picture catch up

It's that time again! Time to catch up on all the random pictures that don't really go with anything else. After this post, my camera is clear, and I'm all caught up! Maybe the baby has come by now and perhaps I've even managed to post something about that, (is that optimistic or what?!) Or maybe not.

Here's Natalie perusing the latest Fisher Price catalog, (lollipop in hand).

Painting at Discovery Days. Very fun event, but a little chaotic.

Thanks for the fancy lollipop Aunt Eileen!!
Natalie enjoyed going through all the baby stuff I've stored.
Another ballet shot.
The house! Painted!
And with wallboard! Natalie and her dad are sitting on the couch, watching something funny on the TV.
Nat in her new room. Now the walls are all textured, the trim is in. Tiles and cabinets are also in. It's getting close now!
Looking for eggs in Erik and Renee's new chicken coup. There was one!
Hanging out with Delwyn. I love their little matching Keen sneakers!
Trying on her dad's new BBQ'n gloves.

Showing us her ballet moves. All of her tutus are in storage so her dad made her this one out of tissues.
Eating chicken wings at the Dark Horse... our old college hang out!
And that brings us up to the present! Phew!

carving pumpkins

We have a lot of pumpkins this year, so we're carving them a couple at a time. The first one we carved Natalie named "Aanya".

Here she is helping her dad carve a big one.
Here are the first three of the season; the little one, Aanya, DH's big one, and my medium one.

In the dark.
And here's Natalie trying out her first pumpkin seeds! Not surprisingly, she loves them. The kid's got a thing for the salty snack!

bouncy birthday

Last weekend we had a great time helping Aanya celebrate her third birthday at Pump It Up in Broomfield. It was great, and the kids bounced the whole time, and slept the whole way home!!

Here are a few of the girls watching the orientation video which outlines all the rules. They were mesmerized, but I wonder how much of it actually sank in.
In the bouncy obstacle course.
Natalie made it all the way through the course and up to the top but then refused to go down the slide at the end.
The balloons were almost as big of a hit as the bouncy structures.
The group, (just moms and kids) posing at the bottom of the obstacle course slide.
Sitting down for some much needed sustenance after all that work playing!
Happy Birthday Aanya! We had so much fun!

first Chuck E. Cheese

We had lunch at Chuck E. Cheese for the first time last week! It was a goodbye party for our friends Kristen and Siena who are moving to Massachusetts.

Natalie was completely overwhelmed the minute we walked in, (honestly, I was too!)
We ordered our pizza, and got our tokens. A handful was enough for our purposes. Mostly we just rode the little rides - kinda like what you find in the grocery store for a penny.
We also played a few games.
This bus was Natalie's favorite, and it was cool because she could just hop on the back when other kids were riding. She just wanted to talk on the phone anyway!
Riding with Barney was neat too.
And the pizza was actually pretty good!
Right before we left Natalie decided she just had to climb up into this elevated play structure.
When she was too little to get her legs up high enough to climb up I told her it was for big kids, (it was a no school day so there were about 50 elementary kids already climbing in the structure and clogging the slide down.) Unfortunately a friendly pair of 8 or 9 year old girls took it upon themselves to help Natalie up. I asked them to please make sure to help her down as well. Which they didn't. I can't blame them entirely... she refuses to go down most slides pretty adamantly these days, and they did try a few times to get her to come down. But she insisted on staying up there and wandering around the gerbil maze. Eventually, (20 minutes later or so) a chaperon with one of the school groups bussed in lent me a 10-year-old boy named Alex. I described Natalie to him and what she was wearing, and he went up in search. A few minutes later he came down (not the slide), with her under his arm. The chaperon had to clear the kids from the entrance tube for them. They were camped out, and Natalie was just not bold enough to make her way past them alone.

She was perfectly happy and told me it was fun up there, and all the things she had played with. I was definitely frazzled, and needed a nap just as much as she did!! I don't think we'll be heading back to Chuck E. Cheese any time soon!

pumpkin patch playdate

In search of more pumpkins, we met Sam and Sophia at Anderson Farms last week on a sunny afternoon. We put the girls in the barrel train with a little trepidation. Neither of them had been on a ride like that out of mommy's sight before! And when the ride lasted more than a couple minutes, we weren't sure if they'd come back to us with smiles or tears. The train was pulled by a lady driving a loud tractor. It went over bumps and did a bunch of circles all over the farm. I've been on it before, (wedged myself into a barrel not meant for anyone over 13 years old), and there was no way I'd be able to fit myself in at this stage in pregnancy, so they were on their own! At least they both fit in one barrel together. Off they went!
And pulling back into the station... too soon to tell...
I think it was a hit!
We had fun visiting with all the babies on the farm. There were a bunch of goats. This one was taking itself for a walk. Her name was Flower, and she was the runt of a set of triplets.
Since Natalie got to pet the goat, she was very disappointed that she couldn't pet the bunnies too!! But no matter how much she called "here bunny bunny bunny" they didn't seem to want to come to her.
The kids loved climbing around on the wooden train play structure. They also found their way through a wooden maze and a hay bale maze with a little coaching.
And the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch was really fun. We were given some cow treats and we stopped in a field on the way to feed some cows, a calf, and a buffalo... but those pictures didn't really come out.


At the pumpkin patch - deciding was the hardest part!
On our way out with our purchases! We may just have to head back there for one more barrel ride!! Too much fun.

catching up

The baby is coming soon. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it'll probably within the week. So I'm going to try and get caught up with pictures, but this post is also about catching up with old friends!

It's fun when old friends come into town! We hadn't seen Rachel and Quade for ages... not since they came into Boulder last time for a visit, when Natalie was a baby and Rachel's pregnancy was just starting to show! So we'd definitely never met their little boy Delwyn! And since we hadn't seen them in a while, we also hadn't seen a few of our mutual friends who live in the area!

Natalie had fun showing Rachel some of her silly bandz.
And swinging on the porch swing, (we might need to get one of these on our new front porch!!)
And here are all the kiddos together! Nolan (in red), and Sophia (in Brown) are also going to be older siblings soon! There's definitely something in the water!

first dance class

When Natalie turned 2.5 she was finally old enough for the dance program at the rec center! She had been looking forward to that day ever since she first walked by all the cute little girls in their dance outfits! Her class is called "Creative Movement" and when she turns 3 she'll be able to do the Ballet/Tap combo class! I'm not really looking forward to her stomping around in those noisy shoes, but I think she'll love it.

On the first day of class there was only one other little girl, (now there's another one). That was also the only day parents were allowed in, so it was the only day I got pictures.

She loves pointing and flexing at the bar.
Halfway through class they color a picture and get a sticker to put on it.
They also play with props like wands, crowns, and little stuffed animals that they're supposed to leap over. And of course they love the bubbles!

Last week in class the three of them began working on their part for the show the school will present on December 11th. It was very cute seeing them put a bunch of their movements together! They will dance to the Chinese Dance in the Nutcracker.