Kiddo Update & Fun Fall!

Okay, here's a post of mainly pictures - we've done a lot of fun fall things lately! Yay, we love this season! I'll also try and let you know what Kate and Collin are doing these days...

On our way to a 5K on the Saturday that Wisconsin played Iowa! Ahh!
We thought we would be running in a sea of red, turns out we were almost the only ones representing at all!
Dave loved it. I felt awkward:)

Dave pushed Ayden in the stroller. I had the double with the big kids.
They ran...some. I was really impressed with Kate. Collin was cute, but then he wanted me to carry him.
Here Collin is trying to catch up to Kate so he can hit her. Yup.

It was incredibly windy.
Pushing the double into the wind with both kids riding and eating a snack...not fun.

The next weekend was Mauston's Pumpkin Bash!
Ayden watching the big kids bounce

Kate has not really done the bounce house stuff before. But really wanted to this day.
She loved climbing up and going down the slide.

Unfortunately, Kate was so excited about the darn thing, she kind of abandoned Collin.
He was super slow going up the steps, scared at the top. But the other kids helped him and convinced him to go down!
This was how he came down. But then he loved it and continued, slowly but surely and always down the slide like this:)

Farmers Market, craft booths, yummy food vendors, some games, it wasn't bad!
That's Kate in the background watching them cook our wood-fired breakfast pizza:)

This dude was excited

I can't remember what I was doing here..
Besides enjoying my Chai Latte:)

Well, one fall festival is clearly not enough, we headed to Northwoods Orchard & Market after the Pumpkin Bash (isn't this bluff at the farm amazing?!) I love this place. And they had a really awesome day! Weaving, candlemaking, blacksmith, hay rides, apple cider slushies, etc. Umm...and more wood-fired pizza. We had to try it!

Making candles..

They got to take them home.
They look like carrots:)

I loved this big chair by the bluff. Was excited to get a pic of the kids or all of us there.
Or not. Collin did not cooperate and I wasn't about to dig Ayden out of the stroller. Oh well.

A really cool teepee with a boy explaining things inside

Found it! 

And then....we drove down to Lake Redstone (just 15 minutes south of Mauston!) and explored around a bit. There are some homes for sale down there and we wanted to see if they were within call range. The lake is much different than Castle Rock. It was really, really cool! It was just beautiful with the leaves changing color and there were some great views and very interesting homes. But only a few would be work for us because of Dave's call.

We then continued on to Reedsburg and went to another place I'd been wanting to see - Lemonade Workshop! It is a really interesting place that sells organic and natural products. Has a bike repair section, a coffee shop. And a free craft area for kids! On this weekend, they were serving local foods/treats and so we had a local pulled pork sandwich:) and caramel apple. The kids played and I vowed to come back soon:)

Inside the Lemonade Workshop

Dave and Kate had one of these!

This girl was in heaven. I am making an area of my house like this. The kids would be occupied for hours.
Much better than doing it on the dining room table like we do now!

Let's see, a little update on the big kids: 
Collin - He has been verbal for quite a while, but he is expanding that a lot lately and that is quite fun. His favorite words/phrases right now, "Eew" "I no like it" "I yove you." "I yove Ayden" etc. "I be a driver" "I ride John Deere tractor. I ride it!" "Make a nanich (sandwich), Mommy?" "Thanks, Mommy. You the best ever." (or Daddy:) He also likes to answer no to everything or yes to everything. 

He likes to express his frustration and will cross his arms and do a bit, "Hmphf!" He really wants you to see it. He'll repeat until you notice. Then he'll go stand in a corner and pout. I'm trying to smile when he does this. 

Loving the outdoors

Kids love window clings. They just do.

He is pretty aggressive with Ayden, I catch him leaning on him, stepping on him, pushing a lot. But he is generally very loving. Gets mad when he is sleeping, wants to play with him. 

The boys in action during the day

Out for a walk

Collin is a real crank when he wakes up most days (for about a week, he was super happy, not sure what was different but that was nice) but Ayden can make him perk up the quickest:) He still wants to go to school and ride the bus more than anything else. But we have had less tears and fits about this. 

He happily gets dressed and gets his outerwear on. Of course loves going outside. It is starting to get tricky now with the cold weather. I'm not looking forward to weather that prevents us from getting outside! He gets SUPER excited if someone is coming home. On Friday, Dave and Kate were going to be getting home around the same time, but when I asked him, he kept saying, "Grandma!" He also likes to pretend to talk on the phone, always to Grandpa right now:) 

Family walk after supper

And....he wants to be carried about half the time:)

He likes the shows Paw Patrol, Little Einsteins, Curious George and Sesame Street. He still is eating pouches (ahh!) and his meals are hit or miss. He has some meals where he does great. Others he won't touch. The days go better when I can feed him small snacks/meals throughout the day. For breakfast, he likes Cinnamon Chex (can't convince him to eat other kinds of Chex) and lately, he will only eat graham crackers with peanut butter. I don't fight it most days. He will also eat oatmeal, but usually only if it is mine and not if I make it for him. He is very polite like his sister, lots of "Please, Thank You, Your Welcome, I Be 'xcused?" :) 

He adores playing with his sister but plays really well without her too. He likes reading books and is getting into the search and find ones. He still loves trains and asks to ride Thomas again:) He will dress up in his fire fighter and train conductor costumes during the day and loves to play "fire fighter." He also likes to paint and do art, but he is a stinker and knows that I'll set up him and work in the kitchen. Next thing I know, he has painted or colored all his arms and face. But if he does get it on the paper, he is making some cool stuff! 

Our good friends dropped off all these toys/clothes/books! We love the GeoTracks!

I think they had an iPad while I worked on ironing Kate's Girl Scout tunic

Kate - Miss Kate. Loves school. Loves her activities (dance {ballet, tap & cheer}, gymnastics and Girl Scouts), loves going to church and Sunday School. Will do what Dave and I say after we say it four times (argh!!) has a very strong opinion on what she wears most days. There can be some battles. Other days she is easy. I don't know. 

Definitely a Daddy's girl, but sometimes she likes me:)
(this was after her shower)

She did awesome at a bake sale we went to last Saturday. It was outside. It was freezing. Out of all the Girl Scouts there, she was helping and really doing some work. I was so proud of her. She also has been given some responsibilities at school and I know she is doing well. She has a lot of friends and we are inviting four of them to her birthday party on Saturday! 

Baking for the fundraiser

She loves riding the bus, has friends on the bus and gives me report on the behavior of everyone. I'm already hearing about some teasing and stuff I don't like, but I guess I can't stop it! She said some girl kissed a boy, etc. NO!!!! She gets a lunch packed each day and has had homework every day this year except twice! She is STARVING when she gets done with school. Her life is a growth spurt right now. Constantly hungry. And she still eats really healthy:) I made chocolate chip cookies for the bake sale...wouldn't even try one. 

I gave Kate an American Girl catalog that came in the mail. Told her to circle what she wanted while we drove to the Dells. Dave and I didn't look at it until later that night. She. Circled. Everything.

She does really well with her brothers, sometimes getting frustrated with Collin when he doesn't understand her grand visions for their play/forts/etc. She is awesome with Ayden, the only issue being she tries to do too much (pick him up, move him). But I've noticed her doing better at it lately and so am letting her do more. She also feeds him for us sometimes, that is nice! 

Waiting for gymnastics to start with her friend Lexi

She lost another tooth! Did I mention she had lost one a week or two ago? She lost one at school! She had a certificate and little envelope with the tooth in. She got to go to the nurse and everything:) We actually forgot to get it under her pillow for a long time! But finally the tooth fairy came and she got a dollar. Then, a few days ago, I had a horrible night with Ayden and was sleeping upstairs. Dave helped Kate get ready for school (that is happening more and I sure appreciate it. She gets on the bus at 7:05 a.m.!) Apparently, she lost the tooth in the night?!?!? We haven't found it yet. I'm totally grossed out and appalled that she could have swallowed it, is that possible? Ew. Anyway, the top two teeth are gone! Our little jack-0-lantern:) Unlike the bottom two she lost already, the adult teeth are not pushing through yet, so she could be wishing for her two front teeth for Christmas!

Helping Daddy in the yard

Well, that is a not-so-brief update! I guess the next post will be about Kate's birthday party and Halloween!