Monday, October 26, 2015

Around here…...

We are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather around here.  Hannah just went back to school today after her two week Fall break.  We loved having her home.  Evan has asked several times this morning where she is at.
We like going to the Build and Grow work shops at Lowe's.  Evan always wants to do it with Scott and Scott just goes for it without looking at the instructions (he must think it's a race), so theirs doesn't turn out most of the time.  Good thing I follow instructions…….ours always turns out perfect (I may or may not secretly think its a race too)!  Hannah has told Evan that he should build with me next time, because then his toy would turn out good. Ha!  Following instructions is definitely the German in me!

We went out to War Eagle Mill one Saturday morning and had lunch there.  It is such a pretty drive out there this time of the year.

We headed to Fayetteville for Oktoberfest…….it was almost like being in Munich:)

We got there early and the party hadn't quite started yet.  The kids played a few games…..and we ended up with a few random prizes.
The hammer is as big as he is.
Getting both of them to look at the camera is almost impossible.  Evan always says "cheese", but he closes his eyes while he does it.  I have a ton of pictures of him with closed eyes!

This little girl really likes to empty all cabinets and drawers.  I wasn't going to put locks on the cabinets in the kitchen, but I am starting to change my mind, because I have to put stuff back in at least 100 times every day. And then she likes to crawl into the cabinet….
Nora is full of personality and she reminds us a lot of Evan.  Let's just hope she is a little bit calmer than him!
Oh, you can see Evan in his underwear in the background……that is how you will find him 90% of the time at home.  For some reason he takes off all of his clothes when he goes to the bathroom…… socks, shirt, everything! Not sure why, but we have to get him dressed again every time he goes to the bathroom and it is quite annoying.  Thankfully he does not do it when we are out in public, but he will just pull his pants down if we are somewhere outside and he has to pee.

Evan gave up naps long time ago.  Before he completely gave them up he would always say that he was not tired and didn't want to go to sleep, so one day I told him that he doesn't have to go to sleep, but he just needs to rest his eyes.  So, that is what he says every night now.  "I am not going to sleep mom, I am just resting my eyes".

He always says "yesterday" for any time reference.  It could be something that happened a few weeks, few days or few hours ago……to him it's all "yesterday".

We also did our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  Fall colors and pumpkins are just so beautiful! It was a perfectly chilly afternoon and I took lots of pictures.
This is his "cheese" face again
I love these colors
Selfie with the little girl
Time for the hay ride

I have taken Hannah's picture in front of this sign since she was a little baby…..one day when I have extra time I will put them all together.  The other two kids were done at this point and didn't want their picture taken.
A few weeks ago Hannah asked me if Taylor Swift ever got arrested if she would have pretty handcuffs.  This morning on our way to school Hannah asked if Taylor Swift ever had to go to jail if she would get a comfy bed.  Not sure why she is so worried about TS going to jail.

Look at this face
More Fall fun to come next time.

Friday, October 23, 2015

New York City Part 2

We slept in a little the next day and made a Starbucks stop before heading to see Lady Liberty.  We took the Subway down to Battery Park and then hopped on the ferry.  The weather was perfect for walking around and exploring the city.
Looking like a local with Starbucks in hand and running shoes on…..
Hannah had learned about the Statue of Liberty in school, so it was exciting to her to see her in real life.
Selfie……we saw quite a few selfie sticks in NYC, but not nearly as many as we saw in London this summer:)
Here she is in all her glory
This mask was a little creepy…..

After we got back we walked over to the 9/11 memorial.  The last time I was in NYC they were still finalizing the plans on what to do at ground zero.  I have been to this spot before 9/11, a few months after and then a couple times since then, but not since the memorial was completed.  Being in that spot is breathtaking every time.  I think they did a wonderful job with the memorial.  Pictures just don't do it justice.  We talked a lot to Hannah about what happened and she had a lot of questions.
From there we walked to Little Italy for some lunch before heading back to the hotel for a quick rest. After our rest we walked back to the American Girl Doll store (and the christmas list got even longer) before heading to Central Park for a little bit.  We all climbed on of the big rocks.

Then we walked over to Rockefeller Center to ice skate.  Hannah had been looking forward to this all day.  It took us a few laps to get into the groove of things again, but then we had a great time.  Hannah started spinning around towards the end…..Scott went to get a few beers while we ice skated.
After ice skating we worked up an appetite for some dinner and some silly faces
One more stop at Times Square before heading back to the hotel.
The next morning we slept in again and didn't get to Rockefeller Center until 9am.  So, we missed the outside segments of the Today show.  But we were able to peek inside and saw Kate Hudson and Michael Kors.  Then we stopped to buy a few more souvenirs before heading to the airport.

We had such a good time and loved spending the one on one time with Hannah.  I hope this trip is something she will remember for a long time! We were all ready to get home and see the two little ones!