It has began...

Halloween Fun that is!

Ry is a firefighter this year. Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave him this super costume for Christmas last year. It has stayed at their house where Ryan plays firefighting with grandpa on a regular basis. We decided to save a little money and use it as his Halloween costume plus it won't fit him next year so we are getting maximum use out of it.

#1 Night Eyes
Last Friday night, Ryan and I along with some friends went to Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo in DM. We have not been to Night Eyes before so this was something new. It was successful! It had been raining on and off all day so the event was not packed with kids. The night before the event had record numbers of kids. In years past we have just gone to the Living History Farms Halloween Walk. Now that Ryan really "gets" trick or treating and dressing up we are going to both events in DM.

Ryan and Jack (Frankenstein)

#2 Reiman Gardens: Spirits in the Garden

On Sunday, we went to Reiman Gardens with our playgroup. The kids walked around the gardens to gather candy from a bunch of different mascots. Reiman Gardens had a Halloween craft area for the kids, Ryan made me a bookmark. Other neat activities were a hay bale maze and Guess the Creepy Crawly. Each kid put their hand in a bag and had to guess what they were feeling - worms, cricket things, centipedes, etc. They earned a Halloween tattoo if they completed all the bags. Of course, Ryan did it all.

We got school pictures back today so I thought I would throw those in here. I am extremely happy with them. They captured Ry's natural smile which can be tough. Now I wish I would have ordered more than I did.

Ryan's Preschool Class this year

October

Time to get this blog up to date....

Oct 5 - Jack's Birthday Party and the Dino Show

Jack turned 3 years old! We celebrated with him at his family birthday party. They had beautiful weather, lots of family, an awesome cake (CARS) and a stubborn pinata. Hope you had a great birthday, Jack.

Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience
What a really neat show. We attend this show with our good friends Anna and Treyton. As moms, we weren't sure if the boys would be scared of the HUGE lifelike dinosaurs. So we got seats in the upper level of Wells Fargo Arena, thinking maybe if we weren't so close to the stage it wouldn't be as scary. I am pleased to say, the boys did great! The show kept Ryan's attention. What boy wouldn't like dinosaurs walking around acting out how they survived through the evolution of prehistoric times. Anyway, he loved the show and so did I. Well maybe I didn't LOVE it but it was interested. I love that Ryan loved it.

Oct 6 - Grandma's Birthday

We celebrated Donna's birthday after soccer on the 6th. Ryan picked out her cake and pretty much made it all by himself. He HAD to make grandma a pineapple upside down cake. He saw the picture of the cake first so I think he just wanted this cake because it has maraschino cherries on top.

Oct 6th also marked 10 years since my mom passed away. Hard to believe it has been 10 years. Some days it still feels like it was yesterday. She is very much missed. She would have been a wonderful grandma.

Oct 8-10th - Prairie Du Chien, WI

For the last three years, Ryan and I have joined Donna for a fall trip to her aunt's (Elcina) seasonal camping spot along the Mississippi River. It is absolutely beautiful up there in early October. I look forward to this trip every year. I enjoy the warm color palette, the crisp air and the smell of harvest. All the apple orchards are having their festivals. We usually find cheap squash which we like to eat during the winter. Pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes and colors are everywhere you look. This little cheese factory in Mt Sterling has won awards with their goat cheese so I bought some. It tastes yummy! I was pleasantly surprised. On the way home we stopped by the Amish bakery and general store. Bought some homemade cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls and cookies for our visitors that were coming into town that weekend. Ryan still talks about the bakery not having lights or electricity. A weird concept to a 4 year old.

We had to make our trip short this year due to Donna being out in CO the week before, preschool during the first part of the week and Wendy's wedding the weekend after. Hope to spend more time at the river next year. Enjoy a slide show...

CONT.

The slideshow was messing up the formatting for the rest of the entry so I split them up.

Oct 11th - Wendy and Mitch's Wedding

We had family in town from the 10th -12th for the wedding of my only girl cousin on my dad's side of the family, Wendy. It was a beautiful wedding. Seemed to go very smoothly from my prespective. Once again, beautiful weather. I was honored to be her personal attendant though I didn't have to do much. I basically just hung around, helped where I was needed and did her makeup. I am sure they are glad the wedding is over and they can enter in to the next of their life. Congrats, Wendy and Mitch! Best Wishes in the many many years to come.

Wendy and Mitch with my aunt and uncle (her parents)

Ryan dancing with Wendy during the dollar dance. As you can probably tell by Ryan's red face, he had fun at the reception.

I feel better now. I am caught up just in time for harvest and Halloween festivities. So be watching for those entry into our blog.

4 year old check-up

I forgot to post Ryan's stats from this years well-child check-up...

Sept 18, 2008

Height - 42.75 inches (grew 3 inches this year) 90 percentile

Weight - 39lbs (lost 3 lbs from last year) 90 percentile

B/P - 108/62

Ryan received a hearing test, an eye test, 4 shots, a finger prick for the lead test and a nasal mist for the flu vaccine. He did absolutely GREAT, not a single tear. So brave!

We had not been in the peds office since his 3 year old check-up. Healthy boy! Ryan thinks it is because he takes a vitamin everyday. Who knows maybe it is. As you can tell by our blog, I sure don't keep him home away from public germs. I guess he has built a strong immune system. I hope this year is just a good.

I just happen to have my little camera in my purse so I took advantage of the photo opp.

Lots to tell you all about...

First of all, my laptop is officially trash :( Good news - it was the motherboard and not my hard drive so I should be able to retrieve all my photos. I did have most of them backed up on an external hard drive. Now we are shopping for a new laptop.

The easiest way to do this is to go day by day....

Sept 12 - Blank Park Zoo with our friends

Ryan and two of his best buddies - Aiden and Mason

Sept 13/14 - 2nd Annual Family Weekend!

This year we stayed at Adventureland Inn in Altoona. We visited The Science Center, went to Adventureland and of course did lots of swimming is the awesome pools at the hotel. It was pretty cold at Adventureland. I don't think it hit 60 degrees. But the boys still wanted to do the water rides. We didn't check out the new waterpark within Adventureland. Maybe next year. Ryan did ride the Tornado though. He didn't really like it. It had to be scary for a 4 year old. I found out that I am not young anymore. I am so over the rollercoaster!

We had a GREAT weekend. I am already looking forward to next year.

Here is a slide show of our weekend!

Sept 19 - Picket Fence Creamery Tour and Thomas the Train

Our playgroup toured a dairy farm. It was a nice little tour. I even learned a few things. We went to Picket Fence Creamery in Woodward, IA. Ben prefers me to buy Picket Fence milk so I enjoyed touring where our milk is produced. They produce all natural dairy items. Just tastes so much better. Worth the extra money we have to pay for it.

I really like this photo

The kids waiting for their ice cream cone

After the creamery we went straight to Thomas the Train in Boone. I worried that Ryan might be a little too old for Thomas this year and I was right. He was much more interested in the real trains that continually passed by across the road. We had fun spending time with Jenn, Jack and Maddy though. It was a perfect weather day so we just enjoyed the day no matter what we were doing.

Sept 22 - Soccer

2008 Soccer Team

We went to supper at a friends house after soccer. This is the first attempt at a photo.

Second attempt

(AJ, Aiden, Ryan, Natalie, Cainan, and Treyton)

Sept 26-28 Homecoming, Class Reunion and Bridal Shower

I can't believe I graduated high school 10 YEARS AGO. It doesn't seem like it could be 10 years already. Ryan and I were in Washington for the festivities. Ben wasn't able to join us because of field work. Friday we rode in the homecoming parade. That night I took Ry to the homecoming football game. On Saturday, we went to the family park playdate as part of the reunion. It was really neat to see all the kids. Some of those kids look exact like their parent. Saturday, I went to dinner and drinks at a Mexican Restaurant then our for drinks at a local bar. I counted 61 classmates that attended some part of the reunion. We had 120 in our class so half is a pretty good turn out. I had my camera with me but I didn't take any pictures. I guess I was to busy socializing. I had a really great evening. I realized that I really miss some of my friends from high school that I have lost contact with. But truly appreciate the friends that have remained some of my best friends as adults.

Riding on the float with some of my classmates and their kids

Friday night football game

Ryan and Myles trying out the remote control boat Ry got for his birthday

To end the weekend, I hosted a bridal shower for my cousin Wendy. She got married this last weekend which I will post about later.

So that updates you through the end of Sept. I will get to October very soon!