Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fabulous fall!



We are enjoying some wonderful fall sunshine at the moment (same as everyone in the UK I hear!!) so plenty of time for playing outside and enjoying it while we can :)

A couple of weekends ago we visited the local corn maze which both kids loved. The huge corn pit was a big hit and Oliver loved being buried in the corn!! Emily had fun just figuring out how to move around!! Oliver went down the big slide all by himself (see the video below) which was something I never thought would happen!! We hope to make it back there one more time before it closes but we'll see.

We had a great play date with some friends here where the kids gathered leaves from the back garden and then did art projects with them. It was a little tricky trying to persuade them all to come back in but the cookies helped ;)

We think Emily is working on growing some back teeth. She has certainly been chomping on her fist a lot!!! Today she did come out with her first sentence which was "bye bye duck" after she saw the wooden ducks at Oliver's school. Super cute!!! She then went on to have a very good swimming lesson. She is so excited about going these days and loves all the songs and games we play. I think her favourites are the bubble bucket (pushing a bucket into the water to create bubbles) and ring a round a rosy where they sit on the "magic carpet" and then "fall" into the water at the end of the song. She does great going underwater and is not phased about it at all.

Oliver is getting excited for Halloween and loves to look at all the decorations in Target. He doesn't seem half as scared as he was last year but we'll see how that goes on the actual night! He has his costume now which is Francesco from Cars 2. He is also very excited about the trip to England which happens the day after!! He is always playing the "driving to the airport" game at the moment :) Just keep your fingers crossed that my US passport arrives in time (it's being processed at this time......!).

Oh my :( What a sad Emily after nap time!
18 month picture
Mummy is an American!!
Fun with leaves
Emily joining in the colouring fun (and laughing at Miss Rachel!)
Sitting on the step stool
Oliver trying out mummy's American crown!

Bounce house fun!!
Cutie!!
Emily pretty much ran around the same few bales of hay but loved it all the same :)
Emily up to her bum in corn!!!
So let's just bury her!!!
Oliver doing "corn angels"
I'm not entirely sure what that cow is thinking......


Having fun on the play equipment
Oliver eating his first fajita!! Well, he got about a third of the way through and decided he didn't like it!
Emily's favourite game to play in the morning - grab the step stool so she can steal my cereal!!
Bargain chairs we got for the kids in Target - they are a hit!
I think he's in the middle of asking mummy what she'd like to eat and drink - the restaurant game is Oliver's favourite game to play outside
Awwwww :)
Oliver loves polar bears!!
Yup, she grabbed the potty seat and brought it into the kitchen. I admire the enthusiasm although I hope she manages to get the location right in the future :)
Piano playing :)
I just love how the sunlight is coming through the window :)
Oliver's newest polar bear called Fluffy! They seem to have matching smiles :)
We went out for lunch with our friends today. Here's Oliver being rather silly with a piece of lemon!

I'm not entirely sure about Emily's style of dancing but there you go......





Monday, September 19, 2011

Fall has arrived


Yes, the weather has definitely cooled down! The leaves are changing colour and it's apple picking time!!!! We went to the orchard this morning. Oliver was really excited to pick some apples so we did that and then went to the play area for a little while. The weather was beautiful and we came home with loads of apples to bake with and eat. Emily devoured the apple we had at lunchtime!!!

Last weekend we went to Duluth in Northern Minnesota and stayed at a waterpark there. Both kids enjoyed all the swimming. Emily is a complete thrill seeker and loved going down the slides with us. She was also content to lay on her back and float in the shallow water or sit on the edge of the hot tub dangling her toes in! Oliver was really brave and went down a big slide with daddy. He also enjoyed going down the smaller slides over and over again. He was pretty independent and tried doing lots of things which was great to see.

Last week Oliver went for his 4 year docs appt. He now weighs 41lbs and is 42.5 inches tall (90th centiles for both). I had prepared him for shots but in the end he only got a flu shot and will get everything he needs before starting kindergarten next year. The dentist appt comes on Wednesday but Jon will take him to that one as I have my citizenship ceremony - yes, I will be an American this week :)

On Friday we went to a really great trampolining place about 20 minutes away. It's a huge area and twice a week they have toddler time so the 5's and under get to bounce without the bigger kids for 1.5hrs. Oliver and Emily both loved it so I think it will become a regular haunt during the winter months.

OK, here all the latest pics :)

New Cars clothes from Aunty Steph. Apparently they are PJs but mummy didn't realise that ;)
Climbing the steps
Peekaboo!!
New haircuts - they both look so impressed
I swear Oliver looks more like Jon every day
Pretending to sleep on our way to Duluth
This is actual sleeping......
Oliver kept his "suitcase" on his lap the whole way to Duluth - not that he was excited or anything!
Emily liked the bed in the hotel!
Mini golf
Exploring the playground
Pretending to play the arcade games
Breakfast in the hotel room - they did do breakfast there but it was so busy we decided to do it ourselves the second morning!
This swim cover up arrived from Aunty Steph just in time for our trip!
The boys watching cartoons
Oliver showing off the necklace he made at school
Portrait of mummy by Oliver
Emily hard at work colouring
Portrait of Oliver by Oliver!

Oliver and Celia trampolining
Emily loved it too!
Trying to escape the foam pit
Oliver likes to set up picnics in the playroom - this time daddy was invited!
I was trying on lots of dresses and getting my picture taken so Oliver joined in the fashion show!
Two apples joined together :)
Yippee - an apple!
Oliver and Nico on the train
She headed directly to the swings.....
Those eyes are kinda scary Oliver!
Great pic of Oliver - Emily just looked away at the wrong time!!
"What's that wooden cow doing there mummy?"
Nico and Emily checking out the chickens
Mya and Oliver at the top of the haypile
Oliver's pretend play! I always put on a silly voice when I'm pretending to be someone else so Oliver copied me :)