If I Was a Little Bit Taller...

The kids got Matt a basketball for his birthday. Brennan has been bouncing it around the house, which I'm sure the neighbors love. So, we finally took them down to the school to play. Check out their mad skillz.

And here's how they spent most of their time at the court.

I think Brennan will be more comfortable on a soccer field.

Doing tricks on the bike rack.

October

Where has it gone? I can't believe we have less than one week left of October. It has been a very busy month for us. Visits from Nana and Pop and Maya and Buppa and Matt's birthday have been the main highlights. But first, the every day life things.

Getting up early has definitely caught up with Kaelyn. And by that I don't mean she's actually taking naps ever. Somehow she always seems to get a second wind five minutes into quiet time. Why can't she nap and I get the second wind? Sure would make it easier to get some stuff done around here.  No, what I mean is that she no longer gets up at 6am excited to get to school. I have to drag her out of bed in the morning to get to school on time.  And she has frequent moments of crankiness and sassiness (is that a word?). For example, we went to Farm Day at a local farm with Maya and Buppa. Remember how she used to love farm animals? Well, she willing went to pet some of the animals and then absolutely freaked out, clinging to people's legs (one person she didn't even know) and sobbing asking "why do I have to pet the animals?" I feel like we're getting a preview of the teenage years with mood swings lately.

Right before she flipped out

Brennan's meltdowns, on the other hand, have seemed to level out a bit (knock on wood). He's still a typical two year old though. His new routine involves watching Oso every morning after Kaelyn leaves for school. His imagination is really taking off. Maybe it's from watching and playing with Kaelyn but I don't remember her make-believe play being quite as advanced as his at this age.  He also likes playing with the "ostri-juices" on one of the new games on the ipad. Despite a few mispronunciations his vocabulary is really taking off. He loves playing "shootball" with Dada and his new favorite joke is:
"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Brennan"
"Brennan who?"
"Brennan loves Kaelyn!"
He made it up all by himself.

And now I'll stop talking and bombard you with pictures from the entire month.

Nature hike at the Audobon Center with Nana and Pop

Trip to Dover/visit to the Children's Museum (fun, but nothing compares to the Indianapolis Children's Museum)

Day trip to Wolfeboro and Lake Winnipasuakee

Kaelyn's first field trip to SEE Science Center at White Farm to study shapes

Farm Day at Miles Smith Farm. Complete with tractor ride, serenading fiddle and feeding the cows (Brennan was delighted to feed a cow named Puff).

Brennan singing "Old MacDonald" while coloring his 3rd place winning picture at Farm Day

 Beach Day! Just for Maya :)

Another Farm to get pumpkins (and ice cream). Kaelyn thought the animals were stinky. And another pretty fall hike.

Visiting the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center

Impromptu day trip to Franconia Notch State Park. I really wanted to see the flume gorge but we decided taking the tram up to the top of Mt. Cannon would be better for the kids. We were not disappointed. It was a cool, clear day (the last they were open for the season) and we had views into Canada, Vermont, New York, Maine and Massachusetts. Kaelyn loved every minute.

 Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband and best father to my children I could ask for. We love you!