Fall Fun

This week provided a new experience for us thanks to Grandma Cheri as she took Robert for a few days. Robert had a blast spending time in Red Wing and was kept plenty busy. He spent his days playing outside with Vegas, shopping, working out at Curves, hitting up playgrounds, and checking out some Eagles in Wabasha. While at night he conned Grandma into buying him some new videos to watch while cuddling and eating popcorn with her.

It was a nice change at home for Eric, Izzy, and myself. Not only did we get more sleep...Robert's been on a trend of staying up late and getting up really early while Izzy is a consistent 11-12 hour/night sleeper...but we also saw a new little girl emerge. Iz loved being able to move from toy to toy without somebody taking it away from her and getting mom and dad's full attention.

Both kids weren't the happiest to have Robert return home today. Both became a little too used to being spoiled and getting a lot of attention and free reign on the toys! To ease their pain, and to get out of the house while we had an open house, we visited a corn maze in Brooklyn Park. It was a lot of fun but could have done without the rain. Luckily my mom and I had the kids and were able to take shelter in the corn pool but Eric got a little more wet in the corn field as he was trying to complete the maze when the down pour hit.

At the Eagle Center in Wabasha with Aunt Sally and family friend Ada

And my mom didn't believe he was in a tantrum phase...
Taking a short cut through the corn maze!
Petting Zoo!!!
Not being a fan of animals, Izzy watches from her stroller!
CORN POOL!!! This was so much fun!
This just shows how excited she is to have her brother back...



After the maze Nick joined us for dinner and gave Izzy one too many kisses (:

Have a great week everyone!

Amazing Fall Weather!

This year the fall weather has been anything but typical. We have been experiencing 80 degree temps for over a week which has provided more outdoor time without having to be bundled up. I typically love the fall pictures we take each year while raking the lawn but enjoyed it even more to be outside this year in tshirts and my fingers staying warm while taking the photos. We are definitely taking advantage of the warmer temps because I know that as the leaves continue to fall so will the temperature.

Besides raking leaves we've been keeping busy at work and trying to keep the house clean, not an easy task with 2 little kids, for our random showings! During yesterday's showing I brought the kids into work to take in a little Wildcat Cross County, Soccer, and Volleyball. The kids had a great time running around outside, meeting new friends (including the WILDCAT), and hanging out with some of my swimmers. It was a great day and fun to be able to just play with my kids at work instead of actually having to work. On the flip side...Eric enjoyed time to himself at the office and at home to work without the kids distracting him!

Robert and the Wildcat

Playing in the leaves!!! Not so much fun for Izzy!

Nap time!
He could have stayed outside all day long.

We hope everyone is having as great of a fall as we are and that you can jump in at least one leaf pile this year!!

Robert's Birthday Week!!

On Wednesday our little boy turned 3! It was a fun week celebrating his new age but Eric and I were sad to realize that the terrible two tantrums did not disappear like we had hoped. :) Follow the pictures below to see how we celebrated the big 3!

Robert helping me shop for some groceries!

Enjoying an Ice Cream cone at Cold Stone!

Izzy tried to learn how to play happy birthday on the piano...
For his big day I had taken it off to enjoy it with him (and really because I had to work all day Saturday for a rental meet and needed to take one day off that week) and once G'ma Roberts arrived to watch Izzy we left the house for some fun adventures. Our first stop was to Choo Choo Bob's in St. Paul. It is a little train store that has some electric trains set up for kids to watch and 6 train tables in the back of the store for kids to play with. There were about 10 other kids there but Robert enjoyed playing with so many new trains and shared quite nicely.

After the train store we headed to Chuck E Cheese for some lunch, the pizza has definitely improved, and some games. The best part about a weekday birthday was we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Robert didn't understand most of the games but loved putting a token in, pretending to know how to play, and then collecting his ticket after each game. Luckily Eric and I were there to help win a few more tickets for him to get a really cool (aka cheap) prize at the end. Later that night Uncle Nick joined us for dinner, cake (thanks mom for the yummy cake), and presents. Robert wasn't too impressed with the clothes he got from G'ma but did like the Twins Bear Pillow Pet. I however really liked the clothes! From Izzy he got a new game and a Toy Story flashlight...he was so thankful he even gave her a hug after getting it. From Nick, after a quick trip to Target, he received Monsters Inc. and got to stay up late watching it and snuggling with Nick. From Mom and Dad he got his very own train table and loves playing with it! We have it in his room so it also provides a nice get away when his little sister is pestering him.

Today we wrapped up our week of fun by celebrating his birthday with the Hemplers! We had a delicious lunch and played with Larry's train sets (well tried to anyway...they were having some old age issues) and Great G'pa Hunt's wooden trains. Robert was again spoiled with more new clothes, more cars for his train track, and 2 new preschool games. He was excited for the toys but the cupcakes were definitely his favorite!

Girl Time!
Trying to get the train set to run longer than a few seconds!

A big thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on Facebook and the cards and presents. He (and our entire family) is lucky to have all of you in his life.

End of Summer

Well summer is over but we're excited for the fall and for all the changes that lay ahead. To begin my position at St. Kate's has changed and I am now an assistant athletic director! This change in title has been about a year in the making and the only main change to my role is that in addition to all of my previous administrative duties I'll now also be working with each coach and tracking everyone's successes as part of the college's strategic plan. I'm excited for the change and the new adventures that lay ahead but a little worried that my plate is sometimes a little too full.

Speaking of a full plate...we decided to list our house for sale. The commute, mixed with my long hours, has taken a toll on us and we had always intended to move back to the eastern side before the kids started school so why not now?! Eric, having a pretty good idea of the housing market, did some research and there doesn't seem to be any trend of things improving in the near future so rather than continuing to be in a place farther away from family we've decided now is as good as any other time in the next 10 years. We hope to have it officially listed this week and then will wait for offer, oh and then find a new place to live. :)

So the last two weekends, with the help of our parents watching the kids, we've cleaned out all the unnecessary items, filled a big dumpster, and staged the home. This week we'll get our gutters cleaned out...apparantly plants growing in them might be a turn off to potential home buyers (who knew!)...and put the house on the market. Oh and celebrate our lil' man's 3rd birthday on Wednesday. Life is busy but at times I wonder if I'd really enjoy it any other way.

Anyway here are some pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy and I'll try to post again next weekend with Robert's birthday pics.

Kids grow up way too fast...Izzy's already driving!

A few weeks ago I was able to spend the afternoon and evening with my two great friends. We spent the afternoon allowing all of our kids to play together and then had a girl's night for dinner (sans kids and husbands). It was a great time and I wish we all lived closer so that these moments weren't so spread out. Abby and I've tried for 3 years to get a good photo of these two together. This is probably one of the bests...now to get my son to smile. :)
The younger kids!

I can climb stairs!!! Oh dear!!!
Getting so big!
Labor Day weekend my mom and I took the kids to visit some of our relatives on my dad's side. It was great to see so many relatives and even better to come home to the projects Eric was able to accomplish with a kid free home.