No pictures for this post (oh well!)

It has been more than a week since I posted, slacking... LOL. So let me update you on what's been going on. Last weekend (Sept 20th + 21st) we spent doing yard work, cleaning and just playing games together. On the 2oth, we decided to have a picnic outdoors and picked Crowder Park as the place to be. Tom had never been there before, and the little lady wanted him to see it with her. Daddy made sandwiches (ham and cheese) and we gathered a blanket and bikes (got smart this time) and headed out. We had a GREAT time, took video instead of pictures :) . The weather had just gotten cooler 68 degrees or so and it was just beautiful outside. Neither one of the kids wanted to actually sit and eat, it was more of sit for a second, then get up and run around and then sit again for a sec or so. LOL. After we ate, we walked to the really big playground (parked in the back) and played for awhile. Then we took daddy to see the turtles, but they were difficult to see because of the wind (it was rather windy). Oh well... atleast now when we talk about Crowder park, daddy will know what we mean. The week before mommy worked everyday (including the previous weekend), but we did find time to go to playgroup on Friday the 19th, and we met some of the new attendees. Most of the kids go to the same preschool (same class).

This past week was filled with the kids going to preschool, mommy painting characters in little man's room, playing lots of pretend shopping, pretend avon lady calling, pretend phone callers (we pretend they are adults and in college), and just being together. Oh yeah, let't not forget laundry, dishes, regular housework, etc... Little man did well going into his preschool class. Both days he didn't cry when I left him, but he did cry while he was there. They say he will be playing and doing well and then all of a sudden burst into tears. But, he is doing better than I ever expected. The gals are alittle surprised because the first three days of preschool he never cried once and was extremely excited to be there. I reminded them that those days were shorter (only 2 hours) and it was all new to him. I think one day he just realized that this was going to be a continuous thing, not just a few times, hence the tears. We had lots of rain this past week and the week before. First it was rain from hurricane Ike last week and then this week it was with a Nor-Easter. I was shocked when the meterologist said that because I didn't think we were north enough to experience one of those. To my Florida mind, those type of storms generally hit New England.

Ok, that brings us up to this weekend. Yesterday was girls day out. Little lady and I went to the History Museum in downtown "Wally" (Raleigh). We had fun! It was "Colonial Days", and we got to see people churning butter and grinding flour from real wheat stalks. There were people walking around in period clothing, a lot of militia as well. I even let her buy some candy and a coin holder from the gift shop. She really liked watching the Fife and Drums. On the way home she told me that she really wants to do that when she gets blowed up (grown up). I asked her which instrument she wanted to play and she said "One of those "Fifey things". Daddy stayed home to watch UM football and little man took a nap. Afterwards we just hung out and had dinner then mommy went off to work. Today was much of the same (without the museum), and mommy was able to finish off all of the disney characters in little man's room. That's all for now, check back soon for pictures. Love from Us.

Garage picnic

Today (9/16) was the first real day of fall for us. The temperature went from mid to low 80's to a high of 68 today. Time to pull the warmer clothes out of their bins! In a few days or so it is going to drop into the 50's. It's a nice change. Today was also a wet and rainy day. I had no real plans for us to do anything then one of the kids suggested we go back to Crowder park. This has now become the cool park. When we got to the park it was sprinkling (nothing bad), so we walked with raincoats and rainboots down to see the turtles. Luckily I brought the big golf umbrella with me, because it poured. The kids had a blast jumping in the puddles! We only saw one turtle. I think the others were hiding under the boardwalk. By the time we got back to the car, everyone's pants were sopping wet. Luckily we keep a few blankets in the car. When daddy came home he said he wasn't feeling good and didn't want a big supper. So, we settled on pizza. We park the cars outside on rainy days and let the kids play in the garage. Tom came up with the idea of a garage picnic. We had a blast! The kids ran around and she taught us how to play duck, duck, goose. You get that, she taught us (she will be a teacher someday I know it). We played 4 corners, I spy, marco polo - the dry version, and finally Simon says. It took a bit of practice trying it out, but sure enough Simon says is now her favorite game, AND she got the hang of it. Mommy even tried to get Daddy out, but couldn't! We weren't able to get pictures of us playing (hard to do both) but we do have some of the set-up and pre-game show featuring the newest ballerina sensation.

Bon Appetit!

Crowder park

Last Thursday we went to Crowder Park near Apex and played on their playground. This is a nature park as well. They have plenty of paved paths for people to stroll down, as well as an outdoor amphitheater (it probably seats 100). So, we played for awhile and then went off in search of animals. When we walked onto the boardwalk crossing the little lake there, we saw a turtle or two. While we stood there about 30 more turtles appeared. I guess they thought we would feed them. The kids thought it was because the turtles were saying hi. One even asked, "Mommy, where are the alligators?" You can take the kid out of Florida, but not Florida out of the kid. All in all, we had a really good time. Scroll down to see some of the pictures we took. He stepped up one step then grabbed on and did a pull-up. Nuts!

If you look closely you can see his feet are not touching - another pull-up

Hey Mom, how long do you think I can hang here?

Just some of the turtles that we saw.

She has never been comfortable crossing over until now.

She wouldn't go to the next step - progress =)

She loves these things.

She took this picture of mommy.

So what have we been up to lately?

Before I begin this post, I want to mention something. I'm not real big on the idea of putting our kids personal information /pictures on the internet. You will notice that some of my sentences do not follow proper English grammar rules. I'm doing this because I do not want to put our children's names on this blog. If you decide to respond / comment to any post, please be kind and remember to not use their names. Thank you!

Ok, now that business has been taken care of, what have we been up to lately. Well, in late August we went to a friend's birthday party and here are some pictures of the kids in and around the pool.

She is figuring out how to do the backstroke.

She did this all on her own, nobody showed her how!

Check me out, I'm just chillin'

As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say "I want to pump You up!"

The kids have really had a good summer swimming. We have gone on many swim dates to either the local indoor and outdoor pools,as well as our neighbors pool. She took two weeks of swim lessons, and is confident if she wears her 'floatie', but she still doesn't put her head completely underwater. He isn't as concerned about getting his face or head wet, he's concerned about the temperature. If he thinks it's cold, there's no way he's going in.

Both of the kids are doing well. They just started preschool (again for her, first time for him). She has the experience of going to "work" so she is used to it. He on the other hand has never been away from Mommy and Daddy for long. The first day he went into his classroom and bolted for a kitchen center to play. As I was walking out the door he turned and looked at me. I said "Bye, Bye, I love you, have fun!" He tilted his head like "Huh" then turned and ran off to another toy area. He never cried that day at all. I meant to bring the camera with me that day, but forgot, so next time they both go to class I'll get a picture of them outside their classroom doors. Look for those in the next few posts.

Both kids are very verbal. She talks constantly and LOVES to read (pretend - it's just SO darn cute). He LOVES anything that moves, makes noise, has wheels, etc. He will repeat over and over an animal and the sound they make, or a vehicle and the sound it makes. He can be found spending up to 20 mins at a time playing alone with his Thomas the tank engine train table and train cars. She LOVES to pretend cook & pretend shop. She has a kitchen and a 'cafe' table in her room. She also likes to pretend to be a waitress, princess, or teacher. I'm always saying Hi to her kids ("Mom, Mom, say Hi to my kids" while she does the Vanna White showing where they are). Ok, enough about them for awhile.

Tom recently flew to Milwaukee for the weekend. He hung out with the family and watched the UM vs. UF football game. We respectfully have no comment about that this year (smile). Erika had a lot of extra time on her hands in August becasue work was very slow and not as many interpreters were needed. Now in September, she works almost everyday straight.

Prior to Hurricane Hannah drenching us with rain, we had an interesting thing happen. One of our backyard trees had been dropping it's leaves and I thought, "Don't tell me Fall is already here", but that wasn't the case. The poor tree must have been dieing, because it fell. Well, it might have been a sick tree, but it wasn't a dummie. He knew we had a pile of trimmings etc... out there and he headed right for it. Here's proof. We (ok Tom, I had nothing to do with it) cut her up and we will have a good pile of firewood come winter.

The day before labor day our block at a small block party. I couldn't attend because it was one of those days that I actually was able to work. However, the kids had a good time playing with the neighbors, have a look.

I'll try and get some more pictures and info for you all soon. Take Care!

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A friend sent me their blog page and I was SO impressed I decided to create one for us. This way family and friends both near and far can see what's happening with us on a regular basis. We hope you enjoy!

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