fall fun!

Here are some random fun things that we did this fall!

 Krew and I went to a pumpkin patch with his kindergarten class.  It was a blast, and I realized that my decision to switch my major from early childhood education to business management all those years ago was definitely the right decision!  :)

 I know you are all probably sick of me posting pictures of Everly's long curly hair, but I love it, so I'm gonna keep doing it!

 Bart and I took a quick getaway to Chicago and Milwaukee for a couple of days.  We went to the Art Museum in Milwaukee and loved it.  It was fun to do something so different than what we usually do when we have the kids with us.

 This art piece was so fun!  I was on one side and Bart was on the other.  It was a blend of a regular mirror and a one-way mirror, depending on where you stood.

 We checked out a new park and enjoyed the amazing warm, fall weather we've been having this year!  Krew loved running this track that would time how fast you were.  He would have done it for hours!

tiny dancer

 Everly started a tap and ballet class in September.  She is always dancing around the house, so I thought it would be perfect for her.  She was so excited in the days and weeks before her class started.  Plus, I loved picking out her leotard, tights, and tiny tap and ballet shoes.

 Look how cute she is with her tights, bun and Minnie Mouse backpack!

 She walked right into class, followed her teacher's instructions, and beamed the entire time!

 She's been going once a week for a few months now and she still loves it!  She tries her best the entire time, and while waiting for the teacher to help the other girls, she often dances by herself, smiling the whole time.

Here she is showing off her "pizza feet" also known as first position.  She's super proud of herself and loves showing everyone what she has learned. I can't wait to see this tiny dancer as she learns and grows!

birthday morning on the farm

For Everly's birthday, I took her to this cute little farm.  Krew hadn't started school yet for the year, so he got to come along too.

Also, how ironic is this shirt that Everly picked out to wear on her birthday!?

 Our favorite part of the farm was bottle-feeding these adorable baby goats.  The kids were a little bit scared at first, but then they loved it and only wished they could feed them more!

 The other favorite part were these adorable kittens.  Everly picked this one up, named it Lady Kitty Cat, and still talks about it 3 months later!

 Krew loved this furry cow.  It was so cute!

It was such a fun morning.  We can't wait for spring so we can go again!

everly's 3rd birthday!

On September 8th, our sweet Everly woke up a 3 year old!  I still can't believe it has been three years since she joined our family, and yet I can hardly imagine our family without her.  She adds so much sweetness to our lives!

 While looking on Pinterest for birthday cake ideas months before, she saw this Elsa cake and nothing was going to change her mind that this is exactly what she wanted.  Not that I wasn't completely thrilled at the idea of making my little girl a doll dress cake.  Plus, watching Everly peek in the fridge a dozen times that day before we served it, just so she could look at it was precious.

 We didn't have a big birthday party for her, but we invited Bart's parents and some friends and neighbors to watch her open presents and eat cake and ice cream with us.  She loved having people there to celebrate with her.

 After cake and ice cream, we went outside and lit a floating lantern in the sky, just like on her favorite movie, Tangled.  It was the perfect ending celebrating our perfect little girl.

weekend in milwaukee

As a last hurrah before school started, we took a little road trip to Milwaukee.  Since we didn't go on a big summer vacation, it was so nice to be able to get away for a couple of days and see some new things and have fun together.  The first stop was the Milwaukee zoo.  We had actually been there one other time, but it was years ago, and it happened to be like 110 degrees that day, so we didn't stay very long that time.  This time it was awesome!

 Krew is still completely fascinated by birds, so that was his favorite part.  We were super bummed when the bird show that we had been waiting all day for was canceled last minute because one of the birds flew away!  Krew would have loved the show, but he was pretty happy to be able to see this talking parrot up close, as well as a beautiful bald eagle.

 Another highlight of the zoo was watching these cheetahs up close.  We happened to get there at feeding time, so we were able to watch them eat too.

 It seemed to take an exceptionally long time to get our dinner, so I taught the kids what my family used to do at restaurants as we waited for our food.  I'm glad I was able to teach them some proper restaurant manners!

While we were there, we played at Discovery World. There were so many hands-on science exhibits and we all had a blast.

Watching Krew in this VR exhibit was hilarious.  I wish I could have seen what he was seeing, but I think maybe it was more entertaining for me not being able to tell what he was looking at or why he was reacting the way he was.

Everyone (except Everly) braved the bed of nails.

I love when we can get away as a family and see new places and make memories together.  It's one of my favorite parts of this stage of life!