Holiday Cheer

Today was a big day! We started off with breakfast with Santa during the Stepping Stones annual pancake feed at Applebee's. Then, after nap, this cute little guy showed up on our shelf!

After much debate, mainly between Braylon and Bryan, we settled on the name 'Willie'. Original, huh? Finally, we hit the park to enjoy this nice weather. I wonder what tomorrow has in store for us?

Family Pics

We had our pictures taken by our favorite teacher and photographer. Lance does such a great job and it's a plus that he's had both of the kiddos in his Toddler classroom at Stepping Stones. Here's a picture of our family. This isn't the best shot of Braylon, but he was difficult to engage on this particular day until we allowed him to jump in the puddles!. More to come...

The Farm

Deanna Rose Farmstead is one of the best places in the area to visit with small children. It offers just about everything you could ask for; animals you can pet and feed, horse rides, fishing, playgrounds, food and a ton of wide open space. Braylon enjoyed his first solo horse ride and his first official catch. If you look closely at the second picture of the boys fishing, you can see the fish they caught just before it fell back into the water. Braylon was so proud!

This was the first time that Macyn could really participate and truly enjoy the Farmstead. She loved seeing the animals up close, though she was not too fond of the aggressive goats as she tried to feed them!

Bend it Like Beckham...Well Maybe Not

Braylon is playing soccer with 4 of his friends this Fall through the Kaw Valley Soccer league. It really is a hoot to watch the Kickers dribble the ball around the field. We've gone to two "games" and have yet to last more than 30 minutes! Maybe by the end of the season we'll make it the entire hour :)

This is Braylon with his friend, Jack. His buddy Kiernan is at the top of the photo and he's a serious little player! Jack and Braylon do a lot more "dribbling" with their hands than their feet! In fact, Braylon likes to shoot the ball into the net like a basketball. I guess we should've gone with basketball instead :)

Macyn would love to get out there and play too, but she'll settle for a ball and a view from the sideline.

Lake Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend, we spent some time with Aunt Amber and Uncle Chad on their boat. The kids didn't mind the windy ride out and they both loved getting in the water despite the chilly temp. We'll have to get them out on the water a few more times next summer! I think Braylon would agree :)

Blondie

Our little Macyn is just as cute as cute can be. Her personality is really beginning to show and she is such a hoot! We just love her to pieces :)

Tricks

Braylon is really into climbing on and jumping off things these days. Here are a few of his new tricks! Don't miss the video at the end!!

Rockin' the Potties

Macyn, just like her brother, is blowing us away with her prowess of the potty. We haven't even officially started potty training, she is only 17 months, but we do put her on the potty every once in a while and she is rocking the potties! She has made a potty and a poop numerous times in the toilet! We are thrilled that our kiddos don't seem to mind the whole potty thing. We will definitely take a break here and there when we can get one :) Oh the things we get excited about these days!!

Brave

This summer, we've seen Braylon take great strides in his water play. At the beginning of the summer, we could barely get him to put his face in the water to blow bubbles. Now, all of a sudden, he's taken to jumping in and he loves it! Next summer, we'll tackle the diving board :) Macy, on the other hand, has no fear and will readily put her head in the water. She's doing just that as I took this video; hence, the coughing sounds you hear in the background.

Moments I Live For

Patches and Glasses

While trying to beat this dreadful heat, we've had some fun with pirate patches and silly glasses!

Fun

Just a few fun shots of the kiddos!

Birthday Marathon

We began Braylon's third birthday celebration a week early by having a few of his buddies over. The boys had a great time splashing, squirting, sliding and just being silly!


We had quite the time getting the three of them to pose for a picture. This is their best shot :)

Then, last weekend we began our marathon home to visit our families. First stop... Ashland. We hung out with Great Grandpa Arthur for a bit before hitting the road to Ulysses.

On Saturday, we celebrated with Grandma Jean and the Malone and Flot families.

Braylon and Macy enjoyed the company of their cousins Mikaela, Madi, Kayly, Matt, and Chris. Uncle Wyatt and Aunt Josie came to play for a bit too!

Sunday morning, we headed West to celebrate with my side of the family. We stopped in to say "hi" to Great Grandma Cook before venturing on to my brother's house for a horse ride.



Finally, we ended up at Grammy and Papa Jerry's house for the final birthday bash with even more cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! The kids were really excited to play with all of the big kids and we really enjoyed seeing everyone.


Boy, was that exhausting! Happy Birthday little man!!

"I Am Scuba Dive"

Braylon has become quite obsessed with swim goggles. He tried on a pair at the pool and pretended to be a "scuba dive" as he moved about the pool. I then bought him his own pair and he asks every night to put them on and go outside.

I'm not sure why, but he scowls a lot when pretending to be a scuba diver :) He is very intense and takes the job seriously, I guess!

Celebrating Dad

There's no better way to celebrate Father's Day than with a beer and...


...a little fun!

Macy Talks

Macy is starting to say a few words now and I finally got her to say "Momma"! Here's a short video of her new favorite word in addition to a classic sibling dispute :)

Water Fight!

Braylon, Bryan and I had some fun with the super soakers! Although it sounds like Braylon isn't having fun in this video, he really did enjoy helping Mommy gang up on Daddy! When I was not actively engaged in the water war, I took some video to capture the fun. Macy almost got caught in the crossfire, but we managed to keep her dry for the most part :) Thank goodness our camera is waterproof!

One Hot Weekend

This weekend was H-O-T, HOT! We tried to stay cool with a variety of water activities. Check out some of our fun!


Braylon had a lot of fun playing in the sprinkler and drinking the water. Macy wasn't a big fan of the sprinkler, but she did love the pool and slide. I didn't get any pics of her going down the slide as I was too busy making sure she didn't drink too much of the water!


We did find some humor in Macy's "Mommy" look. She's pretty darn cute, don't you think!


Macy is a fish and really loves the pool. Here we are cooling off with a dip in the pool at LCC. You can find us here most Saturday afternoons!