Fall Fun!

Since the girls loved pedicures for Nana's birthday SO MUCH, they decided to take their besties for bday celebrations in September.  Dylan turned 9!

And Sawyer turned 7!  Look closely at Syd's face...her feet are ticklish and Sawyer is holding her hand. ;)

Syd has the cutest lil feet

Afterwards, we went for snocones!

Oh Jasper

Uh-oh, Syd not feeling well turned into Syd getting SUPER sick with a high fever.  Urgent care visit revealed it to be a nasty virus.

Look at the love on her face.  She spent the week at home with me, hanging with the kitties, and resting up.

After school iPad and Jasper time

The week Syd was sick, we did a lot of puzzles.  She's gotten so good at them!  It was actually really nice having her home.  I haven't had that much one-on-one time since she was in preschool.  She's a great patient - low maintenance, and she is good at entertaining herself!

Millie's school partners with Crystal Bridges for projects throughout the year.  On this day, Millie's class went to CB to make mobiles.  We should be going soon for a visit to see them!

This was her super cute field trip outfit that she picked out.  Killer style, Mills.

Finally Syd was feeling up to leaving the house!  I took her to lunch with some of my girlfriends and she was a perfect angel.  And I love this outfit she put together too!

Chuy's night for the Fab Four

After 5 full days out of school, Syd's first day back was a field trip to the Shiloh Museum!  It was a bit rainy that day, but the kids still had fun being away from school.

Our state bird = mockingbird

milking a (fake) cow

can you see me now?

We haven't had many family bike rides since the girls outgrew the pull-along bikes that attach to ours.  We decided to take a short ride to a local breakfast place and stop at a playground on the way home.  Millie rode her own bike, and she did pretty good!  There was some whining, but she made it and was proud of herself!  Syd flat out refused to go unless we used a pull-along. So JKK pulled her and she was happy...but next time, we told her she has to ride her own bike!  We gotta build up that stamina!

It was a beautiful morning for a ride though...

New gymnastics place is working out so great!  We moved to this one because they offer just tumbling classes.  No more bars and beam, which the girls didn't really love.  They've already improved so much!

look at those tiny paws holding up that husky body

Millie's new shirt is terrifying ;)  Syd won't even look at it.  Hahahaha, chucky!

The cutest memory!  Millie was in kindergarten

Speaking of flashbacks!

For our 14th wedding anniversary, we met the Cruiks at Shogun for some hibachi!

never disappoints

The next day was our real anniversary celebration: we dropped the girls off at gymnastics with Nana for a sleepover....

...then we headed to Tulsa!  We saw Heart play at the BOK Center, which was just so phenomenal.  Never in a million years did I think I would get to see them live (they are getting up there in age), but man they are still so cool!  Wicked goosebumps when they came out.  We enjoyed the show SO much.  And Joan Jett opened for them, which was also really cool.  It was a great night with JKK!

Still enjoying our camping weekends!  Devils Den never disappoints.  Neither do hobo dinners.

And look who came to camp with us: Coco!!  And she brought her hammock.  

Big milestone: taking the girls on their first big hike!

Yellow Rock!  Pretty scary for me to even let the girls step foot on this bluff, but the beautiful view is the pinnacle of the hike!  The girls did a great job and we packed snacks, so there was lots of stopping and resting.

The next day, we did it again!

Sometimes you gotta bribe them to get them to make it to the top ;)

What a beautiful time of year in Arkansas

Spotted some Syd art in the hallway at school.  Deer, I think.

Jasper loves to join in Millie's bedtime hour.  He's a good sport.

Her face cracks me up here.  She's so silly.  And she loves her daddy.

Time for another field trip: pumpkin patch!

I love getting to help chaperone

Goodness it was hot that day!  Here in the south, our pumpkin patch trips always involve a bit of sweating.  Look at her gorgeous face tho...

Syd + Sawyer = <3

We don't love too much downtime around here, so when you have a weekend with no plans, you gotta make something happen.  On possibly the rainiest day of the year, our little family of four went to Crystal Bridges for a perfect Sunday Brunch outing.  It was really lovely.

And on the way home, we stopped by our beloved Imagine Studios for a fundraiser where Syd won a slime party for 5!  So that's something to look forward to this winter when we are bored.  She's really been into leopards lately, by the way.

And then...the girls were on fall break for two full weeks!  We kicked it off with a Sage sleepover.  Which always turns into a choreography session.  These two choreographed their own dance for the talent show last spring.  They've already started working on their next dance!

Look at these sun-bathing beauties <3

A beautiful day for Hillery to get married!  We all gathered at a beautiful little barn event place in Sapulpa for the festivities.  So much fun!

Dad got to help walk her down the aisle.  So special.

And then it was team to toast!

Congrats to Hillery and Kenneth!

Dad and Tricia, the beautiful mother-of-the-bride

And sweet little Vinny was there too!  It all went off without a hitch!

Millie's teacher does a great job of keeping things fun.  They had to wear red on this day for something to do with little red riding hood.  I'm not clear on the specifics, but it was cute!

This one got me - remember this like it was yesterday

And now they are HUGE!  And they like to talk back ;)  But still cute...

The Fab Four has definitely grown over the years...

For Ms. Amanda's birthday, she chose a trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was a gorgeous day for it!  Happy birthday, friend!

We tried to recreate this pic of Mills and Cayden from seven years ago...

...hahaha, not bad, right?

 eight

 six

 eight

 six

After the patch, we went back to the Cruiks house for charcuterie and cake!  I made her favorite momofuku milk bar bday cake, of course!  Never disappoints...

George loves it when Syd comes over ;)

Second week of fall break - we visited the library and had a picnic at the park!

Syd's first girl scout daisy meeting!  She's going to love it.

Oh boy.  Bradley and Millie love to ham it up!

The girls are unimpressed with the stuff I get done while they are at school.  They get so bored going on my errands, grocery pickups, gym classes, etc.  Sometimes we have to make it fun and pick up pancakes and coffee on the way.

But we also managed to fit in plenty of fun on fall break.  Dylan sleepover and Addams family movie!

Dental checkup: Syd has her first loose teeth!  She's excited because she feels so behind her classmates having never lost any teeth to date.  I remember Millie feeling the same way.  I guess our kids just lose their teeth a little later.

Speaking of losing teeth: during Millie's cleaning session, the hygienist used the water sprayer and it popped out Millie's loose tooth!  She was afraid Millie would be upset, but it's actually the opposite.  Millie doesn't like pulling them so it's fine with her to have someone else do it!

We left that afternoon to go camping for the rest of fall break.  Millie brought along her huge bucket of slime and also her tooth fairy pillow, hoping she would come visit.  Thank goodness she found us!

Papa came out to stay for one night!  Well for half a night, at least.  He left before the sun was up the next morning, but it was still fun to see him for a bit!

 JKK brought the leaf blower and it provides plenty of entertainment

It's a Barbie RV!  In an RV!  The weather was much colder this trip, so we spent more time indoors.  We are so lucky to have such a nice camper to hang out in.  It feels like a real vacation.  If only we could bring the cats...

oh hi!

More hiking!  This time we explored the Devil's Den trail and there was lots to see!

Millie is always doing handstands, which she was doing for a picture here.  But I guess she couldn't hold it.  Whoopsie!  The picture of her face is hilarious.

Chubby bunny game - they actually can't fit very many at all in their mouths.

Our dog is back!

ssstttrrrreeeetttccchhhhh

Time to go back to school!  It was red ribbon week - first day is Red day.  We picked up our neighbor and headed to school noticing lots of trees down.  There was a horrible storm the night before.  The closer we got to their school, the worse the damage.  It actually looked like a war zone over there with power lines down.  They had to shut down school due to no power, so we headed back home.  We got three extra days of fall break due to that storm!

Syd got to go to Sawyer's for a playdate, which made her week!

Funny story: Millie used some of her own money to buy herself some fancy fake press-on nails.  The night before our family pictures, she applied them without my knowledge.  We couldn't get them off! They were trimmed down, but they are still obviously not her own nails.  CLASSIC MILLIE! I'm interested to see how noticeable they are in the pics when we get them back!  Either way, this kid rocked the photo shoot.  She was made for it!

Still into leopards.

Still the best kid in the world at going to bed for the night.  Such a sweet girl.