bad I didn't take a picture of that).

Of course you can't tell, but that is me, Julie and Sarah out in the beautiful golf waters!

A pic of Bob and I after having a fun dinner with our friends.

After our trip to Florida, it was time for Halloween. Addison was tinkerbell (with some layers under her dress since it was a little bit chilly) and Lucas was a pirate (a really handsome one!). We had a GREAT time halloween!

Preschool togetherness!

Addison and Lucas go to preschool together. I love it because I get a little break while they are in school together and they love it because it is another thing they get to do together.

Addison is in PreK. She is one of the older kids and is doing just great in school. She loves it and comes home with so many great comments on her school work. I have started working with her on her reading skills and she has come a long way in the past few months with sounding out words and reading her BOB books (with a little help). Her writing has gotten so much better too.

Lucas is one of the youngest and it is taking him some extra time to learn to listen and not be so loud (his teachers most often remark). He is a smart little boy but just a little too loud I guess. We are working with him on his writing skills but he is already a whiz when it comes to his letters, sounds, numbers, rhyming, colors, shapes, address, phone number and so much more.

I just love that they are so close in age and can share some of their preschool time together!!!

Here are a few pictures from their first day of school.

Addison is 5!

On September 2nd we became parents of a 5 year old. It took me awhile to accept that our little girl was 5 years old. She has turned into such a fun, creative, spunky little girl and I just could not believe she was not a toddler anymore.

How are we going to send her off to Kindergarten next year.....

Her art themed party was a great success. Of course the days leading up the party she kept telling me she was having a princess party and that all her friends were going to come in their princess dresses. The girl can't make up her mind but she did end up enjoying her party even without the princess dresses.

Olympic Triathlon

Bob competed in his first olympic distance triathlon back in August (yes, I am still a few months behind with the blog). He chose the Lake St. Louis Triathlon and I think he was really happy with the challenging course.

He did so great with the swim, bike and run and I know he beat his goal time by at least a few mintues. The race consisted of a 1,500 M swim, 24 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. His overall time was 2 hours and 38 minutes. I am so impressed!!!

Bob and Brad before the big race.

Waiting for the swim to start.

He is out there somewhere....


All done with the swim.

Almost done with the bike.

And just about done with the whole thing.

Congratulations Bob. Next up, the half marathon this weekend (with me) and some more triathlons next year and hopefully a half ironman (him, not me)!!!

Lake of the Ozarks trip

Not only do my parents have a lake house and boat but Bob's parents do as well and I have been lucky enough to go to their condo with them for 11 years now. It is so fun to be able to share that with the kids now (although going to the lake has changed a ton from our young care free days). Each summer we plan a long weekend to spend at the lake. We spent 5 long days/nights and it was great!

The kids watching a movie on the way down to the lake...

Testing them out before we go to watch Bob ski.

We spent one day at Bob's aunts lake house which is near his parents condo. We had a great time going on a boat ride on their very large boat, going on their jet ski with the kids and they loved the slide.

Me and Addison

Bob had to take them both the first time.

Family pic on his aunts boat. The kids were annoyed because we made them take the picture with us when they wanted to be down below in the room with the cool bed!!!

Not scared at all!

A little scared....

We spent one day at Coconuts. We love this family friendly restaurant/beach where we can take the kids for the day. I still think it is so cool that you get to these places by boat. :)

My inlaws

Bob with the kids on the water bounce thing. Again, Addison was not scared and Lucas was a little. I bet he will be brave next year for sure!

Loving the sand.

Worn out.

Our annual family lake picture! Can't wait to go back next year.

A big surprise!!!

I have never been surprise like this before.

Bob got me 2 tickets to the Black Eyed Peas concert for my birthday. I thought that was so sweet of him. Well, it turned out that there was much more to it than that.

The day before the concert I was in my laundry room and all of a sudden I notice that someone is trying to open the door from the garage. I was thinking "who the heck is opening my door when we are all inside." SURPRISE! It was my bff Marina, her husband Corey and their 2 year old Hendrix. I was shocked, shocked, shocked.

Bob had planned for quit awhile for Marina and her family to visit that weekend and for Marina to go to the concert with me. It took lots of planning and he really pulled it off! I will never forget that moment of seeing my friend and her family at the house like that...what a great gift!!!

Me and marina before the concert

It was a pretty quick weekend and Addison was sick with a fever for half of it. Me and Marina did get a chance to take the 2 boys to the city museum. While we were at the concert, the men took the boys swimming and out for ice cream (aww!) and the next day we all went to the zoo.

Thanks Bob for making me feel so special and thank you Marina, Corey and Hendrix for being the surprise.

Trip to Cincinnati

Back in July we went to visit Kris and Mike in Cincinnati and Marina and Corey drove there as well from Chicago. I have been friends with Kris and Marina for so long and after living in different states for so many years and not seeing each other as often as we would like, we are still so lucky to have each other and be the best of friends. These girls are amazing. I can't wait to take family trips together and have our kids grow up together...they already love each other.

Kris and Mike were great hosts...they hosted 4 adults, 3 kids and our dog. We had a great time going swimming, having some girl time at the outlet mall, running together and going out to eat and just spending quality time together.

We spent time on the levee across the bridge from Cincinnati and got some great pictures of the city in the background.

Our family

The Scherman's

The Gustafson's

The 4 kids....Best buddies


The guys

The girls

The kids again

A little dancing

The kiddie table

We can't wait to all get together again :)

Trout Lodge camping trip

I am still trying to go through pictures from earlier this summer and update the blog and finally get back on track.

In July we did something new with the kids. We took them on a 2 day/1 night trip to Trout Lodge which is a ymca camp about 2 hours away. It was so much fun to have so many activities to try with the kids and we loved going to the family style dining room for all of our meals. Our favorite activites were hiking, swimming in the lake, the waterslide, trying out the various boats, etc. The kids loved it and so did we! Here are a few pictures from our first "camping" trip with the kids.