Pennsylvania Trip

Our trip to Pennsylvania in October is becoming a tradition. We love going to the Farmer's Fair and catching the local festivities, and now, celebrating Lincoln's birthday (just a little late), too!

This year we splurged (I had worked extra over the summer weeks and we wanted to spend it on something fun), and flew. It was our last chance before we would have to buy a ticket for Lyla, too, and since the trip was over a long weekend, we thought it was the perfect time to do it. We made the mistake of telling Noah we were going to fly when we bought the tickets...we only had to tell him, "no, it's not time yet" about 15 times. :)

I wasn't sure how they would do and stashed up on favorite snacks and toys, old familiar favorites and new surprises, but the kids did great.

Catching a quick dinner before we flew out. The kids loved watching the planes takeoff through the window, and a few pilots even waved at Noah, which made his day. 

On our flight out, the plane was only half full. This helped tremendously--Daniel sat on one side while I sat on the other and the kids could go back and forth between us. 

Lyla and Daddy playing with new princess toys. 

Lyla snacking on a hot dog at the fair. 

A special sucker treat while watching the parade!

Grandma and Grandpa with Lincoln, Lyla, Noah, and Grace

Grandma and Grandpa braved the crew and kept all 4 kids while David, Mandie, Daniel, and I got to enjoy a date night together. We're thankful for the village! 

I never take as many pictures as I want to, but know that we always have a fun time! 

Annual Pumpkin Patch

Our trip to Stuckmeyer's happens every year. Daniel loves their strawberry preserves so we have to stock up! This year, Grandpa and Grandma Shoemaker got to go with us. We had to be a little extra cautious since Noah wasn't supposed to be running or jumping and couldn't do the inflatables, but we still had a blast. Until I turned on my camera (after taking several pictures) to see a warning about my memory card needing formatting. Boo!!! So I lost several pictures, but thankfully, we were still there, so I snapped a few with my phone. We had already taken our yearly tradition family picture in the pumpkin patch, but maybe Grandpa has one on his camera we can have.

Grandma and Grandpa brought matching overalls, so our farmers were ready for their trip! 

Beginning of Fall

Lyla shopping with Mommy. We found a puppy (plastic) at Old Navy and Lyla was obsessed. She hollers at puppies anytime she sees them but is usually too scared to go up to them and has a little freak-out session if they come near her. This one was just her style! :) 

Play date at the mall playground. 

I got to help with a triathlon for kids with special needs. We were assigned to a buddy and completed the entire race by their side. It was so much fun. My buddy was awesome!

Gorgeous day at the park. While these two certainly have their sibling rivalry moments, the sweet ones outnumber the bad. 

Our neighborhood had a block party. Noah loved playing with the big bubbles.
I had made a game of yard yahtzee for the event (a 2x4 cut in squares and painted to look like dice). On the way to the party, Noah asked where we were going. When I replied, "To a block party," his response was, "Ooohhhh!!!! That's why we needed to bring our blocks!" Hilarious. 

Yummy cupcakes! 

Chocolate cupcake followed by gelato...we had a bit of a wild child that night! :) 

And then our big event...Noah rolled out of bed at the end of September and broke his collarbone!

After a trip to the pediatrician, who referred us to an orthopedic surgeon, and xrays there, the broken bone was confirmed (the the bump and the bruise forming had pretty much already told us), and Noah was put in a figure 8 sling for 5 weeks. The doctor told us nights would be the worst, as it would be hard for him to find a comfortable position. But we were incredibly blessed! The first night, Noah woke up around 3am crying. I helped him roll over and he slept until morning. The next night, he slept all night with some ibuprofen in him, and night three and after he slept all night without meds! I thought dressing him would be tricky so my friends collected button-down shirts from their sons, but Noah refused to wear them and by day 2 he was in a regular t-shirt with barely a whimper. We kept joking that the hardest part of it all was trying to keep his body calm and limit his running and jumping! He bounced back amazingly well, and we are so thankful! (We also joked that we were thankful about the timing of it, since it happened just a few days before our insurance policy deductible started over and we had already hit our out-of-pocket max for the year!) :) 

Fall means football in our house, which is met with different reactions from each gender in our family. We went to the high school football game (just two nights after Noah broke his collarbone), and each time the band paused during their pregame performance, Lyla said, "More? Again? Please?" The above was her reaction when they marched off the field. Pure distress! Meanwhile, Noah was loudly asking, "Where's the football? I can't see it!" 

Trying to see the band better during halftime.

Clapping along. 

Grandma sent new activities to try to keep Noah entertained in a less-active way. He loved the special treatment from her and so many other loved ones who spoiled him big time while he was healing!

Fall also means pumpkin cream cheese muffins and vanilla chai lattes...a rare treat! But Lyla and I were celebrating me getting my flu shot (hey, any excuse I can make!)

We took a trip to the zoo. It was colder than I was expecting in September and my children were slightly underdressed.  But we still had a blast and they didn't complain. 

If you visit our zoo in the first hour, you can ride the carousel, touch the stingrays, and visit the children's area for free. Usually we only arrive in time to hit up one of these options. This visit, we got all three! Waiting in line to see the stingrays...

Noah loved it, but Lyla wasn't too sure. This was a first for Daniel, and he may or may not have been even more giddy and excited than Noah. :) Lyla did finally work up the nerve to stick her hand in, and when she touched one, it splashed her. That didn't make the cold air feel any warmer since her jacket was fairly soaked! 

I think they could have stared at the jellyfish for an hour!

Not quite brave enough to touch the guinea pig. 

Brushing goats. It's easier when you stick out your tongue. 

We love fall!