Rise Krispies, Cake Pops, Puffs, Corn Huskers, Breakfast Food, Chili Peppers and a Hotdog Truck

It certainly was a food themed weekend...

This weekend, Phil went out to Nebraska with his college friends for their annual football trip. He left Thursday afternoon and met up with everyone in Chicago. Then they drove out to Lincoln. They had a great time... if only the outcome of the game had been different. On Sunday, they drove to Omaha and were planning to watch a bunch of NFL games. They heard that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were in town and went to the box office to see if they could get tickets. It turned out that they had just opened up sales for the first row floor seats. So they had amazing seats and saw a great show. He should be home mid afternoon today.

On Friday, Will and I decided to order pizza. Alex had a really bad cold so we didn't feel like venturing out. We at picnic style in the family room and watched "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." Will has been asking me to make cake pops with him for a long time now (ever since he saw them in the Starbucks pastry case) so I decided this was the weekend to do it. We baked the cake on Friday night and let it cool. On Saturday morning, we mixed the cake crumbs and frosting and formed the bake balls. Will helped pour all the ingredients and did a good job rolling the cake balls. They were a little lumpy but much better than I expected! We had to let the balls set so we decided to go visit Grandma and Grandpa for a bit. Will hasn't seen Grandpa much since his shoulder surgery and he missed him.

On Sunday morning, we decided to go to the mall early before the stores were open. We got there around 9 and Will and Alex played on the breakfast food for quite a while. Alex loved it! He started out on the eggs but quickly moved to the cereal when he saw Will climb it. Then we went to Barnes and Noble to ride the escalators and finished up the trip at the rides. We stopped at Babies R Us on the way home to get rubber teething guards for the crib rails (Alex woke up from his nap one day covered in paint chips he had chewed off)and then played at home for the rest of the day.

Gimme those puffs, Grandpa!

Watching Thomas with Grandpa

They love each other

It didn't take him long to climb into the cereal bowl

Hard at work

Seats for the football game

Seats for the Red Hot Chili Peppers... significantly better!

Nature Center

On Wednesday a warm front came through. It was beautiful! We walked up to town in the morning (Will rode his bike) and played at the fountain. Then we did some running on the football field. Even Alex got in on the action and finger walked all the way across the field (the short way - not 100 yards).

After our walk, we packed a picnic and went to Blandford Nature Center. We spent some time in the visitor's center looking at the turtles, rabbits, and owls. Then we went for a nice hike through the woods. We did the 1/2 mile trail which had a few decent hills and some bridges over the river. Will thought it was pretty cool. He was in charge of looking for the signs and making sure we went the right way. Alex enjoyed being carried and loved watching all the leaves falling. After our hike, we found a picnic table for lunch and then did a couple short trails/paths before heading home.

After their naps, we went outside to play and rake some leaves. Will and I went out first since Alex slept for quite a while. At one point, Will turned to me and said, "It's sad out here without Alex. When is he going to wake up?" So sweet.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the nature center. I also included a couple videos. Alex has learned how to wave. He also discovered the curtains in our living room.

Explorer Will - ready for our hike

Not the most flattering photo, but you can see his upper two teeth!

Boo at the Zoo

On Friday, Phil picked Will up early from school and we met at Koetsiers to play in their fall play area. Will had already gone twice this fall, but he kept asking to go again. He loves the bounce houses and the haunted house maze. Alex was able to play in the toddler bounce house/ball pit.

  The kids had swim lessons on Saturday morning. After Alex's morning nap, we went to Boo at the Zoo. Both boys wore their costumes and Will had fun trick or treating. They had Halloween decorations up, giant inflatables, and entertainment. The boys loved the chimps - they had been moved inside due to the cool weather and were busy climbing the ropes and swinging. Will watched them for a good 10 minutes.

On Saturday afternoon, we were invited to our neighbor's house to watch the Michigan game. Will had fun playing with Sam and Aaron. We were all pleased with the outcome!

On Sunday, we went for a walk into town and did a lot of outdoor work on the house. Then we took Will to a friend's superhero birthday party.

Even Alex had fun at Koetsiers

Will and the Tooth Fairy

Will insisted on pulling his hat down low over his eyes

Both boys were fascinated by the chimps at play

Jumping in the Leaves

Will and Alex have become good friends... that is, until Will decides to step on, tackle, kick, or push him. They had a lot of fun yesterday. It started with giggles at breakfast, then they chased each other around the house, and finally they played in a big pile of leaves.   

Where's Alex?

Girls' Weekend

This weekend I went down to Florida for a girls' weekend with some friends from elementary school.  We met down in Siesta Key for a nice relaxing weekend.  We spent time on the beach/pool, went out for nice meals, and did some shopping.  It was fun to spend time with everyone and actually have a conversation that lasted more than 30 seconds!

While I was gone, Grann came up to spend time with Phil and the boys.  It was a rainy weekend in GR but they went to swim lessons and ran around the big mall.  Will had a great time and was excited to tell me all about it when I got home.

Tailgate

We had an action packed weekend. On Friday night, we actually stayed in for dinner. It was a cool fall evening so Will helped Phil start a fire in the fireplace.

On Saturday morning, we took the kids to swim lessons and both did really well. In the afternoon, we had a U of M alumni club tailgate/game watch party. Kristen left a little before noon to pick up some last minute items (cupcakes, cider and donuts!) and then went to the lodge to start set-up. Phil came with the boys a little later. We had a grill set up and the club provided food for everyone in attendance. We also had activities for the kids: pumpkin decorating, cookie decorating, yard games, etc. We had a great turnout and both our kids did really well.

On Sunday, we stayed in to play in the morning (it was cold and rainy). In the afternoon, Phil took Will to the mall to run around a bit. After naps, we went up to Reeds Lake for family pictures. We saw some sneak peeks and they turned out really well... despite the fact that Alex was getting a little sick. He had a fever last night but seems to be back to his usual self today.

Fall Field Trip

Grandma and Grandpa took Will and Alex on a Fall Field Trip to the pumpkin patch. Grandpa pulled the boys around in the wagon and they went on a hunt for the perfect pumpkin. They had a lot of fun! 

If you build it... they will come.

Waiting for the Great Pumpkin

9 Months Old!

Alex is 9 months old today. Where did the time go? Here are his milestones from this month: - He can cruise along furniture
- He started eating Cheerios
- He and Will are definitely buddies. They crawl and play together.
- He is finally sleeping 8 hours at night (for the most part)
- He started swim lessons and loves them! - He enjoys playing in the yard and crawling around on the grass

From the blooper reel...

ArtPrize

It was a beautiful fall weekend in Grand Rapids! On Friday, we stayed in so Phil and Will could have a sleepover in the basement. We ordered pizza and watched Cars. They made it through the entire movie... Will asking questions non-stop through the whole thing. They both fell asleep around 9pm and stayed in the basement the whole night. Will loves "camping out" with daddy!

On Saturday morning, we took the boys to swim class. Alex still loved the water. He giggled through the whole class. Will did a great job as well. He really likes his teacher and is getting much more confident in the water. They ventured off the stairs and Will held on to the side and "walked" along the edge quite a ways. He practiced floating and scooping water. We are definitely going to continue these lessons and may even have his teacher do a few private lessons in the spring.

Phil had a past alumni club presidents' retreat out at the lake so the boys and I walked up to town for dinner. They were both very well behaved at Olga's.

On Sunday, we stayed in our PJs and played around the house for a while. When Alex went down for his nap, Phil and Will rode up to the playground. When Alex woke up, we picked them up and we went downtown to walk around ArtPrize some more. We went into the GRAM (it was so nice to have a membership and be able to skip the long line) and saw several of the top 10 entries. We went down by the river and Will rand up and down the hills.

Playing with clay outside the Children's Museum

Look at the TRex Mom made!

Before he smushed his dino

Outside the Gerald R. Ford Museum

One of the Top 25 entries

Will's new chair - so cute!

Playing with Grandpa

Alex found the hat (and shoe) in one of our baskets