Annapolis Nuptials

Our brave, strong, caring, always thoughtful younger cousin Doug got married!  Doug is a Captain in the Marines and has already served multiple tours of duty - he is a hero.  We are so excited to welcome Rebecca to our family, she certainly got a good one!  Their wedding was in Annapolis and they had a gorgeous weekend of weather for their festivities.  I went solo this time - Matt stayed home with the kids - which meant that I was the third wheel with Mom and Dad:)  It was a great time and a beautiful wedding.  Many of the picture credits go to Mom, who shared hers with me.

A little run all around historic Annapolis was a great way to start the day.  The sunrise was so pretty.

Captain Kurz sandwich!  Warren and Doug looked so handsome.

We had a pretty long break between the ceremony and reception which was perfect for spending time in downtown Annapolis eating lunch, shopping and doing oyster shooters with my super-fun cousins.

Julie & Kevin are expecting in January - such cuties

Brad & Nikki are due in May - another set of cuties!  I LOVE that they are brothers/best friend combos having babies within a few months of each other.

Selfie with my awesome godmother/aunt and uncle!

They just look SOOOOO happy!!

Cutting a rug with Uncle Bob.

The three amigos

I took a flight back on Sunday morning, which meant I had almost the whole day left to spend with the fam.  It was great to have time with them before the work week began again.

Hayride time again!

Nice air!

Luke got to see "Bubba" the live alligator that we met last year at Reptile Rampage again at Croctoberfest

The alligator actually started to walk with Luke on its back!!  I think Claire was surprised when the alligator stood up.

The squirrels have been so hungry this year, they literally ate all of our pumpkins!  Here is one I caught in the act.

Pumpkin Festivus

We had a big weekend of Fall activities.  We hit the Lake Bluff Pumpkin Fest at the middle school with our favorite little monsters.  We also attempted a family 1 mile fun run, except there was a snafu with the start time plus it was raining, so in short - we missed it!  We joined for the last 50 yards, that counts, right?  We carved pumpkins, went on a Fall colors boat ride, went to Six Flags Fright Fest and then to the Highwood Pumpkin Fest/dinner with the Hartmans to top it off.  Phew!  Enjoying the sweet nectar of Fall before it is over is hard work!

In kid news, Claire has switched lately from always saying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" to "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy".  Matt loves it:)  I love that she is calling for him in the wee hours of the morning.  Claire also has had a funny habit of wanting to take a book into bed with her at night.  She likes to place the book very carefully in the corner of her crib, and then settles down to get covered up with a blanket.  If you try and put a doll or stuffed animal in there she violently throws them out and puts her book in its rightful place.  Typically the book is the classic "Are you my mother?", but she sometimes will deviate to others.  Is this a sign of a voracious reader to come?  Fitting that Matt set up a little reading nook/art area in the playroom so that despite all the chaos that is the basement, they will always have a little place to be a bit calm.  It is so cute.

Luke had a little progress report sent home from school and everything is going great!

Pictures from the week!

Lake Bluff Pumpkin Fest

The end of our (not so) "fun run".  The kids are in the stroller.

Lego time

Driving to D&E's for dinner

Second annual apple picking - this year there was only a tiny fraction of how many apples they had last year.

The ravine looks so pretty this time of year

Taking the boat out for one last ride - I think this was peak colors for LF

Just driving around our town is almost like being back in Door County

Fright Fest - Luke was very interested in the spooky decorations they had everywhere

Claire is carrying Goofy around all the time now, and insisted on putting Goofy right next to her on the seat to enjoy the ride alongside her.

Painting pumpkins

Eloise and Luke enjoying the Highwood Pumpkin Fest rides

Claire is such a cutie at ballet.  She really enjoys it and is starting to learn some of the moves.

Here is a video of Claire doing "twinkle toes" and trying to do plies.  

The new reading nook

"Stickies" art

I distinctly remember taking the same picture of the monitor of Luke sleeping like this with his hands behind his head.  Here is Claire doing the same thing.

Matt took his parents on a boat ride later that week and they want all the way downtown, here they are in front of their alma mater Loyola.  

Isolene had a playdate at nearby Didier Farms 

Luke & Anthony

Luke was a big fan of the camel ride