Trip to Maui

We had an amazing trip to Maui last week. It was such a beautiful island and the resort that we found was just perfect. We found a 2 bedroom condo with a full kitchen - so the kids could be separated and sleep better, and we were able to make 2 meals a day at home to save money. Plus the resort had 5 pools and was right on the beach. We both decided by about the 2nd day that we're going to find a way to get back there as often as we can - it was the perfect vacation, and actually pretty affordable since we're on the west coast. The kids may not have appreciated it so much yet, but they both had fun in the pools, Avery met a friend she played with every day, we got a nanny one afternoon so Jon and I could go snorkeling, we went on some beautiful hikes with the kids, and we ate some awesome food - including Avery's new favorite food group...shave ice!

Here are all of our photos. If you click on the slideshow below it should take you to the full screen versio...




http://picasaweb.google.com/robertahorne1/Maui?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOi_aGwqsH-8AE&feat=directlink

Collin 10 months old

Collin is over 10 months old already! He is getting really steady on his feet. Avery helps him walk around holding one of her hands and one of mine. He is standing on his own for a few seconds at a time, but really hasn't taken steps yet. He's close though! He is also starting to adjust to his new class at school a little better. We've had 3 drop offs in the past couple weeks without tears!!

Pumpkin Patch fun...

We are pumpkin patched out!!

First, Avery had her first field trip with her class! They went to our favorite pumpkin patch. Jon was able to meet them there. I think Avery's favorite part was riding on the school bus though! Here she is with her best friend Natalie.
Next we had a playgroup pumpkin patch day. Here I am with the kiddos on a hayride...

Here's Avery with her friend Nola...

And here's Avery with her friends Jillian and Delaney. It always cracks me up seeing Avery leading her friends around. She looks like the big kid helping out her younger friends...too bad she is a few months younger than both of these girls!

Next we had a Fall Festival day at our rec center. The highlight was decorating, then eating a cookie!

Our last pumpkin patch trip - we headed over to the Roloff farm (the one from the TV show Little People Big World). It was an interesting visit. Very touristy. The poor owners/tv stars took pictures with a few hundred strangers in the hour we were there. We didn't ask for a photo with them, but I did take a shot of Matt Roloff with some other strangers...

Avery loved riding the ponies. As sad as I am for the animals at places like this, it lights up my heart to see Avery smile like this. She rode the ponies twice! And would have stayed there all day if we let her...

Avery also got brave and fed the animals. She liked the alpaca the best, but they weren't hungry so the goats got all of Avery's food...

We also found out that Collin finally likes the backpack.

And we got a couple of cute family photos, so the family trip to one more pumpkin patch was worth it....

New things....

We have been busy these past few weeks! Avery and Collin are busy learning all sorts of new things.

Avery learned how to spell her last name! And she is so excited to write both names now. Since she started in her new preschool class in September, she has been keeping a daily 'journal' and it has inspired her to do more drawing. She spends so much time coloring amazing and creative pictures lately, and we've been encouraging her to 'sign' her name on all of her pieces of artwork so we know who the artist was. Now she signs her whole name because she's so proud that she knows her last name too!

Collin can stand on his own! It is only for a few seconds at a time, but he's really strong and gaining more balance every day. I think he will be an early walker like Avery was. I know he wishes he could keep up with her, so that is his motivation.

Speaking of 1sts - I had my first weekend away from both kiddos on my own. I met my mom for a much needed girls weekend in vegas. We had so much fun and it was a perfect time to get a way and relax for a few days. I hope we can do this again soon!

Finally - we did one last new thing...Bowling! Avery was REALLY excited the whole way there. And for about 2 frames of the actual bowling. After that, all she wanted to do was go play the arcade games like ski-ball that they had right behind our lane. But I convinced her to make it through the whole game because I was having my best bowling game ever! Avery was good luck for me! Then we played skiball and she won a tootsie roll with her tickets. Good times!

Apple picking!

We had a beautiful Fall day last Saturday and headed up to the mountain to pick some apples. Such a pretty place!

Collin is such an easy baby - he's happy no matter where we go! He loved reaching for the apples - I even made him some homemade baby-food-apples when we got home....

There were beautiful views of Mt Hood from both of the orchards we visited....

We all went on a hayride around the orchard....

Avery loved the hayride!!!

Along the way we stopped to meet the Texas longhorn they had at the farm. His name was Carlos...

We got to feed him!

Collin - 9 months

Collin is 9 months old and has been really busy learning new things. He's gotten really good at standing up and cruising around furniture. He also learned how to clap. But the cutest thing is this new face he makes which he knows cracks us up. He squints up his eyes and makes this silly grin just to get a laugh out of us. He has the best sense of humor. We also had his 9 month check up this week - no surprises there...he's still way off the charts. 32 inches and over 26 lbs!

Collin - 8 months old

Ok, Collin is actually closer to 9 months old by now, but I'm just finally finding time to post his 8 month pictures! It's crazy how busy a little 8 (almost 9) month old can keep you!! Collin is an expert crawler by now, and has actually moved on to standing. He really only crawls over to things that he can pull himself up to stand next to. Then for a couple weeks he was in the phase where he couldn't figure out how to get himself back down (he just mastered that a couple days ago too). He's eating lots of table foods now and is babbling a lot. For a long time he has been making the 'd' sounds (da da da), but I did hear him start using the 'm's this week (ma ma ma)! But I still think that his first words will be "Avery get off me!" She loves him so much, but 3 year old hugs are not very gentle!! Luckily he is such a tough little guy. 26+ lbs of tough already!!