Swim Class

Colby is still going to swim class. He was a bit burned out a few weeks ago, so the coordinator put him with a new teacher. He is enjoying himself again. I must say that I have a terrible time taking pictures at the pool.

Down the slide!

A kneel dive- he got a ribbon for it. He has about 10 ribbons now. His goal is to get a ribbon after every class.

Costume Time!

Ok, so I assumed having Halloween on a Saturday would make life easier.

1. No tired kids the next day because they can sleep in.
2. No candy coma of my students at school.
3. No rush home to hurry and eat and get out the door.

But... the hours of waiting to dress up were painful, for everyone!

I can't believe I caught the devilish grin in the pic above. Is that not a perfect Colby face?

I hope he will keep letting me put him in cute costumes. But my guess is that my days are numbered.


Brady had to be a Star Wars ninja. Always make sure to play the part!

The mom in me hates this next one.

Pumpkin Time!

Pumpkin carving is always a big event. Back out the car, get the tools, get the camera, gut the pumpkins, save the seed (to cook later), carve the pumpkins, fix the pumpkin that the 8 year old was sure he could carve by himself... Hey, that's what they make toothpicks for, right? Oh, come on, you know you've had to do it before!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Time to get the corn off the cob, then you can feed it to the animals. Of course they charge you to buy it after you grind it off. Hey, wait a minute...

Yes, this is a giant pool of corn. You can't imagine how much falls out of their pants when they get up, and in the car, and when they get home...
Colby needed some extra water.

Off to the patch. It always takes forever to find the perfect pumpkin, and by the time you do, you are so far from the tractor depot that it's a joke. The only rule is: you have to be able to carry your own pumpkin.

Brady always wants a bigger one than he can carry, so Todd usually has to help. Colby is always content with a small one, no complaints.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

This year they had something new, the rubber duck race. You have to pump the water and get your duck to the other end. It ended up to be more of an endurance race, because it took awhile. The boys love to launch pumpkins. You shoot them out of a giant sling shot towards barrels. If you get your pumpkin in a barrel (no bounces, no rims), you win a prize. We haven't won yet, but it's still fun to try.

Lizards and Hay Bales and Pumpkins, oh my!

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. The boys enjoy petting the animals, playing on the hay bale stack, and many other things.

We had a surprise in September. Our Jackson's Chameleon, Lizzy, had babies. Four of them survived for about 2 weeks. It was a challenging time for us all. They were so tiny and cute!

Long overdue update

The boys enjoy their first days of school. Brady started onthe 2nd of September and Colby on the 22nd. Brady is in 3rd grade this year. His homeroom teacher is Mrs. Gould. She teaches him math and science. He also sees Mrs. Alcock for reading and writing. He is doing a great job. Colby started his 2nd year of preschool. He has two different tutors, both boys, and thinks that is just great.

Legoland

Ok, so we made it to Legoland again. I love this place! By far, my favorite.

Colby did great on the little cars- he kept lapping kids. Some who were going in circles or getting stuck on the curb. Brady got to drive a bigger car around a course with stop lights, etc. I missed his ride. : ( It was getting late and we had to divide and conquer!

Todd and Colby rode together for this ride.

Todd's goal was to pass us. He finally succeeded when we got stuck behind two little girls who couldn't steer. I let Brady drive the entire time- as you can see, Todd just wasn't that patient!

I have this same picture from 3 years ago- of course Colby was 11 months old and all pudgy!" Squirt mom!"

Luckily, Colby was tall enough to go on all but 2 of the rides here. Thank goodness. He was so upset at Sea World when he was 1 inch too short to go on the 2 water rides that they have. : (

That's my two big boys on the same ride. There are different levels that they set the arm to. Colby had to go on the lowest and also wear a safety vest. Brady got to go on level 2. There are 5 levels. Number 5 looks pretty scary to me!

This was one of those fun rides where they jerk you up and down about 20 times- no thanks!

This elephant is squirting water from his trunk- and yes, he's all Legos.

I do need to state that I cannot make anything with Legos. I truly stink at it. If you give me directions, no problem, but coming up with a design on my own- no way. Look at the stuff they can make. It amazes me!

Brady was excited that he was taller than Bob the Builder.

Nope, not a random tourist- she's all Legos.