Picnic in the Park

My mom loves picnics.  (Honestly, who doesn't?)  One beautiful evening she called us all together for a picnic dinner in the park.  My sister brought her camera and skills along and captured some great pictures of the kids and the fun times they had hitching rides on Uncle Kyle's motorcycle!

 My lovely Britta, getting so big!

Em had her turn first (of course)!

My fire-cracker, Juliana.  (And can you see Kari's little scowl in the background??)

A very wistful-looking Kari.

 Christian was up next!

 Erin captured a small sampling of the chaos that these four girls bring to the table.

Such a happy grandpa.  Britta just LOVES him!

 Yup.  That's Kari...

Grandkids, minus Kari, who was having her ride.

 At last it was Ju Ju's turn!!

 We also played at the park...

 ...picked flowers, played games...

 ...and took a walk around the duck pond.

We are so lucky to live so close to family and that my mom makes the effort to coordinate our schedules so we all get together!

Is That Kari or Kit Kittredge?

For Halloween, Kari wants to be the American Girl,  Kit Kittredge.  Isn't she just beautiful??  She was so excited to get a skirt that's exactly like Kit's.  She even had matching red socks, shoes, and a headband.  She is so feminine and girly and I just love it.  So adorable.

Soccer, Soccer, and More Soccer

Fall soccer.  Christian's team continues to battle through each game, improving little by little.  It's been a good refiner's fire and learning experience for him this last year and a half as his team has really had to work hard and pull together to get the wins.  Parents from other teams remark how much heart and energy our boys play with, and I love hearing those types of compliments more than if we were to crush the other teams by scoring tons of goals.  Here are a few pictures of Christian in action, both in goal and as a forward.

Christian and his best friend, Henry, who continue to play against one another with their friendly rivalry!

 Here are some of Kari and her team as they finished off their season strong.  Cute girls and we enjoyed watching Kari get out and run (when she wasn't "too tired") and have fun playing soccer!

Sweet Times with My Ju Ju

With such gorgeous fall afternoons, Juliana and I have gotten to spend a lot of quality time outside together while Britta naps.  Here are some of the highlights of our times together--

Playing with her baby doll (the sweetness is just overwhelming sometimes).  Juliana and I played house and fed her baby and then took her for a walk.

 We swing out front and then climb the tree while we wait for the big kids to come home.

 So silly and beautiful!

Ju Ju wanted to take a picture of me too :-)

 Another afternoon she was Tigger and we went out on the trampoline to goof around.

 

And some days we bake cookies and make frosting for them.  Juliana loves to be a helper when I bake!

I have truly enjoyed my one-on-one time that I've had with each of my children.  They are such sweet, curious, and fun little people and I am truly blessed to be able to be at home with them.  While my days aren't always sunshine and roses, the good outnumber the bad and the bad days make me appreciate the good times that much more.  I certainly wouldn't trade this time for anything else in the world.

Zoo Fun

We go to the zoo pretty frequently, but it's not very often that we get to go with both Grandma Karen AND Grandpa Harvey!  It was a gorgeous fall day and so we all ventured out for some fun timers.

 Everyone wanted pictures of themselves on the jungle vines..

 And bc Grandma and Grandpa were along, everyone got treated to a ride on the carousel!

 We also visited the local dinosaur quarry for some intense digging.

 And took pictures on various statues.

 Britta got a kick out of sharks and rays at the aquarium too.  Fun day!