playing in the leaves

since we planned on taking a month-long trip to texas in november, we knew that we had to take care of the falling leaves in our backyard pretty soon.  and since october was such a beautiful month here in wisconsin, we took advantage and raked up those leaves.  actually, i didn't really do anything with the leaves this year.  tyler took care of all of them.  we think he's pretty darn amazing.

but before we did any raking, we headed outdoors to play in the leaves a couple of different times. a favorite activity of ours in the fall.

here's a mix of pictures from our different outings in the leaves.

the riverwalk

our family finally ventured out to the riverwalk in october.  since tyler had the whole month off it was the perfect time to go.  it actually ended up being a very warm day in october too.  an added bonus.
we had planned on taking a nice long walk down the riverwalk, but when we got there we found that there was a construction going on that was blocking much of the walkway.  so sadly, our trip was cut a little short.  at least we were still able to find the bronze fonze and take some pictures by the statue.

tan turned two

our little tan man is not so little anymore.  in september he turned the big two (and acts like it too).  we sure love this little guy who brings so much personality to our home.  he's a little fireball who runs around our house like he's in complete control, grinning from ear to ear making us laugh every single day.

i fell for this pinata project a couple months ago and decided it needed to be done for tanner's birthday.  it seemed simple enough, and it was.  but it took forever to cut all that fringe.  was it worth it for tanner's birthday?  yes.  will i ever do it again?  no.  at least not until another year has past and i've forgotten how long it took me to complete.

all i wanted was one quick picture of tanner next to the number two.  i knew it wasn't going to be easy, so yes, i brought bribes.  i'm sure these pictures aren't perfect, but they're of our cute little tanner, so we love them.

these punch balloons have become a birthday tradition for tanner.  he really wanted to play with these instead of sit for a picture.  but really, can i blame him?

sitting for pictures wasn't working, so i decided to go for some funny faces.

and of course the bribes were awfully fun as well.

and a couple more tries.  i think the squatting one is my favorite.  or maybe the one with gummy lifesaver in his teeth?

we seriously love this little boy who is:

energetic and spunky.  he really is a firecracker.

a ham.  he loves to make us laugh.

in love with katelyn.  he does everything she does.  everything.

good at throwing tantrums.  he doesn't cry, but boy can this kid scream.

one smart cookie who knows his stuff.  he surprises me everyday.

independent and cuddly at the same time.

too fearless.  he scares me frequently.

just one happy little boy.  he has brought so much added joy into our home.  love this boy.

last day of the visit

on our final day with the grandparents we took the kiddos to the children's museum.  this museum is so fun and just doesn't get old.  and of course i was more than happy to go with crazy tanner since i had extra hands to help out!

katelyn would have stayed at this checkout counter the whole time if we didn't eventually have her move so other kids could play.

before everyone left we took some group pictures.  of course everyone was extremely cooperative and very excited about our impromtu photo shoot.

two preggos on either side of their mom and dad.  we sure loved having them visit and getting to show them around milwaukee.

while my parents were here we also tried out a fun and unique pizza place, saw some cadavers from tyler's lab he was helping with as a 4th year, celebrated my birthday and took some long naps.  we had a ton of fun and wore ourselves out.

a day at the beach

while my parents were here we also spent a morning at the beach hanging out by lake michigan.  it honestly couldn't have been a better day to go to the beach.  the weather was gorgeous, the beach was empty and the kids had so much fun playing in the sand and getting their feet wet.

the view from the lake really is quite beautiful.  now that our four years here is almost up, i'm wondering why we haven't done this more often as a family.

benson boy made his way for the water...and didn't stop!  we thought he wouldn't keep walking into the water, but he did and ended up falling in.  we had to ditch his wet clothes.

tanner loved finding rocks and throwing them into the water. 

my mom was nice to run across the beach with katelyn. aren't grandparents great?

my parents come for a visit

in september my parents made their way up to illinois and wisconsin to visit with my sister and i and our families.  boy was it fun to have them here.  it definitely went by quickly and it just made me wish i lived a little closer to them, but i'm so glad they came.

our first stop was to the jelly belly factory.  it isn't the most amazing tour because it is just a warehouse with stored jelly bellies.  but, wandering around the gift shop is fun because you can sample any flavor of jelly bellies you want.  and of course going home with a bag of jelly bellies isn't so bad either.

after we let the tired kids rest, we stopped at chipotle for a delicious dinner.  it was perfect for the kids because the food was good and the service was fast.

before we headed home we decided to stop at a park to let the kids run around.  notice our fearless tanner in the background trying to get a closer look at the dog.

katelyn loves the camera right now.  i guess shoving the camera in her face day after day will do that to her.

camille and tyler decided to "race" down this slide.  although i'm not sure it counts as a real race if you're feet are halfway to the bottom before you even start.

this is probably one of the weirder things we've seen at a playground.  what is it even for?  tyler decided jumping.

and my wonderful parents.