September

I'm not entirely sure where the month of September went.  I know it started with a birthday, and now here we are, 20 some days later with October just around the corner.  This little life of ours better slow down or my kids will be all "hey I'm leaving for college now" and I'm still "do you want to wear dinosaur or puppy jammies tonight??"

Anyway, we've done stuff.  Fun stuff.  Fall is coming.  I love the cooler air.  Although I feel like the weather is a bit drunk right now.  Seriously.   It's 85* one day and 60* the next.  One load of laundry will contain both shorts & sweaters.  But it's what happens in the Midwest.  It's a blending of seasons if you will.

Anyway, here's some highlights of the month.

Touch a Truck

Every year the Sioux Falls Parks n' Rec department hosts "Touch a Truck".  Bascially it's a parking lot full of every kind of different truck and vehicle you can imagine.  Kids are allowed to climb, touch, honk the horn and dream that someday they, too, can drive a garbage truck.  (I'm gonna go ahead and assume - and hope - they'll grow out of that dream.  If not, it'll save a ton on college bills!)

Anyway, for my two year old little motor head, this was a dream come true.  Seriously.  He squealed with sheer happiness and his jaw nearly hit the ground when he walked into the parking lot.  Brooks hated it.  It was loud.  And he could care less about trucks.  But Carter literally dragged me from truck to truck, demanding I help him into the cab so he could "drive a cuck".

I couldn't even tell you what truck this was in.  To me, they all looked the same.  But he needed to sit in every.single.one. 

Preschool Started

For Brooks this year, we're doing preschool at home.  I didn't feel like I needed to pay someone hundreds of dollars to teach my child the ABC's.  That, and I really like teaching him.  He's a fun kid to learn with.  And this year, he's a part of a preschool homeschool group called "Backpack Buddies".  Cute, huh?  It actually started mid-way through last year, but we've revamped it some, added some structure and even have field trips scheduled.  There's five of us moms, 5 preschoolers and a whole bunch more "littles" added in.  We really look forward to our Tuesday morning group time!  We have a structured lesson for an hour and then play time for an hour (aka, the moms get to have actual adult interaction time.  yay.)

The first day of "school".  Carter received a new backpack for his birthday and he certainly wasn't going to be left out of the schooly fun.

And because one of the moms is a rockin' photographer, she did school pics for all the kids.

 Handsome little fellas, aren't they??

The Apple Orchard

Our latest preschool field trip was to the apple orchard.  It was a chilly morning, but that made it even more perfect for apple picking.  Our group participated in story time, sampled apples and juice, took a wagon ride  out to the orchard, picked a few apples, and then visited the animals and played in the hay.  Super fun morning!

most of the crew!

Look Who's Two!

It's true.  Our Carter James is two years old.  It's gone fast and very slow at the same time.  But we are so so blessed to have this little guy in our family.  He makes me laugh every day.  He helps me see a new perspective on life and he gives the sweetest kisses that melt this mama's heart.

For his birthday this year, we kept it really low key.  I mean, really.  Monday night we had Grandma and Papa Gale over for Carter's favorite dinner (spaghetti!) and cake and a few presents.

Singing "Happy Birthday".  He blew out the candles like a champ!

Mmmmm, frosting.

Papa & Grandma Gale

Then on Tuesday morning, we woke the birthday boy up by filling his whole crib with balloons!  Poor kid was still half asleep and slightly shocked, but eventually he realized a whole bed full of balloon is pretty awesome!

We ate Carter's favorite breakfast, oatmeal, then we packed up and headed out for a fun adventure.  We traveled to the Children's Museum in Brookings for the day to celebrate our birthday boy!  Chris took the day off of work so he could join us.

This was our first trip there in the summer time, so we were able to play with all the outdoor activities too.  And I'm so glad someone told us to pack extra clothes, because both the boys were soaking wet after playing outside! 

Where the "soaking wet" began

Playing in the river bed.  More wet fun!

The coolest giant lite brite EVER!

My motor head "fixing" the car.  He was totally in his element!

Painting windows

We finished the day with an ice-cream treat and headed home so our two tired boys could nap and rest.  I think Carter really enjoyed celebrating his birthday!  I know we did!!  

We came home to find a package on our front porch from Grandma Marty & Papa Dave.  Carter is definitely at the age where he understands and enjoys opening presents.  Thanks for the super fun presents!!

Both the boys sporting their Nicaragua shirts from Grandma Marty!

And now we begin the adventure of TWO!  Woohoo!