OCTOBER.
Boy, do I love October!
It's a little weird here in Florida, no fall colors or first snows. However, we have had a handful of crisp, cool mornings to remind us that fall has arrived. I do miss picking apples in the orchard and dreaming up wonderful ways to bake them. I can't complain too much, October through March are the best months to be a Florida resident and we have been taking advantage of the wonderful, cooler weather.
The only thing missing this time around is Daddy. We hope these photos bring Daddy some smiles and give him a warm heart knowing that his family is hanging in there despite him being on the other side of the world. WE MISS YOU DADDY!
October 1st was an exciting milestone and the first of six "firsts" of the months until Daddy returns. The boys were delighted to find two gift bags with Lego's, chocolate and a hand written note from Daddy with their names on them. Lucas quickly added up how many gift bags were in store if he gets one every first of the month. That boy! He's a quick one.
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| Showing off our new Lego's. |
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| Mom trying to get that "perfect" photo. |
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| Yep, it's perfect! |
Another highlight in October was in the bike riding category. Before Mike left, Axel had given up his training wheels and was full speed ahead on his two wheeler bike. He could not start or stop by himself but he could zoom with the best of them...usually with Mommy or Daddy running full speed next to him in case a crash was imminent.
I pondered how this was going to work while Daddy was away?? Just how was I going to get both boys on bikes safely and watch out for cars and trees and signs and other potential hazards? My solution?! A church parking lot just down the road. It's the perfect place to practice starts and stops and turns and you name it.
Guess who can start and stop ALL BY HIMSELF?! Yes, AXEL!!! This kid amazes me. He's very athletic and catches on very fast. I guess that's part of always being in Lucas' footsteps. The other night, I was helping Lucas practice as if he were at a stop sign. You know, stop and then get started again quickly. He has a new mt. bike so it takes a little getting used to. I look over and Axel had fallen off his bike but instead of crying, he pops up repeating, "I'm okay! I'm okay!" Two seconds later, he pulls his bike over to the curb, jumps on, pushes and rides off like nothing.
I WAS SO PROUD!!!
I was full of smiles watching both boys gain more and more confidence. Soon we will be able to tackle the streets of the neighborhood. In the meantime, we are going to tear up that church parking lot in a totally acceptable way!
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| They were proud and they should be. |
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So happy!
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Here are some videos of our first night out. I don't have any of Axel starting by himself but we will soon.
http://youtu.be/oIT4FAwA-H4
Friday night, we busted out the Halloween decorations. Axel wasn't too sure about Halloween this year and doesn't like anything scary. I think the decorations softened him a little because now he's super excited and sings songs about Halloween being his favorite.
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| Anyone want to put away that basket of clean clothes on the couch? |
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| Nope, no takers. At least we are ready for Halloween! |
This morning, we skyped with Daddy and he thought we should all go out to breakfast before hitting the pumpkin patch...we agreed. We found a tiny little cafe that had the best hot chocolate and the perfect pancakes. Then, it was off to find a pumpkin.
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| I love the pumpkin patch, we might have to go back again. |
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| I love these two pumpkins! |
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| Bouncy castles are always fun and Axel jumped and jumped and jumped. |
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| We finally tired him out (check out his sweaty hair and red cheeks) and headed to the petting zoo area. He loved the bunnies. |
As soon as we got home, it was time to carve them up. There is no way they will last 3 weeks until Halloween but it doesn't matter. Did I mention I want to go back to the pumpkin patch? There might be a round two.
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| He did touch the goo once, but that was it. |
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| Lucas will not touch the goo...spoon only for this boy. |
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| Pulling out the pieces. |
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| Lucas waited patiently for our neighbors to bring over the pumpkin carving tools. It was well worth the wait and definitely made things easier. He was able to do the carving himself. I think we might be looking for our own carving kit during the after Halloween sales. |
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| This was serious business. |
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| He carved and carved...the whole proces took hours but it was so fun. |
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| Here are the new members of our family |
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| Here they are in the dark...OoooOOooooOOoo....so scary. :) |
If that wasn't enough, we headed to the Destin Seafood Festival with our neighbors. I had no idea it was as big as it was...thousands of people and hundreds of booths. It was nuts and I was so thankful to have Heather and Hugh there to help watch the boys.
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| Freshly caught Grouper. I wanted to sneak in and put one in my purse but there were too many people watching. I love, love, love Grouper! |
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| Lucas, Axel, Heather & Hugh...looks like a nice Christmas photo. :) |
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| Silly sauce! |
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| Lucas is still infatuated with Bald Eagles so he was so excited to test out this killer seat. |
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| Check this out! IT WAS NUTS!!! |
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| We lucked out finding a place to sit. Luckily for us, it was right next to the shaved ice shack. Isn't Heather a doll?! BEST NEIGHBORS EVER!!!! |
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| Leave it to my boys to get the yucky BLUE bubble gum flavor. They are getting smart picking out a flavor that scares Mom. |
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| I wanted nothing to do with this blue, blue, blue concoction. |
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| Oh, it just makes my stomach hurt. |
After some tasty gumbo and fish tacos, we hit the inflatable slide one time and then headed home. We were all tired...I'm tired. I'm headed to bed. Good night. :)
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