Loving Daddy!

Two Little Quacks...

Just a video of our crazy, little quackers: Aiden and Clemmers! Enjoy:)

Cousin Craziness...

First piece of news, we have survived Hurricane Irene! We are really, really lucky that we just had minimal flooding of the basement...nothing major that we can't take care of ourselves. The wind and rains were unbelievable. I think that we had close to 10 inches of rain during the storm. Somehow, the boys slept through the major part of the hurricane while I anxiously woke up several times to peer out the window and check the news station. I was all ready to head down towards the basement, if Chris didn't convince me that waking the kids is the last thing we want to do. Sadly, most of our town didn't make it through the storm as well. Much of the town has had terrible flooding and much damage has occurred.

In other news, recently, we had a wonderful visit from my sister, Jen, and her two kiddos: Clem and Tal! We LOVED seeing them and are VERY, VERY sad that they have decided to move to Indiana from the Bronx to pursue a new teaching job. We were so lucky that they stopped to see us for a few days before they took a new step. We enjoyed some shopping, a few attempts at making quilts, and lots and lots of craziness!!!!!

Aiden and Clemmers-not the best picture, but it's no easy feat to get these two to stand still together!

Playing in the sandbox...
Tal and Andrew, our little baby boys...
Slide fun...
Swinging together...
Getting ready to head on a walk...
And I'm so excited that we actually got a decent picture of the crew!!!!!

We miss you all SO much!!!!!

Hunkering down for the hurricane...

So we are waiting for this big storm to arrive around here, not really sure what to expect. We stocked up on water, turned our refrigerator down, packed up our outdoor toys and deck items, and pulled out the candles. We are ready for the BIG hurricane to arrive tonight. I'm just nervous about losing power because I know that it could take days to get it back. So let's just hope for the best!

We were supposed to head down to York, PA to visit my sister, Jill, and family this weekend. We had an awesome outing planned to go to Dutch Wonderland amusement park with the boys, but due to the terrible weather, we will be hunkered down in our house ALL weekend. Right now as the rain is just starting to pour, Chris and the boys are all taking naps and I'm catching up on some Project Runway!

Today, I'm going to just share some candids of the boys from the past week. Enjoy!

How can you say no to this face?!?!

Fun with Family and Friends...

One of my favorite things about heading back to Iowa is seeing lots of family and friends! We LOVED seeing all of Chris' extended family-grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles:)

And I also enjoyed catching up with some of the best friends that one could have. Some of these friends I have had since elementary school. As much as I love my East Coast friends, there is something special about getting together with my dear, dear friends from many years! I miss them already!!!!

Chris, Dan, Andrew, and Caroline:

Great-Grandma Rogers meeting Andrew for the first time:

And enjoying her little Aiden:

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Lunn with the boys!

I was lucky enough to spend 24 hours visiting one of my best college buddies, Molly! Molly and I did almost everything together in college-working out, going to classes, shopping, etc, etc, etc. We were pretty much partners in crime together:) I haven't seen her in TWO years-that's crazy talk! So I was SO SO SO excited to meet up with her again and her new 6 week old baby, Noah, who is just adorabley cute. I LOVE the newborn stage and miss those cuddles with my wiggle worm. Here's a picutre of us-baby Noah (6 Weeks), Molly, me, and Andrew. Let's hope that we don't go this long again between seeing each other:

And Jill and I have been friends since elementary school! Now, we both have two kids, two dogs, and our hands full!!! I love catching up with her every time I get back to Iowa and will continue our yearly tradition for many, many years;) Here's Anna and Aiden sharing the love for the cell phone:)

And the two boys hanging out together:)

April and I have been through WAY too much together!!!!! We have lived together, vacationed together, worked together, etc, etc, etc... We talk at least once or twice a week still after all these years! If we lived closer, I'm pretty sure we would spend every summer day together with our kids. April was gracious enough to bring her 2 year old and an 18 month old that she does daycare for and meet us at the State Fair! A pretty brave feat to do:) We spent the day at the fair together and then met them for dinner as well!!!!!

On Friday, I took our boys over to my friend Ashley's house for a playdate in the morning. Ashley and I were inseparable for most of my junior high and high school years! We pretty much lived at each other's houses:) It's crazy to think that between the two of us, we now have five kids! And let's just say that there is no way that we could get a crazy picture! And I was even luckier on this trip that I got to meet Ashley for a dinner out without most of these kiddos!

And last, but not least, I also got to see my wonderful Erica! I finally got to meet her baby girl and catch up on good times:) Sadly, I forgot my camera so I will have to wait until next time!

Miss, miss, miss you all my AMAZING friends and family!!!

Pony Pony

Grandpa Rogers promised a pony ride and lo and behold, he came through!

Iowa State Fair

If you have never been to the Iowa State Fair, add it to your bucket list! It is one crazy, impressive, and wild place:) I don't even know how to describe it, but it is nothing like I imagined! So, so, so much more:) We had a great time and here are some pictures to prove it...

The 100th year of the Butter Cow

Petting a baby cow:)

Checking out the rooster!

Getting excited about the horses

Lots and lots of John Deeres

Meeting Clifford for the first time! Aiden was SO excited:)

Checking out some more animals at the petting zoo...look at this big turtle!

And the big Clydesdale horses!

Finally worn out for his afternoon nap:)

Having fun on the merry-g0-round!

Going on a helicopter ride with Mommy!

And look who did Bumper Boats all by himself:)

And there is nothing better than fair food...deep fried butter, red velvet funnel cakes, bacon on a stick, etc, etc, etc. My body is thankful that the only fair food I consumed was a 1/2 grilled chicken sandwich and a strawberry smoothie:)

Not even out of the parking lot and asleep! What a FUN FUN day!

Our Iowa Trip... (Part 1)

So we just arrived back this past weekend from a wonderful ten day trip to Iowa! We were BUSY, BUSY, BUSY while we were there:) In the short amount of time, here is just a small list of the things that we did: lots of visits with family, a trip to the water park, playdates with friends, a short trip to Wisconsin, a day at the state fair, enjoying a morning at the park, smores by the campfire, putt-putt and go-carts, and lots and lots of fun times with Grandma and Grandpa Rogers!

The kids had a wonderful time and traveled quite well, despite a few bedtime meltdowns! Chris and I enjoyed a dinner out to the Brown Bottle and a few extra mornings of sleeping in:) Here are some random pictures from the trip and I will be posting a few more throughout this week!

Enjoying the beach ball sprinkler!

Going down the big slide at the waterpark all by him self:)

Having fun at Grandma and Grandpa's!

My happy boys

Enjoying the Cozy Coupe!

Sharing the car-it's tight in there:)

His first taste of smores...I have to admit that he wasn't a fan of the cooked marshmallow!

Taking a walk to the park

Still loves his swinging...

Having fun on the dinosaur!