Fall activities and Halloween fun

As I write this entry there are snow banks flanking the street in front of our house - leftovers from the unexpected snow storm that blew through on Saturday night.  Trick-or-treating was cancelled because as of Monday evening there were still too many people without power in our area.  We did, however, manage to get some seasonal fun in before the flakes flew.


We took the trio to a local farm to see the animals and play in the hay.  Bobby's sister Elly and her son Connor joined us.

We carved pumpkins.  The trio insisted on calling them balls and only stopped calling them balls to start calling them apples.  They enjoyed the pumpkin "carving" more then I thought they would and didn't seem to mind the guts and goo.  Eli developed a taste for the raw pumpkin (and seeds) and had some seriously intense stools the next day!  HA!

Elly and I decided to dress the kids up as the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf.  Rather then have the trio be the pigs and Connor be the wolf we thought it would be funnier if Annie was the wolf.  The boys looked awesome (and hilarious) and we promised their daddies that we would never dress them in that much pink ever again!

On Saturday we planned to dress the kids up and go to the pumpkin patch for some playtime and fresh cider donuts.  Our plans were altered a bit due to the weather but we were still able to make it out.  After the pumpkin patch we headed to Bobby's Uncle PJ and Aunt Marilyn's house to "show off" the kiddos in their costumes.  Most of the Doyle clan was there and we even came home with some candy!

Time for photos

I've got 4-5 entries in the works so stay tuned in the upcoming days.  In the mean time, here are a few recent photos.

Eli's expression says it all - 3 seconds after I took this photo

he stole the bus from Mikie

Eli and Annie working on a puzzle together - notice that Eli

has Annie's paci and blanket

Eli's first taste of coffee came in the form of eating 

used coffee grounds (he climbed over the gate into the kitchen

and pulled a used Keurig pod off the counter)

Mikie's classic "I'm not going to smile" face.

He never wins.

Annie plays a song

Our little monkey

We've long joked that Eli's strength and flexibility to weight ratio was not in our favor.  He is super strong, super agile, super slim, super confident and super curious.  This week he learned how to climb out of his Pack & Play.  We found him half way down the stairs when he should have been napping.  The next day he climbed out and locked the bedroom door - it was 40 minutes before Poppy was able to gain access!  Then, last night he discovered the gas pipe in the garage.  Before we knew it he had climbed up onto a folding chair next to it and was making attempts to climb the pipe itself.  Uncle Andrew provided him some stability and protection but Eli did all the work.  He went hand-over-hand and walked his feet up the wall until he made it to the ceiling.  Holy cow!  Where do we go from here???

Another Goshen visit

The kids and I are in Goshen for a visit with Nana and Poppy again.  We've had a busy trip full of old friends, new discoveries and lots of lovin'.

Great Grandpa and Great Grammy Landis are also in town (visiting from PA) and we were able to help Great Grandpa celebrate his 83rd birthday.  It was an excuse to buy some balloons which the kiddos have had a fun time with.

'Grandma' Vera came by for some reading time.

We frequented the park down the street.

Uncle Ryan came to visit from Indianapolis.

The boys got their first professional haircuts.

We still have a week left in our trip so stay tuned for more of our adventures in Goshen.

20 Months

The trio are 20 months old today.  Time keeps on ticking!  Here's a few recent photos...