Odds and Ends

Kyle went with Lucian to vote last week. His 'I Voted' sticker was a hot commodity at daycare when he arrived.

Both kids visited the dentist last week. Claire was a star patient. Kyle not so much.

And Kyle got a short haircut! I took him to my stylist. It's quite a bit shorter than we were thinking, but it will grow back. He looks much older now, and handsome, none the less.

Spencer came home for the weekend! The kids loved hanging with him, as did Lucian and I. 

We finally visited the Harley Davidson museum, which was fun. Luckily there were a few bikes you could touch and sit on at the end. It was tough keeping both of the littles off the display bikes.

And perhaps the best photo of all. Lucian's Movember mustache really steals the show here. Is it December yet?

Reading

Claire loves to "read" books. She plays school constantly with her dolls and animals, and reading is often a part of that roll play. While helping Lucian with some photography, she asked if she could take books outside. I love watching her read to the class. 

Go Bucks!

Lucian has done a great deal of photography work for the Milwaukee Bucks, our NBA team. They treated him with free seats to the home opener this past Friday. We took the kids and hoped for the best.

His photos were all over the arena and on the cover of the programs. So cool to see.

Kyle did alright. He at least stayed in our seating area the whole time, although the couple in front of us got bopped on the head and kicked in the back a few times.

Claire got really into the game. She is convinced that waving her white balloon during the opposing team's free throws distracted them and made the Bucks' win. I think we have a basketball fan on our hands.

She even bravely let Bango the Buck pick her up for a photo.

We fit in a trip to the children's museum Sat. It's a great place where the kids can run off some steam and touch everything. I even find it relaxing, unless I can't find one of them.

And Sunday included some serious leaf collection once again. I think we are nearing the end, however.

Trick or Treat

Queen Elsa and Pirate Kyle joined us for Halloween.

Our new neighborhood is not largely populated with children. We heard not to count on much by way or trick or treat, but we gave it a go anyway. The weather was beautiful and most people were out raking leaves. The neighbors seemed excited to see kids about and offered us a plethora of their candy, not expecting any more visitors. Claire did well speaking to neighbors and answering their questions.

Kyle's attention span was very brief. He laid down in the driveway surrendering to a nap after a few houses. Our excursion was short, so their candy loot was small. Which is just fine with me.

We finally carved some pumpkins the day before halloween. Claire enjoyed it and made a big deal out of touching the guts:)

Party Party

We attended Claire's K4 parent-teacher conference last week. She is doing well and has really come out of her shell since the first day. Claire is generally shy in new situations, so we were not surprised. She is cutting properly and writing and loves to look at books.

Here is a cat she made at school.

We had many social plans this past weekend. Claire attended a swimming birthday party for a friend and Lucian and I went to a neighbor's for a party in the evening. We are really loving the new neighborhood.

We met my college friend and her family at the zoo on Sunday. It was a perfect day to be outside.

Claire loved seeing the cheetahs. She bought a cheetah stuffed animal with some money Lucian gave her.

And after that, Claire attended a beauty salon birthday party for another friend. They did hair and nails and had lots of dress up clothes. Everyone slept well on Sunday night.

Our Little Pumpkins

The weather is changing and the leaves are falling. So many leaves. We are in a fairly wooded area at the new place, so leaf collection will definitely take a bit more time. It's beautiful right now however.

Here's Lucian and Kyle juggling in the morning. Or as Claire calls it "jungle".

 We went to pick out pumpkins this weekend. The kids had a great time running in the field. We left with more than a few, including two white pumpkins, per Claire's request.

Water Park

We did a water park overnight In Wisconsin Dells recently. We didn't tell the kids, but Claire was very confused as to why I was putting swim suits and clothes in a bag a day or two prior. She guessed it in a few tries and was very excited to go, as well as Kyle.

I expected them both to nap in the car, but neither kid met this expectation. They both loved the animal sculptures and artwork. There was even a real baby tiger in the lobby you could pay to take photos with. We did not.

There was plenty to keep them occupied in the park. I think kids would swim until they passed out if you let them.

We ordered pizza in the room, but Kyle fell asleep before it arrived.

Claire is very into cheetahs lately, so I took her photo next to this print in the hall. Pretty sure it's a leopard, but close enough. This was on our after dinner walk to get ice cream in the hotel

And on the way home we stopped for lunch and caught some of the Packer game while eating. Again, no naps in the car like I had hoped. Where have those days gone?