The Magic House-- St. Louis Children's Museum

Making music on the chime wheel

In the Curious George exhibit. Ava loved sitting next to Curious George and kept wanting to climb up next to him. Hayden was having fun building a tower out of blocks with the other kids.
This contraption had air blowing through it and the kids would put a fuzzy ball into the tube and watch it fly out at the end.

On stage in the mock Congress room

Mr. President of the United States-- Hayden L. Neally

Ava doing a press conference

And the Honorable Judge Neally

Up in the construction room in the upstairs of the house

This was a cute section for kids under 24 months. A cute ramp and slide just her size.

Driving the bus for The Wheel on the Bus song.

Hayden loved the water table in the Waterworks factory.

In the market the kids could go shopping, scan their items, pay, and then put everything back

In the auto shop Hayden had a blast trying to fix the car

This cool thing built up electricity and made your hair stand on end. It was hilarious!

Our New Family Member

Last week Dawn was in town and she brought her new addition-- Shorty. Shorty is a tiny little 5 month old chihuahua. She was so cute and I fell in love with her. While Dawn was here she traded in her F-450 for a new one, but since she had her camper on the back she needed to ship her tailgate to the dealership somehow. Saturday afternoon we get a call asking us if we could pick it up at the airport and deliver it to the dealership in Branson since it was going to cost an arm and a leg to get it all the way to Branson. We decided to make a day of it and we went to the Magic House Children's Museum and then to the mall before we had to get to the airport at 5:30 for its arrival. So the kids and I waited in the car and watched a movie while we waited for Josh to come back. All of a sudden I look out the window and here comes Josh with a pet carrier and holding a tiny little chihuahua. I was completely surprised and fell for the whole story. She's a 9 week old chihuahua and she weighs 2.5 lbs. We have named her Lilly. She came from Happy Farm Kennel in Texas. She's like having a tiny baby in the house again. I kept her in the kennel last night and she cried when she wanted to go outside. The only accident she had was when I went to petco to get some supplies for her and it was in her kennel. I don't think Josh heard her crying in the other room.

We all went to dinner down at the landing on Friday night to the Cantina Laredo. It's a nice authentic Mexican restaurant very similar to Rosa Mexicano.

Hayden giving Shorty a ride in the stroller-push toy

Charlotte didn't know what to think of Shorty at first.

Dawn was in town this week doing some work and visiting. She brought her new dog Shorty with her on this trip and both kids loved her. Hayden kept wanting to pick her up and he kept saying Puppies, Puppies. He was surprisingly gentle with her.

Everything is better with music!

Dress Up

On Saturday Josh remembered that all Summerwinds employees were invited to see Peter Pan. We got the kids all dressed up and headed out early to get dinner first. Unfortunately the show was at 8 pm, which is an hour past their bedtime but we thought we'd give it a try and if it didn't work out we could just leave. Well Hayden fell asleep in the car in the 10 minutes from the restaurant to the theater and he hardly woke up. He even slept through the family photo of us with Pirate Santa because you know it's Christmas in Branson already. We got all situated in our seats while Hayden sat quietly on Josh's lap. He actually woke up for a few minutes, but Ava was having nothing to do with sitting. She wanted to go go go. I think she just loved having everyone watching her and telling her how beautiful she was. Haha. Josh decided to take her out to the lobby while Hayden stayed awake just long enough to see Peter Pan fly . The first part of the show was only 30 minutes before they switched sets to NeverNever Land and Hayden was completely out. Josh came down to our seats and we decided to go. It would have been silly for me to sit there watching the show by myself with Hayden asleep and Josh trying to keep Ava entertained. We got them all snug in their beds by 9 pm. The bad thing is that Hayden went from the car to the theater back to the car and in his bed and I think he woke up in the middle of the night not knowing where he was. He was up for a few hours. I think we both tried what we could before Josh decided to take him to the living room and share a snack while watching some tv. He fell asleep again soon after. So I got up with Ava at 6:30 and Josh got to sleep in and Hayden slept in until 10:30!! I think that was the latest he had ever slept.

In other news: We are officially gate-less. Last night we just decided we were tired of having to toddler proof all the baby proofing. He could easily climb over the gate by the back door and he figured out how to open the other gate that requires 80 lbs. of weight to open (he just stood and bounced). So the kids thought it was Christmas with this whole new area to explore. We did put a door knob cover on the pantry and the laundry room. He can get the door knob covers apart if he really wants to and he did so we had to tape those up too. We have to keep the laundry closed because Hayden will go out to the garage and start the washer and dryer and Ava is attracted to Charlotte's water bowl. It's nice not to have to go through gates anymore.

Halloween Party

Hayden kept picking out more things to have painted on his arm. It was super cute. He ended up with a bat, a heart, a rainbow, and a spider

Robin put Ava in the bounce house and it scared Ava

Marj-- our parent educator. Hayden and Ava love her.

This afternoon we went to the Parent's as Teachers Halloween party. There was so much to do. There was fishing for candy, duck pond grab for treats, face painting, ring toss on the pumpkins, bowling, a station for coloring treat bags, a bounce house, bean bag toss, plus a slide, and candy grab. Hayden had a blast going to all the stations. He loved the painting and the teacher put it on his arm instead. He brought home a bunch of treats plus a little to share with Ava.
This is probably the last time Ava will get to wear this outfit since it was really short. It was definitely one of my favorites.

Wow! Look at those molars!

"Cheeeese"

Now that Hayden is back in his room for naps we usually find him in the weirdest spots. On top of the dresser, in his closet, under his crib, inside his diaper pail (thankfully empty) with his legs sticking out, or in his laundry basket.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Displaying our pumpkins

Hayden did not want to go down this slide. As soon as he got two feet down he stuck out his arms and legs it was pretty funny.

Venturing through the corn maze. We also went through a smaller hay bale maze and Hayden found his own way out.

Hayden wasn't big enough for these trikes so Daddy had to help out

Sitting atop the hay bales

I think Ava likes this pumpkin

Getting ready for the hay ride

Ava Walking!

Ava took her first steps about a week before her first birthday and after that she just decided that it was easier to crawl. She'd take a couple steps and drop down and crawl the rest of the way. Well this week I guess she decided that walking is much easier and she's been using that mode of getting around a lot more often so I finally got a video of her taking more than a few steps. I had to wait until Josh got home because I needed to stand her up and then back up before she could put her arms around my legs. Here she is walking from the living room to the play room. Right now we only have a couple lamps in the playroom so it's pretty dark in there.

Recent Pictures

Hayden and Ava have been playing together more and more. They are in the playhouse together a lot. It's super cute.

Mowing the yard before Daddy gets home

Playing with his bubble/water gun

Look at this acorn Mom!

We've had beautiful weather the last couple weeks and we've definitely been getting out to enjoy it.