Back in the swing

Well we have started up our sight-seeing Saturdays again so look forward to fun pictures to come! I know you are excited :) In September, the zoo had a Storybook Day where characters from children's book were there. I have no idea who this cat is and Hadley didn't really like him either. This is as close as she would get without one of us.

This one is a little easier.....it's a wild thing :)

And if you don't know who this is then you haven't read ANY children's books, or watched any TV, or left your house.....just kidding. The Cat in the Hat. Max the bunny (also no idea) and Lyle the Crocodile were also there but we didn't wait in line for the photo op.

Joni turns 5 months on Wednesday! So crazy. She is such good baby (except for that 4 am feeding which she doesn't really need but I like to sleep so give in to her every time)! We found an exer-saucer at a yard sale (even though we left 2 back in WY) and she loves being able to stand up and play. She is also turning into quite the little babbler. She has her mamamamas and bababababas down pat!

Visiting Dad at the pool and trying on all the necessary swimming gear. Hadley is not afraid of the water anymore and went off the diving board (into my arms) the other day for the first time!

The seminary has the annual "welcome back everyone" party with lots of free food and fun. This year they had 3 themes....Kentucky State Fair, Fort Knox, and Frontier Land. To kick of the party they had 3 professors sky dive onto a square in the middle of everyone......yeah it's a good time.

She wouldn't pet it, oh no....but give it a big wet kiss and get horse hair your mouth.....why not?

Jo enjoyed herself too.

The man in the white shirt is the president of the seminary and his wife is the lady in blue. They were handing out little rubber bracelets.

Here are some pictures of the other fun things we did when we went to Milwaukee in September. It was Joni's first airplane ride so I had to document it. They both did well on the plane too. Joni slept (or ate) and Hadley watched her beloved Cars.

The Milwaukee Discovery Center is right on the water and has lots of cool things to do (mostly for older kids---so Andy had a blast! :)) They have an entire ship rebuilt inside with a cargo hold and everything.

And we laid on a bed of nails.........we should join the circus :)

Trying on my shoes...sad to think that all too soon they'll fit.

We went to the park twice too. We had great weather except for the down pour while we had our picnic. Thanks to the tree we quickly pulled the picnic table under, we didn't get that wet.

And finally the last of the birthday pictures. Since her party was 2 days before her birthday, we saved the Dora couch so she could have something on her actual big day. My parents sent some stickers and a card too so she opened them too. Jo is also a fan of couch. One of them is usually sitting or laying on it....worth every penny.

My new favorite picture of the girls. Sisters through and through!

For lunch we went to Chick-fil-a for nuggets and ice-cream (see video below). Hadley loves the play-place even though she prefers not to go in the tunnels. We made pancakes for dinner (one of her favorite things). Not that she'll remember her 2nd birthday, but I think it was her best one so far!

Happy Birthday Hadley!

I have said it before and I will say it again....where does time go?!?! Hadley is 2 years old and I can't believe there was a time that we didn't have kids and now we have 2! She is growing up so fast and sometimes I just watch her and it hits me again and again that she isn't a baby anymore. She walks and talks and has opinions and likes and dislikes and she amazes me everyday! Gushy stuff over....we went to Milwaukee for a weekend last month so Nana and Papa could get a Hadley and Joni fill. We had a little party for Had too since Nana and Papa couldn't make it to the one we had in Louisville. I did a practice run for the cake I made and was so glad I did! She opened presents from and ate cake and then was able to play with all her cool new things before we left! Thanks again Janet and Kemper...we love you!

Hadley and Papa having a tea party....I know right, how cute is that?

Ready for church.

So in Louisville, we had a party with an obvious theme....I bet you can guess if I don't tell you. So I made the cake and had it all planned out and the weather was great, the location awesome, and God so very very good! Hadley had a blast (if you don't count falling off the bench and almost biting through her lip before the party....yes lots of blood...and falling backwards off same bench and hitting her head on the ground during the party).

Before the party started I had the kids make monkey masks and had some monkey books of Hadley's and some Barrels of Monkeys sitting out for kids to play with while we waited to get the party started.

The monkeys with their masks. You can't tell but the girls have flowers and the boys have baseball hats. Too cute! Hadley has a monkey hat I found at Michaels for $1.

Playing pin the butterfly on the log (Curious George).

Dodge the coconuts (throwing styrofoam balls in the air and trying not to get hit with them). I thought this was going to be a short lived game but all the kids LOVED it. Funny how that works out.

"Happy Birthday to you...."

The monkey eating her monkey. Someone said there was something wrong about this. No delicate eating either.....she just went for it.

So we had banana splits and cake for dessert (pulled pork sandwiches and fly pasta salad I like to call it because the flies were awful....people still ate it though). Then present time! Thanks to everyone who was there for the presents too. :) You made the day so special for her just by being there!

Enjoying the book she got while we cleaned up.

Jeremiah, her little friend. He got her a little Lightning McQueen car which she carries around with her everywhere :)

Our dearest friends Jon and Heather came down from Indianapolis to come party with us! It was sooooo good to see them and to finally meet and love on little Nolan who is exactly one month younger than Joni. He is going to be a heart breaker someday. They liked each other as you can tell....already holding hands. Thanks again for coming you guys! We so enjoyed having you here and hope to see you again real real soon!

We are continually blessed by the Lord with good friends and a wonderful family. Andy is doing great loving and taking care of us and is halfway thru the semester already. We are excited for Thanksgiving (Huber reunion in Minneapolis) and Christmas too (hopefully Lutz family fun times). Love to you all!