Fall Festivities

Here are pictures from some of the fall festivities.

The Chatfield pumpkin patch was giant but almost every single pumpkin was rotten

Logan & Teddy at the pumpkin patch

Mark went all out for the Harvest Party this year, rigging up a hay ride, haunted house, and pumpkin patch.  And he bought all the food and decorations. And he got a great costume.  I managed to find a bandana about 5 minutes before our guests arrived and was a pretty lame pirate next to him and Logan.

Capt. Hook driving the hayride

I have about 15 versions of this picture, and this is the best I could get.  Its not easy to get 10 kids to look in the same direction at the same time. We had a fun time trying though.

Pirate family with Tinker-bee

Oakley and Amelie bumblebees

Amelie

Pirate, princess, and quarterback

The haunted house.  Mark rigged up a ghost that flew back and forth across the barn

Hayride headed to the pumpkin patch

Dr. Arbor

We went trick-or-treating with friends who drove us around the neighborhood in the back of their pickup truck.  It was a lot of fun... I feel like I should ride in the back of pickups more often. Even Amelie liked it-- we bundled her up and she seemed to like stargazing.

October Odds and Ends

Logan & Amelie spend their weekdays with Tammy, her husband Jason, and their  girls Grace and Tori.  They are well loved there.  We chose Tammy because she reminded us of Mark's mom.  She doesn't take any crap.  She balances out my spoiling and lack of discipline:).  In addition to Logan & Amelie, she takes care of two other kids, Devon and Addy.  Devon is Logan's best friend.  He has started asking to have him over to our house.  But, he says we'll have to lock all his toys in his room first so Devon doesn't take them.  Not sure that would make for a very fun playdate. Here are some pictures from Tammy's house:

Devon and Logan napping.  Logan is a cuddler, and he snuggled right up to Devon.

Logan filling up Dev's tank

Amelie & Addy

Oh my life!

And a few more pictures at home:

Auntie Kenny hanging out with Amelie.  Its a good thing for Auntie Kenny, she's the only one with enough energy left to actually play with our kids. 

Go Bears!

Amelie trying out the jumperoo.  She's not as jumpy as Logan was. She prefers to sit quietly and observe.

Visiting with Ginny

Hiking at Meyer Ranch

Halloween visit.  We arrived with our costumes on, but they didn't last long enough for a picture.

Amelie: 4 months

At 4 months, Amelie is a sweetheart. She's full of smiles and laughs, and happy as long as we're within sight.  She's become that second baby you hear about-- the one that's so easy and good and can entertain herself for long periods.  She probably doesn't have much of a choice, considering her older brother is such a handful. She loves her daddy-- her eyes follow him around the room-- and he can always make her laugh.  She likes to "dance" to music, and she's getting good at holding her head up during tummy time and sitting in the baby pod chair. 

Kenny's birthday

Kenny turned 30 this year! We celebrated with a big party and then a weekend away. I was probably more excited about that weekend than she was. We spent 2 nights in Beaver Creek and I got to sleep 12 hours per night. (That's my biggest wish these days... just to sleep.) We also went on a couple hikes, had massages/facials at the spa, and had a fancy 3 course meal courtesy of my mom. Kenny dropped me off with Mark & the kids on Sunday afternoon, and we headed off climbing. All that rest and relaxation lasted about 2 seconds, as Logan started whining as soon as I got in the car, then they both started crying... oh well, the peace and quiet was fun while it lasted. Mark did a great job holding down the fort... thank you Mark! And also, happy birthday Andrew!

Party girls.  Kenny & Amelie in polka dots

We don't have many occasions to dress up, but its so fun when we do.

Happy 30th!

We caught the last of the aspens.  This hike was pretty, but unfortunately hunting season had just started and the trail was blood-speckled.  Yuck.  Our concierge warned us about the hunters but said she was pretty sure we'd be fine as long as we stayed away from the deer.

Our hotel had these funny climber sculptures scaling the walls

Kenny found Mark Twain

And I found Einstein.

College Roomies

Kristina, Ali, and I met 17 years ago as roommates at MIT. The 3 are now 12. This is the reason for overpopulation in a nutshell :).

Kristina, Ethan, Addy, Aiden, Ali, Raph, Sophie, Remy, me, Mark, Logan & Amelie

We went on a hike at Red Rocks and ran into a bagpiper.  He agreed to play us a few notes.  Logan covered his ears, little brat.

Climbing the stairs at Red Rocks

Setting out on a hike around Red Rocks

The first-borns in the wagon

Logan- 2 3/4

At 2 3/4, Logan is learning to express himself.  He uses words like boring, annoying, obnoxious, and interrupting to describe things.  He says it in a funny way though.  "This game makes me so boring!"  "You are so interrupting!"  These are often preceded by an exasperated "Gosh!"  "Gosh, you're so annoying!"

He proposes something-- like watching one more show before bed-- and then asks, "isn't that a great idea, guys?"

He is full of extreme compliments-- "This is the best dinner ever!"  "You are the best giver ever!"

He calls anything little "cute".  His baby sister, half deflated balloons, the smallest train track pieces.  He'll hold them up and say "Awww, look how cute this is!"

He somewhere picked up the word "scrumptious" and often uses it to describe food that is not normally considered scrumptious-- cereal and toast and the like.

He has a tendency to imitate Mark and call me "Kate" or "Honey".  We were hiking today and Logan was riding in the backpack on Mark's back.  I was trailing behind with Amelie.  Logan was worried I was falling too far back.  "Daddy, Honey is getting far away!  Daddy, wait for Honey!"

He spouts TV jingles all day... Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Lazytown, and Paw Patrol being his current favorites.  He spends more time than I like to admit watching TV or the iPad, but he also gets in lots of trains and legos.