Meet Jack and Jill!

Last night we carved the pumpkins that we brought home from the pumpkin patch. We had never done this before with the kids and it's been years since Andrew or I had done it either, so we had such a fun time showing the kids what it was all about. We were also glad that Grandma and Poppy were still here to participate in all the fun.

The kids excited to get started!

Taking the "hat" off.

Parker had to have a turn, too.

Dad and Andrew digging out the seeds.

Sadie was happy to get in on it....

 ....but Parker would NOT touch any of it and would only help clean it out with a spoon.

It took a lot of scraping to get everything out!

Time to draw on the faces!

The kids were more than happy to take turns pulling out pieces as they were cut.

Working on the next one.

Waiting for Daddy to finish carving. Sadie with Poppy....

....and Parker with Gram.

All done! Here's Jack....

....and Jill!

Aren't they cute? The kids were sooooooo excited when we turned off the lights after lighting the candles inside!

And to finish off our evening, the kids watching Tangled and eating popcorn....

....and the grown-ups playing cards!

We are so glad that Grandma and Poppy were able to come and spend some time with us, and we're always sad to see them go. Until next time!

A very Mickey party!

Today we had Parker's 5th birthday party! His birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but due to some scheduling conflicts we pushed back his party until this weekend. Several weeks ago he decided that he wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday party, and he has been looking forward to his cake and balloons and presents for days now. He was even awake much earlier than usual this morning. We had a great time, and it's so much fun watching him really get into these special times.

Balloons!

The cake Parker picked out.

Big birthday boy!

Party guests having a bite to eat!

Parker with Daddy....

....and with Mommy!

All of us!

With Grandma and Poppy.

Sadie cuddling Molly.

Present time!

Checking out his new boxing gloves.

Getting some help from Cousin A.

Ready for cake!

And a couple of fun videos! Happy birthday, Parker!

The Peak

My parents have been in town with us for the last few days, and we had a great time yesterday riding the cog railroad up to the top of Pikes Peak! It was Parker and Sadie's first trip up, so they were really excited. They even did really well on the train except for one rather unfortunate incident which occurred *of course* while the conductor was giving her instructions and the train was otherwise completely silent. Those are my favorite parenting moments. Anyway, here are some pictures from our day....

Eating breakfast in the car on the way to the depot. Thank you, Panera!

Arriving bright and early at the depot.

In the waiting area.

Excited Parker!

Sadie and Daddy (pre-incident).

Mom and Dad on the train.

Andrew and I.

Finally on the move. The kids loved looking out the window the whole way up.

Sadie very intent on something (post-incident).

At just over 10,000 feet.

View of Colorado Springs.

Pretty scenery.

Timber line.

Love this picture....so pretty.

Some mountain lakes/reservoirs.

Almost at the top! Parker is ready to get out and look around....

....and Sadie is unimpressed.

Checking out the view!

Gorgeous mountains in the distance.

Our family.

Mom and Dad.

Sadie still isn't too excited.

Another view from the top.

Our ride.

Going in the summit house.

Eating donuts!

One more time out on the deck before leaving.....

Back on the train, and ready to go down!