Children's Museum

We took a little drive to Greensboro to the Children's Museum

and the kids had a blast. Lindsay especially loved the market.

She filled her cart with all sorts of fruits and vegetables

she refuses to eat, but she loved pushing that cart around.

Alex was a "bad boy".

He drove a package delivery truck

We became anchors and reported the news.


Lindsay drove the firetruck.

Halloween

I saw this costume and knew it was for Lindsay.

Lindsay went trick-or-treating as Abby Cadabby from

Sesame Street (her absolute favorite character).

She loved the wand and kept her wings on the

entire night.

Alex dressed as Harry Potter. He has been reading

the books this fall and has seen a couple

of the movies.

We actually let Lindsay walk this year and collect

her own bag of candy. She did well for awhile.

When she got tired, we loaded her up in her wagon

and she sipped milk while her brother filled her bag.

Only a few idiots told her she had to say "trick-or-treat"

before getting candy. I told them politely that we're

working on it. I was very proud of my self control!

My sister and her family walked with us. The

boys were super cute as Superman and a cowboy.

The gang!

Buddy Walk 2010

We had another great Buddy Walk. We raised $625 in Lindsay's name to support people with Down syndrome in our area. Thanks to everyone who donated or came out to walk.Lindsay didn't get a nap until the actual walk. Kristin was sweet enough to carry her the entire walk and even got drool on her shirt.

Alex is 8!

My little boy is getting so big! I remember when we found out we were having a boy. My first thought was "What do you do with a boy?" because we only had girls in our family. Alex has taught me what you do with boys:

• wrestle with them
• try to convince them that you actually know what you are talking about and how they don't know everything
• feed them
• remind them over and over to brush their teeth
• freeze/sweat at soccer games
• spend hours outside playing with balls, riding bikes
• remind him that soccer isn't an inside game
• remind them to wash their hands!!!
• give them a hug and kiss when they skin their knees
• convince them that burping and farting are NOT funny

For his present this year, we decided to give him something he has been wanting for 2 years. We are taking him to the Great Wolf Lodge for a night. It is an indoor water park that is only 5 minutes from our house. I'll post pictures when we get back.

Instead of the traditional birthday cake, we had a chocolate fountain. We had a lot of fun dipping strawberries, cake, marshmallows, pretzels...

It has been a joy to be Alex's mom!

Tweetsie Railroad

We took a day trip to Tweetsie Railroad, a western amusement park build especially for kids. We had a blast. I can't wait until Lindsay can ride more rides. She loved the trains and riding in the cars the best. Watch out world, Alex is at the wheel!

We learned our lesson from the Tilt-a-Whirl. Lindsay does not like twirling around and around. She loved it at first, but it got going too fast and she started signing "all done". I couldn't make it be "all done" so she buried her head in my arm and waited for it to be over. She ran right to Dan when we got off and attached herself to him. She swatted at me when I told her I was sorry and tried to hold her. She eventually forgave me.

Alex is getting old enough to start riding the "big kid" rides. He loved this one even though it made his cheeks hurt.

Lindsay loved riding the train. We are practicing making the "toot toot" sound--always working on those speech skills!

First Day of School '10

I sent two big kids off to school this year. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Lindsay started at her preschool on Monday. She'll receive all her therapies at the school during the day. She absolutely loves it. She runs into school and doesn't want to leave at the end of the day. At first, we thought we'd be putting her on the bus to and from school, but we decided to enroll her in the before/after school care. It is offered only to Cabarrus Co. School employees so we lucked out!

Alex started school on Wednesday. He is now attending the school in which I work. I've missed being in the same school so it is really nice to see him now and then during the day walking down the hall with his class. He is adjusting well and making friends.

Georgia Aquarium

We took a quick trip down to Atlanta to visit the aquarium. We all loved it.
Lindsay was especially fascinated by the fish.

Lindsay was asleep by the end. She didn't sleep well while in the hotel. She woke up at 2:00 a.m. and only slept on and off until 6:30. Dan and I took shifts wrestling her into the bed. She got to sleep on the way home!

Escape Artist

Recently Lindsay has found another way around those

pesky gates. For awhile she kept getting stuck in the

"moat" between the half wall and the couch but she

learned that if she really kicked her leg up and over, she

could reach the other side. We have since moved the

gate to another location, but she now has access to

the kitchen.

YIKES!

You thought I was sleeping.

Lindsay has been a very difficult napper this

summer. 3 days after school ended, Lindsay

decided that she was going to stop taking naps.

This was not an option.

I had to remove all her toys from her room and

she still found things to "play" with.

Who would have thought that socks and

paper were so much fun?

So everytime I put her to bed, she would immediately

empty her sock drawer and another drawer that had

some birthday cards.

I ended up sitting in her room until she fell asleep

which could take anywhere from 10-45 min.

This is what her room looked like before I started

sitting with her.

That was hard work! Look how exhausted she is.

Little Prankster

One evening, I had to go out to do some errands so I stopped at CVS to pick something up. I was standing in line patiently waiting for my turn to check out, when a woman approached me from behind and asked if I had any children. I thought it was a little odd, but I answered yes. She told me that she thought one of them was probably playing a trick on me and pointed to my bottom. I looked back and peeled a sticker off my shorts. Sure enough, I had a "Wow" sticker right on my back side. I told her that surely my son wouldn't have done something like that.

By the time I reached the car, I started to have second thoughts so I called home and asked to speak to Alex. I asked him about the sticker and he started laughing right away. He told me that he got it at tennis camp and had put it on my bottom while I was walking up the stairs to put Lindsay to bed. That was 5 hours ago! I had been wearing that sticker for most of the day. I was impressed that he went all day waiting for me to find it. Now that's patience!

Lake Lure

We took a day trip to Lake Lure. Lindsay loved it!

She didn't love the beach on our vacation, but she loved

lake water. The sand was much cooler and there were no

waves to knock her down. She absolutely loved trying

to catch the butterflies that landed near the water.

Of course, Alex jumped right in and had a good time

jumping off his dad.

Misc. Summer Pics

We went to Carolina Beach for our family vacation

this year. The kids did a great job entertaining themselves.

Thank goodness for DVD players!

Alex got a hold of the camera to entertain himself.

This only one of the many silly pictures he took.

We had two tired kids by the end of the week.

We had a good time going on a horse drawn carriage
ride in downtown Wilmington. We learned some
history and Lindsay only tried to jump out a
couple of times.

Of course, we went to the Harrisburg Fourth of July fair.
Alex and I stayed for the fireworks while Dan and Lindsay
went home. I can't wait for the day when we can do more
as a family.

New Photos

Discovery Place

We decided to take a trip to Discovery Place to check

it out.
Lindsay especially loved the water table.

And the drums too.

Alex and I built a shelter. I'm not convinced

that we'd make it out in the wild.

Very cool morning!!! I highly recommend it.