Chubby Bear

My chubby bear who is no longer chubby at all didn't want her picture taken today. We were on a little walk and I happened to have my camera, so when I saw how pretty she looked with the turning soybean field behind her I had to stop and get her picture, even if she wouldn't smile for me!

after a few minutes of me saying silly things and talking like the characters on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I managed to get a little grin out of her-

25 months and full of attitude!  This little chick is almost fully potty trained, can count to 10, knows her colors, and several shapes.  She hardly talks, yet is smart as a whip, she amazes us every day!

Apple Orchard

On Labor Day Monday we took the girls out to our local apple orchard.  It's one of our favorite Fall family time activities.

They always have so much fun running around out in the open, searching the trees for perfect apples, and of course getting treats from the bakery-

Hannah found tons of great apples-

Claire only picked one apple, but she insisted on carrying it around in her own basket and stopping to admire it frequently!

Hannah picked a caramel apple with sprinkles from the bakery and Claire just took a bunch of apple slices from the tasting tables.  It was a beautiful day to be outside, we had so much fun just being together!

Adventureland

The Sunday before Labor Day we met my mom and niece at Adventureland in Des Moines.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and we all had a blast!  We stayed for over 9 hours and I think the kids would have happily stayed longer, they were just having so much fun!

Top of the ferris wheel!

Hannah took this shot of me and Claire-

Claire's absolute favorite ride was the tea cups!  She rode them three times and I'm pretty sure she'd have gone on them 100 more times, but Matt and I were getting dizzy!

I loved the giant grin that was glued on her face the entire ride-

Hannah is a total dare devil!  She even rode the big roller coaster!

Claire took a little snooze while Hannah rode the Tornado!

We ran into our neighbors part way through the day - such a small world!

Hannah and Matt coming down the big hill on the log ride - they got soaked!

Claire loved the carousel too.  She rode it three times, and when she saw it all light up as the sun was going down she pointed her chubby little finger out and said "look"!  It was so sweet!

We rode the train on the way out.  It was getting pretty cold by that point as the sun was going down, but Claire had been waiting all day to ride it.  She was so excited sitting there in her seat, even if she was freezing!

We all had such a great time, I'm thinking a Fall trip to Adventureland is going to become a yearly tradition!

2 weeks

Two and a half weeks down in the Kindergarten journey and my girl is still loving it!

Last night we signed her up for girl scouts - she can't wait for the first meeting!

In school they've been reviewing colors, and wore a different color from the rainbow each week - these pictures were on green day!

Her classroom just won a movie and popcorn party for having the most positive behavior tickets in the school for the month of August!  She's super excited about it! 

This one, however, is still deeply missing her sister during the day!  I try to take her to do something fun each day, just the two of us, but often throughout the day she asks me "Sis all done?" or "Sis right back?"  Breaks my heart!