Happy Birthday Daniel Bear /Watching the leaves change

Fall means that I slow down a little bit. Well, not really, but I let more photos and videos SLOWLY accumulate before I find the time to sit down and post them!

Chronologically and most important in this post, Dan turned four! Who can believe it?
Grammy and Grumpy were able to share his birthday by Skype. Their voices you hear in the video were while they were watching Dan and Fi on webcam. Too cool!

Some classic birthday pictures.

Then Grammy and Grumpy came to visit for Dan's birthday party - well, I actually recruited them to come. They got to share in his new favorite birthday present: the Lightsaber!


Eric got to play lightsaber too. I think he is being easy on Dan and pretending to be Yoda here...



Eric brought his new guitar with him and Grammy helped him pick some tunes.

Someone got the bright idea to invite 12 children to Daniel's birthday party. TWELVE children approximately 2-5 years of age. Jiminy Christmas!
We had a camping theme birthday party, but it rained outside, so we set up the tent in the living room.

We had a campfire birthday cake (I really did make this!)

Eric was a "camp counselor" and tried to corral all the kids. It was a tough job. Children were running and screaming, parents were clutching their hair, and then... Grammy went and got Eric's guitar.


And all was well....

It's like she's done this before.

We went to a Junior League fundraiser called Touch-a-Truck. Lots of large trucks to climb and play on. I don't know who was more excited... Eric or Mark?

This is Eric doing his: "OF course I'm small enough to fit in the ball filled bounce house!" But, the moms guarding the bounce house weren't buying it...
We haven't had cable for three months now (something wrong with the line apparently). we don't watch that much tv anyway, but it has let us be a little more creative. The boys made a boat...

we've gone to the park.

we went to the pumpkin farm.

we tried soccer. there's a lot of standing around in soccer. wandering to the next field. laying on the ground. I don't remember my soccer games being that way, but I do remember some of Woobie's games at this age being very similar.

There was stimulating dinner conversation.

Time for creative art

And then there is the dancing. I would like to note, that all of these moves come from their father!




All the dancing wiped Dan out...
The fall is when Fi's fashion sense can shine!

One of Fi's teachers at school likes to do up her hair every day. We never quite know what she'll look like when we pick her up!

Here is the beret Aunt Lynne knitted for newborn Sophia. She loves it now and wears it all over town in her jaunty fashion.

Fall is coming...

Fall is coming and I am going to take a moment to reflect on our blessings and our accomplishments. I called my folks this past week to ask them if time seemed to fly when they were in my shoes (or I am in theirs?) They told me that if they could turn time back they would slow down a little bit. That's exactly what I am going to try to do for the next few weeks at least. At least it will give me time to reflect on God's grace in our lives these past few months and the coming months ahead.

We spent a lot of time this summer at "Dinosaur Island" also known as Belle Isle in Richmond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Isle_(Virginia)) The kids love it and it's a nice refuge from the hustle and bustle of the day. ALL kinds of families, couples, and outdoorsy types are roaming the isle during the day.



This is Dan's version of "You Take the High Road..." but, he insisted on taking the High Road.



We attended Liberty 101, which was sponsored by We Surround Them and the Richmond TeaParty.


Dan makes me laugh! One night when I came in to tuck him in he was wearing his lifevest and a magic hat to bed. The little girl across the street (actually she is 9... an older woman) that Dan has a crush on gave it to him and I find him wearing it around the house on a regular basis.

Here is Fi being a ham.


The kids love that Wallace!

Daniel making an Uncle Ken face.

Sophia dressed for church


Fi insists on making her BIG SMILE every time the camera is pointed at her!



Here is Sophia in her Kitty transformer outfit:


Pop came to visit us this month as well:

Dan and Fi have had the cold that is going around this past month. Sophia has certainly been very motherly towards Daniel though when he doesn't feel good. Her teachers at school says she does take care of everyone else in the room. Here she is feeding him his dinner.

Here she is taking his temperature.

And finally, a rousing rendition of The Boys helping to sing one of Sophia's favorite songs:

Vacation 2009!

Maybe I should call this post, Vacation: Our First. Really, this was our first family vacation. I got awfully ambitious and planned a vacation to last for seven days. We were gone for 4. Poor Fi didn't like sleeping away from home very much, so before we were all miserable (or in Em's words: We were all Oscar the Grouch in the same garbage can), we decided to count our blessings and pack it in a little early.
Here are the highlights of our family trip.

First stop was Indian Echo Cavern in Pennsylvania. Dan wanted to look for the MudMonster while we were in the cave. (Scooby Doo fans will remember the mudmonster reference).



The next day we were up bright and early to have breakfast with Cookie Monster. Mark will tell you we were there too early. Like, second car in the parking lot early. But, with my vast experience with amusement parks, I can tell you that you can NEVER be too early to get a good spot at breakfast with the characters. It did feel a little like the Griswolds arriving at Wally World and parking as far away as they could when we got to the empty parking lot, but we persevered!

The boys loved the characters.

Sophia... not such a fan. At least not up close. Far away she did much better.

She really loved the teacups.

And the boys liked the nets and tunnels.

Here are Dan and Daddy.

And Woobie.

And Dan === look at how high up this is. I was terrified!
Here are two familiar Sesame Street scenes... Bert and Ernie's apartment building and Mr. Hooper's store.Across from our hotel was a fancy car lot... Eric enjoyed dreaming about his first car. Did I mention Eric's birthday was this past week. He turned 12. He has started saving money for the car already!
Hershey and Chocolate World were our next stops!
Here are the boys with their factory worker hats on.

Our final stop was Gettysburg. Here are the boys looking out over the battlefield.No Fi in the Gettysburg pics b/c she was sleeping most of the time.
However, here is a good picture of her with her big brother eric having a good time!