Puppy Love

Ben and his puppy, Louise.

Camp out

 We had a camp out in our backyard this past weekend with our longtime Zionsville friends the Robinsons and Adlongs.  There were a few passing storms just after dinner, but that didn't scare us away from the great outdoors!  The kids all had a blast running around with glow sticks and flashlights in between roasting marshmallows over the fire.  Then everyone headed into their tents around 11:30 and slept soundly through the night!  Although the grown ups heard the rain around 2:30 and the coyotes howling around 3:30!  

We actually woke up before Nick, Sam and Ben!

A "nice" picture of all the kiddos.

Reality.

This just might become an annual tradition between our families!

Piano

Ben, practicing his piano lesson.  

Ben has been taking piano lessons for a year now.  We are fortunate to have a wonderful piano teacher who is so very patient with the kids.  A lot of the songs that Ben plays are self composed!  

Hearing the boys play the piano is music to this Mommy's ears!

Apple Picking

The boys and I spent last Sunday afternoon at the local orchard- Stuckey Farm- picking apples!  

I can remember pushing the double stroller down those aisles of apple trees in the years past.  Now each boy can carry their own bag of apples, at least for a while!  We enjoyed a tractor ride around the orchard, an apple cider slushy, candy corn and the playground at the end.  Ben was pretty excited to play on the monster truck!

Stuckey Farm is a very fun fall tradition for our family.  

Sam's new smile!

Sam has now lost both of his front teeth!  It was a little loose in the morning, by dinner time, it was out! That boy doesn't mess around with the teeth!

Flag Football

Nick and Sam are both playing flag football this season.

  

Nick's plays for the Panthers.  The kids are all in 2nd and 3rd grades.  I'm very impressed with the skill level of these kids, what a difference a year makes!  The team completes pass plays and has a tough defense as well! 

 Nick is really passionate about football.  When he's not playing on the field during the games, he's warming up on the sidelines playing catch with his teammates.  He also doesn't miss many NFL games and The Arizona Cardinals is still his favorite team.

Sam's team name is Butler.  He's a great team player, always ready to play and has a smile for his teammates.  His coach is rotating the kids' positions for each game.  Last week Sam was the ball carrier and scored 2 touchdowns!

Once again I gladly took some photos of Sam at his request.  He wanted to make some football cards!

School picture day!

I wonder if they stayed clean until it was their turn for pictures….

The many hats of Sam

Sam asked me to take pictures of him with different baseball hats to decorate the cover of his writing journal for school.  Of course I jumped at the chance to photograph him!  He's growing into such a little man!

Annie decided she wanted to be in a few shots as well.

Labor Day Weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend at The Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati, a favorite of the boys'!  

They love the arcade,  MagiQuest, glow in the dark miniature golf and the crafts as much as the water slides and wave pool!  Eric and I think it's kinda fun, too!