Meeting Uncle Josh

Carl's brother, Josh, has lived out east for a long time. The last time we saw him was at Matt's wedding over five years ago. Which means our kids have one mysterious uncle that they'd never met. They knew that they had another uncle, but we had no idea when they would ever get to meet him.

But over Labor Day weekend he came back for a few days! So Carl's family was able to all be together for the first time in a very long time.

Reading with Uncle Matt.

The whole family!

Cousins!

Carl and his parents took the boys down to see some old trains.

Of course they loved that!

Playing with Uncle Josh.

More reading time.

It's fun having a cousin the same age!

We had a great couple of days visiting with family and it was great to see Josh again after such a long time. And our kids all loved meeting their uncle!

Last Week

Just a few pictures from last week. :-)

I finally got a picture of Aria's crawling. :-) First she gets up like this...

...And then she flings herself forward.

We found a better way to feed Aria - She's eating a banana and loving it. And today she ate avocado on a spoon and it was the first food she didn't make any faces for!

On Friday we pulled out the pool, washed the cars with squirt guns and mowed the lawn for awhile.

Aria sat in the water table...

...And loved it! She sat in there and played until we thought she seemed cold and took her out. I'm not sure she ever would have gotten sick of it.

And they ended the night with very cold popsicles. :-)

Fair Day!

About exactly a year ago Tyler started asking when we could go to the State Fair again. And he has been asking monthly ever since. :-) So he was very excited when we told him it was finally here. He told Carsten all about it and by the time we went they were both beyond excited. The first thing Tyler asked when he woke up on Wednesday is, "When is it State Fair day?" 

We spent the morning there with some great friends and then they left and we stayed until after five. Eight fun filled hours of the fair!

Three little farm hands!

They always love these boats.

Carsten and Nora road the train while Carl took Tyler on a roller coaster!

There are a few foods we do not leave the fair without. And corn is one of them.

So good.

I think Aria was probably glad she had her own stroller. 

We ate our cheese curds, ice cream, bacon on a stick, and of of course our bucket of cookies. It was a really healthy day for all of us. :-) We saw lots and lots of animals and we all enjoyed every minute of it. And they already can't wait for next year. :-)

The Love

One of my constant prayers is that my kids will always be great friends. I won't lie - they don't always get along. But most of the time Tyler and Carsten are absolutely best friends. And they adore Aria. Tyler is her great protector. He watches out for her like it's his job. And Carsten loves to make her laugh. She adores them both back. :-)

A few weeks ago we gave Tyler and Carsten dinner and then made a fancier dinner for ourselves after the kids were all in bed. The next weekend Tyler asked me if he and Carsten could have a date with mac and cheese. I thought he meant sitting at their little table for dinner like the last time. And since we were still doing our Whole30 we thought they would like the treat. So we set them up at their table with some mac and cheese and we ate in the kitchen. 

Later we found out that Tyler thought having a date meant that they would get to stay up to eat dinner by themselves and the rest of us would go to bed. :-)

I love it when Tyler reads to Carsten!

So much love.

Reading again!

Aria being adored.

Hanging out with another one of her fans.

Sometimes the love goes too far. Carsten called me into his room during nap and when I came back out two minutes later Tyler had unattached her from her table. In typical Aria fashion she just went with it. There's not a lot that phases this girl.

Matching! (FYI: We are not the ones who bought these shirts if you are wondering.)

Ha. Awkward family photo? :-)

I got some extra time with this boy Sunday. We like to take them out one on one when we can, but it's been a little while since it has happened. Carsten and I had a great little date at Noodles. And then we went big kid, choo-choo train underwear shopping. :-) 

I asked where he wanted to eat and he said, "Outside." So we ate on the patio. While we were eating he saw these stairs and said, "Mommy, please can I jump on those steps please?

There was no resisting that sweet little voice. We climbed stairs, we ran races together, and had SO much fun!

Summer Fun for Everyone!

It is September! What?! I am determined to spend every free second we have left of warm weather out in the sunshine. :-) The great thing about seasons though, is that I love them all. So I am always sad to say good bye to summer but I also love fall!

But here are some random pictures of a few of our summer adventures.

Choo Choo Bob at the Park!

Having a blast at a new pool we found.

We found this place the last week it was open. Next year we will be back a lot more! They even have a toddler time before it officially opens each day. It's the best.

We had a pretty rainy day a couple weeks ago. They boys spent it painting...

And running outside in it!

Another park and splash pad we love.

I love summer. I love it even more when I can spend it outside with my kids. It is so fun to watch them running and exploring and having so much fun together. :-)