The Children's Museum Oct. 21

We took our first trip to the Children's Museum last week with Gigi. We had a wonderful time but the camera's batteries died so we only have a few pictures:(
There was tons to do. Here is Lissie on the steps of the fire truck.

Abby loved being able to paint without Mommy freaking out about the mess! Her masterpiece can be seen in our home gallery aka. the fridge!

There was a dress up area with a huge mirror and also a puppet theatre. Abby loved both. Lissie just loved running around visiting everything.

I think the favorite part for Abby was the shopping area where she could pretend to be a shopper, a checker and run a restaurant!

We had a wonderful time and the girls were exhausted when we finally went home. Thanks Gigi!

Octber 18th May Farms Pumpkin Patch

Since its officially fall now, we decided to take the girls to a pumpkin patch . The one we found was wonderful. They had a corn maze, a barrel train, a barnyard and tons of other little activities for the little ones.

Here is Abby petting one of the goats. They also had lambs, calfs and chickens. Don't you love how Abby just uses one finger to touch the animal?

We all went on the barrel train ride. Mom rode with Abby.

Mike rode alone:(
And I got to ride with my little Lissie.

It was a great ride, but a tad too long. The conductor, clearly loved his job and made it a wonderful event for the little ones, doing all kinds of circles, taking them through tunnels and going extra fast to make it bumpy.

One of the other things the girls enjoyed doing, was feeding the ducks at the pond. Lissie was a little nervous of the big ones.

After feeding the ducks and the fish, we decided to go through the maze. Lissie insisted on walking the whole thing by herself.

Abby's favorite part of the whole day was playing with the many cats on the farm. She would keep going over to them, try to pick them up and called them sweetheart or sweetie. It was adorable.

We had a wonderful time but with all the other fun activities, we forgot to pick pumpkins!!!

Catch Up

I'm very sorry I haven't blogged in a while but life has gotten hectic! First things first, Lissie has been walking for a while now. In fact, she is almost running!!! She was so cute when she first started walking around with her hands in the air trying to keep her balance. Even cuter is how she can stand up in the middle of the room without help to go wherever she wants. She has also developed a very naughty streak. She steals her sister's toys while making sure Abby is watching and then runs off with them. She loves to get a rise out of Abby. Lissie is also now participating in reading her bedtime stories. Its adorable to hear her little voice saying night night at the right part of the story:)

Abby has gotten so big now too. She is a wonderful big sister and always watches out for Lissie. She even checks Lissie's diaper for me! Abby is copying us more now too which can be a little troublesome. The other day she told Lissie, "you're driving me nuts!" Don't tell Daddy but she also says "shoot" when things don't go her way. One of the other really cute things she does is makes sure we are all wearing our seatbelts before we drive anywhere. She has recently learned to buckle herself up and once or twice we forgot to tighten the straps and she yelled, "no don't go yet, you have to check me."

They are both so cute and do so many big girl things now. Its hard to keep up with them!

Taking Potty Training to a Whole New Level!

While trying out his new charcoal grill, Mike looked up to see Abby standing in the grass with her pants down. When he asked her what she was doing, her response was, "I needed to pee!" At least she tried not to go in her pants!!!

Littleton Historical Museum

We found the most wonderful place the other day, the Littleton Historical Museum. It is a great place with not only a true "museum" but also two 1800's farms. There is no entrance fee and they still have live animals on the farms and people in costume maintaining the grounds. We went with our good friends and the kids and adults alike had a blast.

Here we are on an old wagon.

Beautiful Lissie.
My Abby. (Enlarge the pic to see the adorable look on her face)
Playing on a tractor.

Lissie spent most of her time climbing in and out of her stroller.

Eli and Abby had a blast throwing hay at each other.

We went to a nearby park for lunch and Lissie and Daddy enjoyed the swings before we ate.

My Little Lissie Lion

Fall Colors...Part 2 Sept. 30

We enjoyed our time in the mountains so much that we decided to go back again. This time we went to Estes Park so that I could see the Elk. If you look closely over Lissie's shoulder, you'll see a herd of them.

Abby and Daddy sneaking up on the elk.

Lissie loved walking in the fields near the elk.

Beautiful fall colors.

Fall In Colorado...part one Sept. 26

After our family getaway in the mountains we realized that the colors were probably at their peak so we went back up to see them the following weekend. Here are the girls in the car on the way out.

We drove up to Guanella Pass and it was beautiful. Abby was fabulous the whole time and even learned to use a Port-a-potty. Poor baby.
Her most interesting experience was learning to use the forest as a bathroom. Not sure what was wrong but poor Abby had a very runny tummy that day. It was a very interesting experience for her. Aren't the colors beautiful though. Unfortunately, Mike didn't let us know he was taking our picture or we would have smiled.

A very nice lady offered to take this family portrait for us.

Here are some of the beautiful colors we saw along the way.

The drive took a lot longer than we anticipated due to construction on the pass. The girls were very well behaved though....thank goodness for a bag full of snacks!!

After the long drive to Georgetown, we stopped for a much needed lunch and a REAL bathroom.

Look at that naughty little face!

Playing

Here are some random pictures of the girls playing one afternoon. One of Abby's favorite places in the house is the barstool in the kitchen. She eats up there and draws up there, plays with Mommy's purse etc.

Lissie has become a big fan of books and babies. She often pulls all of the books out to read to her baby.

Isn't that grin just adorable?! She has four teeth now.

Abby's next favorite place to play is on the deck. She goes out there at least once a day. She loves to eat breakfast in her little chair and also just likes to sit and watch whats going on outside. Here she is letting her baby sit outside with her and Mac.

Oh Lissie....

This was the sight that greeted Mike at 4:30am when he went to say goodbye to Lissie!

Who Loves the Shower?

Lissie loves the shower so much that she crawled in all by herself with her clothes on.

The joke was on me though, after she was thoroughly soaked and I was trying to change her, I discovered a stinky diaper. That was fun!!!

Isn't she cute though!!!

Early Morning Wake-up Call

This is how Abby wakes Lissie up in the mornings!

Dr.'s Appointment

Okay, so as you know I am using this blog as a way to basically journal the funny, cute and important things going on in our lives right now so we won't forget them. This story falls into that category.

Yesterday I had an annual check up with my OBGYN. All of my usual babysitters were unavailable so I had to take the girls. When we got into the room I thought it would be best to explain to Abby what would happen so she wouldn't be too concerned. So in very simple terms I told her that the doctor would come in and we would talk and then Mommy would get up on the table and the doctor would examine her. The girls were actually both very well behaved and the appointment went well. As soon as the doctor left though Abby says to me, "but Mommy, the lady didn't check my girly parts." Poor kid, she has no idea what she's in for in the future!

Church Fall Retreat

Every year our church has a retreat for all of the families. This year we all went to the YMCA in Winter Park for the weekend. It was a fun time especially for the girls. They got to sing songs by the campfire and toast marshmallows for S'mores.

Lissie got to drink chocolate milk for breakfast. It was the closest I could come to whole milk on the trip other than driving 20 minutes to Starbucks! Isn't she cute the way she goes cross-eyed holding her bottle.

Abby loved going to her "class" although you can't tell from this picture. They got to paint picture frames and clay pots and then plant seeds in the pot. They also got to sing and play with toys.

We all had a good time although once again, it is very different vacationing with children. Mike missed most of the breakout sessions because he stayed with Lissie so she could nap or sleep and although Abby was very good, it was stressful having a potty training little one with us. A tip for next time.....don't forget the baby monitor!