Fall means soccer and we get to experience a little bit of that this year.  We enrolled Mason in a program for 3 to 5 year olds.  They just do little drills and learn the basics.  It's pretty funny to watch.  Getting these kids to pay attention is like trying to herd cats.  But the coach is very patient and very good.  Mason is enjoying it.  It's once a week for an hour and he usually will pay attention for about half of that hour!





Another first for Mason was a field trip with his preschool class.  They went to the nature preserve that the school district has.  They collected bugs and got to meet some animals.  Daddy went along and was able to get some good pics with his phone.




Ellen and Nate came for a quick visit a couple of weekends ago.  We spent a day at the Museum of Transportation, aka Mason's Paradise.





Woody came along on this adventure.  Here he is getting schooled on the various parts of a train.





Kayla's not as thrilled as her brother by the trains!





Nate and his pseudo-daddy.  Nate gets very attached to David when he's visiting without his dad.  I guess he just sees a tall, thin male and he thinks, "what the heck...he'll do."



Cute cousins!!



Uncle Mike taking Nate for a little tour of our backyard.



It's always fun to have Nate here.  Can't wait til December!

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And of course we can't let Fall go by without going apple picking!





First thing you do when you get to the orchard....find the perfect apple!













After apple picking we went to a park for a picnic.  Mason found a little friend to talk to during lunch.  You see him?  He black and woolly and right above his Cheetos bag.  That's right...we shared lunch with a very hungry caterpillar!

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Kayla is a busy girl!  She is pulling up on EVERYTHING these days!  One of her favorite things to do is pull up on the back door and watch Mason and the dogs play in the backyard.



Eating, eating, eating!  She's very good at it!



This picture cracks me up....





And our grand finale to this post....

A day with THOMAS!!









Thomas the Tank Engine visited the area and Mason got to meet him and ride him.  He was one happy boy!!  Very exciting!





And very exhausting!

Thank you for the wonderful day, Grandma G!

This girl is growing like crazy!



She has 4 teeth and is crawling at full speed. 





And she can half way pull up.



Following family tradition, we introduced her to these:





(Click here for Mason's intro to White Castle)

Belly bombers aren't her only favorite.  She, like her brother, is a really good eater and will eat anything I put in front of her.  On this day she was polishing off a plate of pasta and veggies in Alfredo sauce.




 
I think it's safe to say she liked this meal!

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Daddy took some time off of work and we went to the zoo.  Mason was more into the stingrays this time.  He was able to touch a few.  I think it's a new favorite for him.



Enjoying some lunch....



And of course we had to ride the train.

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My ice cream lovin' boy!
 


His face remained this way for the rest of the day.

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When I was pregnant with Kayla and we started putting together a little girl's bedroom, I began a search for the perfect 6-drawer dresser.  I searched furniture stores, craigslist and thrift stores for the perfect piece to go with what we already had.  I was going for the shabby chic look so I wanted something a little vintage.  Finally, when Kayla was a few months old, David happened upon it in the Salvation Army thrift store.  It was old and painted an ugly, speckled yellow but I knew we could change that.  And we did! 

I don't have any "before" pictures other than this one of the drawer.  David started painting while I was at work and I forgot to tell him to take pictures.  But you can still see the yellow.  It had large, ornate drawer pulls that we took off, fillled the holes and replaced with knobs.



David made some repairs, painted it and then I did the flowers on each drawer with a little tinted, glossy varnish.

I love how it turned out!





This is my second furniture project (my first is here and here)
and I'm addicted!  David and I make a good team.  Next up is Mason's furniture.  It is 35 years old and screaming for a makeover!

We'll start with a visit from the cousins.  Amy and Joey came to visit and while they were here Ellen, Andy and Nate came up for a quick weekend to see everyone.  Lots of family, lots of fun! 



We went to Purina Farms and got to see lots of animals....











Amy came over to hang out one day and we made flubber...



It turned into some pretty cool stuff and Mason played with it for a couple of weeks.






And then Mason entertained us with my socks and a little table dance...



We were pretty sad to see Amy leave.  Can't wait til Thanksgiving!



Meanwhile....Kayla is growing like crazy!  She's crawling, feeding herself and now she wants to pull up on things.  It's all happening so fast!





There's a drawer in Mason's room where I've stuck some of the gender neutral stuff that he's grown out of.  One day he discovered that drawer.  On this particular day he brought out the striped jacket, a yellow sock and a toe rattle sock.  He knew it was for Kayla so he tried to take it upon himself to dress her.  Needless to say I had to step in and finish the job.  We got her dressed and he wanted to hold her for a picture.  Doesn't she look nice?!  Look how she's eyeing the toe rattle.  As soon as she was free, she grabbed it!

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One day Grandma G and I took the kids downtown on the MetroLink to buy baseball tickets at the stadium.  It was the week before the All Star game so we got to see all the stuff set up for that.  Pretty cool!









We left the stadium and took the train over to Union Station to eat lunch and feed the fish.

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We took advantage of this crazy cool weather and went over to Illinois to buy some peaches.  Mason was pretty excited to take a "car boat" across the river!



Never mind peaches...there's a swing!!



 The view that this farm has is incredible!


Grandma and Kayla....




The farmer gave a happy boy a ride!



We left the orchard and went to the Fin Inn.  Lousy food but great fun sitting by the aquariums!



Catfish face...

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My company had their company picnic at the zoo this year.  It was a rainy day but we were able to see a few things.

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Here's our mobile baby helping herself to her brother's blocks!

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Another event in the last month...Mason started preschool!

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Like I said, we've had the craziest weather this summer.  Very low humidity and it's rare for the temp to get up to 90!  I have a feeling we're going to pay for it this winter but in the meantime we sure are enjoying it! 

David put up the tent on a Saturday and attempted to campout with Mason.  They only made it to 10:00 pm but the forecast looks good for the rest of the month so we can keep trying!



He's faking sleep.  It's only 2:00 in the afternoon!

Hmmmm....where to begin?  Let's start with Tommy's visit.



Tommy didn't get to come to St. Louis with the rest of his family for Thanksgiving last year since he was far away enjoying his freshman year.  So he made a trip out a couple of weeks ago to see the fam.  He got to meet his newest cousin, Kayla.

Kayla couldn't get enough of him.  During dinner she wouldn't take her eyes off of him.  Elizabeth was trying to feed her but even the lure of food couldn't get her to turn around!  It was pretty funny!



It was also David's birthday so we celebrated his birthday at our family dinner for Tommy.  Of course Mason had to help blow out the candle on Daddy's birthday pizza!



It was a unusually non-humid day so we got to enjoy some time outside.



We had a few no humidity days so Grandma and I took the kiddos to the zoo.  We hadn't been to see the new stingray exhibit yet so that was the first place we headed.   Mason's arms are a little too short to be able to reach in and pet them but he enjoyed seeing them fly by and splash.



And of course what is a zoo trip without riding the train??



Kayla and Grandma didn't ride with us.  They just enjoyed the view.



It was one of our first outings with our new stand-n-ride stroller.  It's rather large and took some getting used to but perfect for my two little ones.  Best Craigslist purchase I've ever made!





And now to the 4th of July!
Grandma and Grandpa's party wasn't as big as past years.  I think the rain scared some families away.  Nevertheless, we had snow cones!  Can you tell a certain little one was pretty eager?



Mason enjoying his snow cone and chatting it up with Krissy and Madison.





This year we didn't have to take Mason inside because of the noise from the fireworks.  He's a big boy now hanging out with the big kids!



And some random shots...

Our babysitter had a brand new Thomas ride-on train that she sold to us for almost nothing!  Mason loves it!!  We set it up in the basement and he's been riding it nonstop!



And here's our growing girl eating a new favorite:  pancakes!  She loves them!!  She is getting so good at feeding herself.  Growing so fast!



Shoveling it in with two hands....



And just like Kayla's crib, Mason loves to climb onto her changing table as well.  We keep the changing table in the family room and Mason thinks it's there for him to climb on!



The computer in the family room shows a slideshow of our picture as the screen saver.  One night Mason was watching the pictures and THIS PICTURE came up.  He immediately wanted to recreate it!  David went down to the basement and retrieved the Nintendo pistol, the comforter and a skate boarding DVD.  And here you have it:



Funny kid!

Summer's here!  And today it's really here!  So since the heat is keeping me a prisoner in my home, I'll use my time to update the family with all that's been happening in our neck of the woods....

We met up with Matt, Krissy and Madison and made a family outing to Grant's Farm.  It was a nice day and Mason enjoyed the "choo choo" and seeing the animals. 

Here are the girls, strapped in and ready for an adventure!






David took Mason is to feed the goats.  Mason got a little intimidated by all the hungry goats so Dad did most of the feeding.
 





Cute Madison watching the animal show.




Brave boy petting a snake!



And no outing is complete without ice cream!



Starting to get a little crabby!



The girls held up as long as they could...






 
Now to the stables to check out the Clydesdales.



We had a good day and we're looking forward to more trips with cousin Madison!

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Mason was invited to a birthday party and a bouncy place.  He was one happy kid!!

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Aunt Anna sent Mason a book about trains that included an engineer's hat, a train whistle and a bandana.  He wore the get up for 3 days!



And the silly boy wearing Daddy's glasses...



And speaking of glasses....



David brought home a pair of safety glasses for Mason to play with.  The other day he said he had to go out and fix the sprinkler (which means he wants to go turn it on).  So I looked out a couple minutes later and he was wearing the glasses and "working" on the sprinkler.  It was pretty cute!

Later the same day I went into Kayla's room and found this:



Mason had tucked in his glow worm!  Funny kid!

Every once in a while I think Mason starts to feel a little left out and he decides he wants to be a baby.  On this particular day he wanted baby food and a bottle.  I gave him oatmeal and some juice.  He climbed into the highchair, ate his meal and then he was fine.



And now for the real baby...



What's everyone laughing at??



Having fun with Doug....





And this girl's favorite treat is graham crackers.  She makes a mess and loves every minute of it!



One night I went in to check on Kayla and found this:



I promise that I didn't pose them!!