The Seattle Contingent

Stephanie, Zoe and George came in town from Seattle last week. We certainly kept ourselves busy, busy, busy! Like most of their visits our entertainment consisted of eating and more eating. They have to have all their KC faves when they come home...who can blame them! We also got to see Charlie play some rugby and I even went to 2 movies...woo hoo! It was like vacation!

Sophia teaching Leo the finer points of tackling

at Andre's...YUM!

Winstead's!!

George and Zoe introduced Sophia to the Silly Band madness!

cousins! :)

Going Batty

Riveted by the very informative bat video

Isabelle and Sophia were practicing taking the nectar from the flowers, like bats...they did this all on their own and it was pretty funny!

Oh no! Vampire bats on attack!

making one batty craft!

all done...

making it fly

a bat-tastic lunch!

Yummy! We all love bat dogs!

Demonstrating their glow-bracelets so they can see in the dark like bats!

(kinda hard to tell, but if you look closely you can see the neon!)

Jodie hosted pre-school Wednesday this week and her theme, bats! Just from these pictures you can see why we're friends...I mean really, bat dogs... love it!!! Sophia had a super fun time and looks forwards to the activities. She just had to take her bat to Bama's last night and show her and she's been happily flying him around all morning. If she stayed up later she could meet the bats that live in our very own back yard, but thankfully she doesn't because Mommy doesn't want to meet them either. :)

Congrats and Best Wishes!

Leo and Leo

Molly, Julie, and Anne

Leo did not like mommy trying to control him during the ceremony!

Lara and Tom...newlyweds!

all the tables looked very festive!

The wedding had a fall/literary theme...we got the Princess Bride table...no coincidence, she just knew I loved it! Cute!

Sophia excitedly showing Aunt Gayle her artwork

Charlie's cousin Mike (the groom's brother)

brothers drinking beer...no surprise there ;)!

Leo trying some wedding cake

playtime!

Sophia and Molly showing off their mini purses, courtesy of Aunt Annie!

Leo had plenty of smiles for Aunt Cathy, but none for me!

Mira was so great with both Leo and Sophia! We loved having her around!

All the crazy cousins!

Henry, Mira, Leo, Julie, Anna, Molly and Sophia

Charlie's cousin, Tom, got married this weekend and we couldn't be happier! We all love Lara, plus she's a teacher and loves to read, so we get along great! They are both adorable and super happy, you can always tell! It was so nice to be able to spend this special day with them. The ceremony and reception were outside, which was very festive, but a bit chilly. It wasn't as bad as I feared though. The kids ran so wild playing with each other they never felt the temp drop! There was a small room attached to the gift shop that was heated so they did have that as a resbit as well. Charlie's other cousin, Tiffany, came in from St. Louis with her husband and 3 kids, Mira, Anna, and Henry. We don't get to see them that often and Sophia made up for lost time with all the playing she wanted to do! Hopefully we'll get to see them more! It was a beautiful day for a beautiful couple! Welcome to the (loud side of the..) family, Lara!

Arboretum Fall Festival

Bama and Sophia going the scenic route
Leo was not interested in snuggling with Sophia for a festive picture

hugs for Forest the Fox

I'm a big kid!

spreading the lard/oat mixture for the bird feeder

gluing her leaves just right

getting a good look at the gardens through her 'noculars

time to head home!

all of Sophia's projects:

in the back: bird feeder and two bookmarks

shakey snake (tree bean bod with google eyes and paint) and a fall place mat

We welcomed this fall weathered weekend with a trip to the Overland Park Arboretum for their super fun fall festival. We had been here last summer, our only other trip, and had a really nice time, so when I heard about this I was intrigued. It was so much fun that we will definitely be keeping it on our calendar for next year.

They had a huge tent filled with probably 10-15 craft stations. Each station used organic materials that are all readily available like leaves, hedge apples, flower petals, seed pods, etc., etc. It certainly inspired me to get creative with some of the things we have in our own neighborhood for some fall craft projects! Sophia would have happily done each and every craft, but we had limited time on our hands. They also had a look out station with binoculars, which was way cool, and the KC Symphony performed Peter and the Wolf. There was so much to see and do, and we really didn't even seem to make a dent in it! I would like to go back and visit the Arboretum again just to stroll through the grounds and look at all the beautiful fall colors! This week is going to be so gorgeous that we may just have to find our way back there!

Donut Day!

Thursday morning Sophia woke up with a, and I quote..."great idea!" She wanted donuts! :) Coincidentally it was her name day, and although we don't really celebrate her name day so much in the traditional sense, I figured it would be a nice treat for her. I guess she really was wise to bring up donuts on a day when she should be getting presents! ;)