Saturday Night - Craft Night?

Princesses in the making! On Saturday night Eleanor came over the play with Hannah. I decided we were going to spend some time making crafts and having a princess party. The uncreative person that I am worked really hard to be creative... and we ended up making princess purses... which really includes buying a purse at Michael's and putting sparkly stickers on them. Earlier in the afternoon, I spent time making the girls their magic wands... it was really fun. The girls ran around the house with their magic wands and purses... we have two little princesses on our hands. 

Here they are.. working really hard on their purses. They were so serious about strategically placing each sticker :) 

And earlier in the evening, we made turtles!! Ok... let's be honest, Todd worked really hard with the girls to ensure the final product actually turned out looking like a turtle..  Somehow in the shopping for craft time, we ended up with a lifetime supply of the little eyes you put on things.. we are really for art projects and crafts for years to come.   It was a fun night, the girls have so much fun together, laughing and giggling. Their favorite part of the night was bath time. Taking a bath with all those balls in the bath tub is quite a big deal. Eleanor remember from last time, half way through the evening she looks at me and says "bath with balls?". How could we resist, so off we went. 

Hannah's 1st Gymnastics Class...

Hannah had her first gymnastics class on Saturday. It is called gymnastics, but really I would call it glorified play time and something to do on cold Saturday mornings for 45 minutes.  We actually missed the first class last weekend when we were out of town. Todd called "Mini Hops" and asked if she would be behind in the curiculum if she missed the first class... apparently the person answering the phone had a big chuckle over that question.  It was quite the event, there are 6 kids in the class and one parent has to participate with child. Todd was in charge this weekend, and I don't think he expected the work out he had in store for him. I am not sure if I laughed more at Todd doing the bear crawl across the floor, or the cuteness of Hannah wanting to swing from the uneven bars. It was fun the watch. Hannah loved it and had a great time. It keeps her busy, and gives us something to do this winter... I don't think she will be the next Shawn Johnson anytime soon, but she is having fun and that is all that matters:) ! 

Hannah & The Dice Family

What a fun filled weekend at the Dice's. Hannah had her first and probably not her last trip to King's Island. She had a blast on all the kiddie roller coasters and rides. She loved every minute of it.. and so did her cousins!

Grandpa worked hard carving a pumpkin with Hannah. They did such a good job. Hannah was in charge of cleaning out the pumpkin and taking care of the top of the pumpkin while Grandpa did the carving. She thought it was hilarious and laughed the entire time.

And finally, Hannah and Grandma and Grandpa showing off their hard work on the pumpkin. 

Thanks everyone for a great weekend. Hannah already misses everyone!!! We can't wait to see everyone again soon!!  We love you and miss you lots!! 

Happy Halloween 2008!

Happy Halloween!!!  Hannah was lucky enough to trick or treat with her cousins, aunt and uncle and grandparents this Halloween. Much better than last Halloween since she had the flu. Hannah had a great time, all the kids did!! I wasn't sure that Hannah would quite get the hang of trick or treating... but after one house she was hooked and couldn't wait to run up to the next house. She loved it.. it was so fun to watch all the cousins together. Lucas was an adorable Zebra and put a lot of smiles on everyone's faces. Jake kept all the animals under control as the zoo keeper.. and Hannah made her way as a lady bug, so much fun! 

Go Bucks!!

Our little buckeye is ready for the big game tonight! Go Bucks.. beat Penn State!! She has a full afternoon ahead of her as we are off to a Halloween party after nap time. 4-6pm, she will be a ladybug and starting at 7pm... back to a Buckeye!!   Hannah had learned to say Buckeye pretty good now, and she loves walking around the house with Brutus playing to Ohio State fight song.  Unfortunately, she also enjoys walking around the house with Albert the Gator too.. One day, she will learn :) 

Hannah's 1st Haircut

And finally, Hannah had her first haircut tonight. There she is, right before the big event. She did such a great job. We went to a kids hair cut place where they have curious george playing for the kids at each station (smart of them) the keep them still. Hannah was very serious about the haircut.. she sat still, I think just wondering what in the world was going on. We got just a little bit cut off the back, after all, I didn't want to lose that one little curl she has..... because everything else is coming in pretty straight. The whole experience was cute, and made me realize how fast she is growing up. Not a baby anymore...and about to be a little girl.  I am sure we disagree on her hair style of choice in 10 or so years, but in the mean time... little pink bows and pig tails are pretty fun :)  

More fall fun...

Last weekend, we had more fall fun. Hannah went on yet another pony ride. She isn't scared anymore... just wants to hop right on! She is hilarious to watch riding the pony, very serious :) And, her favorite thing to eat.. corn on the cob. She can't resist it. Hannah and Dad enjoyed some fall corn on the cob on a sunny day. Dad was excited he ran into 3.. yes 3 FL gators at the corn festival... who knew they were taking over MN :)

The simple things in life...

really are the true reward... often said by Dad. Today we went to the park to get some fall pictures with Jason, Kim and Eleanor. A goreous fall day... what could be better?   The above picture captures Hannah's essence so well lately. Fun, loving, and melting your heart every second she gets, with just a small twinkle in her eye, and a smirk to go with it just to make you wonder what it is she is thinking.   Wherever we go lately, Hannah puts both hands out and makes sure she is in the middle of mom and dad. She loves to swing in between us. Sometimes, it is a little hard to get anywhere fast when you are out and about... but she makes everyone we walk past smile and laugh. I often think about all the fun things we as a family do together from the petting zoos, trips to the park, playing in the leaves... and then I think how Hannah will never remember this when she is older.. it is then when I remind myself that I will.  While these experiences will shape her into who she is one day, these are the memories that I will cherish for years to come.   

The Best of Fall...

We made our annual trip to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard on Saturday. Hannah had a nice time seeing all the pumpkins and picking apples. There was a petting zoo, hayrides, fresh apple cider and apple doughnuts.... mmmm. A beautiful sunny crisp day. 

Her favorite part was picking the apples off the tress... She was very serious about it :)

And later that day, Hannah rode her first pony!! The city of Plymouth had a fall festival with a petting zoo, bounce arounds, balloon making and face painting, and of course, pony rides. Hannah kept saying she wanted to ride one. I was sure it would last about 30 seconds, but she loved it. When the pony stopped, she said "more, more". I said it was time to get off and Hannah was then saying "no no, no" I am seeing more pony rides in our future :)

"Up North"

And Finally, adter 10 years of living in MN, we have made it "up North". The picture above is of Split Rock light house, about 40 minutes north of Duluth.. Or can you can see about 3.5 hours north of Mpls. It was beautiful. And the fall colors were just about peak. A gorgeous fall day, mid 60's and not a cloud in the sky. 

A family picture in front of gooseberry falls. We went to the lower level of the falls, we were a little scared to go to the top of the falls with Hannah, you just never know when the little ones take off :) 

The view from the top of split rock looking down.

Mom and Hannah outside of Gooseberry falls

Daddy and Hannah also outside of Gooseberry falls. 

We had a great day. We started our day at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth. It was great, and the best part was we were pretty much the only people at the zoo, we felt like we had our own private day. No lines, no people... it was perfect. Then we went and had lunch in Duluth, over looking the lake.. which pretty much looks like the ocean. We watched some vessels come in as well as the trains go by.  Then we headed off to Gooseberry falls and Split Rock lighthouse. It was pretty much half of "up north" in  day. 

We were surprised how much there is to do and see in Duluth, we are looking forward to going back. There is a children's musuem, aquarium, railroad museum etc... Todd referred to Duluth as the Savannah of the North :) Just a nice weekend getaway.