A bigger park

Towards the end of summer, Natalie and I discovered a REALLY big park across town. We spent a great morning there (with lots of photo-ops):

Natalie's favorite thing to do all summer was the monkey bars.

And Natalie is pretty good at them!

The park also had this very shallow stream, just waiting for us to go for a walk.

Very shallow...

Can you find Natalie?

At the pumpkin patch

As in previous years, Natalie and I went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some nice pumpkins - and to have some fun:

The duckie race is always a hit.

Ready, set, go...

Let's see who's winning!

This year, Natalie wasn't too fond of the corn maze.

Climbing on the hay bales was another story - lots of fun.

Did I say playing? I meant running!

We also had time to do some face painting.

Of course, we had to get some BIG pumpkins.

And play the bean bag toss.

And more bean bag toss.

Yep, she's definitely growing!

Happy Birthday?

No, it really wasn't anybody's birthday, not even a half-birthday. But Natalie asked so nicely if we could play birthday, so, well, why not...

I always have a let over candle or two ready. And why not find a couple of small things from the "rainy day bin" to wrap up...

Happy Birthday to you!

Make a wish!

Let's eat!

Make a funny face

 

Well, that's one way to wake up...

Legos

This fall, Natalie started to be very interested in legos. I don't think she was the only one enjoying the legos, though...

Two geeks...

Word of the day

To encourage Natelie to read and spell, I got her a set of magnetic letters. I tried doing a "word of the day", and to start with, I put up the work "Love". Later that day, I came back out into the kitchen, and Natalie had added a few more words:

At the apple orchard

One of our traditional outings in the fall is the apple orchard. We went there again this year:

Time to pick apples.

This apple looks yummi!

Such a cute picture. I think Natalie looks so much like Karsten in this one.

No, Natalie is not standing on her tippie toes. She's getting really tall!

Camping in the back yard

We had so much fun camping this year that we decided to do it again - in our back yard! Labor Day weekend was the perfect time for sleeping outside in the tents. But first, we had a lot of fun:

We had water balloons for the kids - a definite hit.

The pool was also lots of fun.

But you really can't go wrong with water balloons!

The girls went exploring. Best friends, off on their own adventure.

Brayden helped Karsten build a fire in the firepit.

The girls went digging for stones in a box with stones, sand, and water. They spent a lot of time on that!

The next morning, the kids were running around again, making us grown-ups tired just from looking at them...

The kids thought it was loads of fun to get Aubriella's Mom wet with water from the pool...

But I think she got her revenge!

We bought a boat

We bought a boat! It's a pretty old one, a true fixer-upper, which is perfect because Karsten loves to fix things! It didn't take him long to get it running.

On the river thru town.

Natalie loves the step at the back. Perfect for splashing her feet in the water.

On the Bay.

Lots of wind in Natalie's hair! She loved it!

Late summer outings

Late in the summer, Natalie and I took full advantage of some beautiful, sunny days:

At the amusement park. Natalie loved the big, high-flying swings.

The playground was also a hit.

And Natalie is big enough to go on the scrambler on her own!

We also went to the Zoo, where we had fun taking pictures with the penguin cut-outs.

The foot-massage station tickled.

Natalie was brave enough to feed a giraffe all by herself!

The toothfairy came

Natalie lost her first tooth this fall! Of course, the Toothfairy came:

The Toothfairy brought chewing gum (sugar free, of course), a toothbrush holder, and some pretties to match Natalie's new, pretty smile!

At the park

This summer, we found a new park in the neighborhood.

A park with a big play area...

...And a big climbing rock....

...And a cute little girl who had a lot of fun!

So tired...

Some mornings, it's just too early to wake up...

Helping Daddy...

Natalie is always such a good helper!