Halloween

We had a fun Halloween week. Madeleine started off with a party at school on Tuesday... round 1 of the candy. Then on Thursday, Kirkwood had their annual Halloween walk. In addition to the candy, their was a "concert" by Babaloo... big excitement for Madeleine as he is celeb among the St. Louis preschool crowd. Friday was a parade at Hadley's school. On Saturday, we carved our pumpkin and then Sunday was trick or treating. In St. Louis, you have to tell a joke to get your treat so I had prepped Madeleine. She would mumble her joke about the cow who eats grass and then yell Lawn Mooer without a pause. It was very cute. Hadley really got into trick or treating too and was running between houses. Now we are slowly enjoying all the candy.

Before the Halloween Walk... Tinkerbell and the Butterfly
Hadley cozy in her butterfly costume
Carving our pumpkin
Before Trick or Treating
After trick or treating

Go Mizzou!

I'm still waiting for Jim to do a blog post... this whole blog thing was his idea. But for now here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks. And Go Mizzou! I'm not a huge football fan but I'm pretty excited for the Mizzou-Oklahoma game tonight... although I realize the chances of a win are probably slim but it is Homecoming.

The girls in their Mizzou shirts today... they like them because they have a tiger on them. I think I have finally gotten Madeleine to understand that Mizzou is different than the zoo
Playing with hats... it is nearly impossible to get them both to look at the camera and even more impossible to get them to look and smile
Messing around with hats, gloves and her carseat
Madeleine's pumpkin
One year we will get a great pumpkin picture

Fall!

The fall weather is finally here and we have been out enjoying it. We started off with an apple picking trip the day after Jim returned from a week long trip to Germany. The pickings were pretty slim but we did get a few apples to enjoy. On the way home, we took a ferry across the Mississippi. Madeleine was very excited when we told her we were going on a ferry. I think she was thinking more along the lines of Tinkerbell.

We enjoyed going to a friend's pig roast last Saturday where we went on two hayrides and had a yummy dinner. Then Sunday we ended up going to the Wabash railroad and Super Smokers for lunch. Both were a big hit. The railroad has these little trains you ride on. It was fun but the train ride was a little long because you have to wait for their other trains to go by on the track and they go through this whole process of moving the engine because it is the same track out and back. We have been wanting to do that for awhile though and it was a nice day to do it. This weekend is a 12 hour bike race for Jim... maybe he will actually write a blog post after it!

The wagon ride to the apples... fun but kind of pointless because they just drove around in a big circle to get you back to basically where you boarded the wagon in the first place

Hadley picking an apple
This what happens when we tell them to open their eyes for a picture
Proud of her apple
Riding on the ferry
Night hayride at the Pig Roast
Sliding at Simpson Park... this was a great find one day when we were driving around. It has a great playground.
Switching the direction of the train, you can tell how small the train actually is from the size of the engine
Thought this was a funny one from tonight. Madeleine wanted to do a silly face picture and I just love the way Hadley is looking at her.

Hadley at 1 1/2

Madeleine has done so much new stuff lately that I thought Hadley deserved some of her own press time. She is 19 months now and talking up a storm. She will repeat almost anything you say. For example, the other day I said, "Oh my God, Hadley" as she caused me trouble changing her diaper. She replied "oh my God, Hadley." She wants to make sure you don't forget about her. If you say Madeleine likes apples, she will say Hadley apples. It is very cute.

She loves to climb and will no longer sit in a highchair. She is a little bit fearless. She tries really hard to keep up with her big sis. We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago and she really took to the water. I put Madeleine's water wings on her and she would kick her little legs to make her go. I couldn't believe how much she was enjoying the water.

Hadley's other favorite things are her babies. She loves baby dolls. She can frequently be seen holding multiple dolls and she calls them all Abby. I'm trying to introduce some new names.

Here are a few recent pics of the fun Hadley has been having.

Swimming on vacation... she really didn't want you holding on to her

Climbing on the table
Why wear just one pair of sunglasses?
All smiles

Greentree Parade

Today, Madeleine and I walked in the Greentree Parade with her school... or should I say that I walked and Madeleine rode in the wagon with her friend. They both loved throwing candy out to the other kids. We also saw some friends along the way. Our spot was close to the beginning of the parade so we stopped at the end to watch the rest. Madeleine loved it and is ready to be in another parade.

Throwing candy
We are out of candy so now just have to wave
Here come the Clydesdales

Actually posted by Erin... I forgot to sign back in.

Another first

Madeleine has had a big week. Tonight was her first dance class. She had a great time and didn't want to leave. When she came out for all her shoe changes, she kept telling me that she was having so much fun. It was adorable!

Madeleine's First Bike Race

Madeleine did her first bike race today down on the Hill at the Gateway Cup races. She decided to race her tricycle after saying her purple bike was not good for racing. All week she has been talking about how she was going to be the fastest kid. She also told us she needed to wear a jersey. Luckily, we have a very cute USPS jersey that was a gift from Jim and Patty before she was born. I thought she might be intimidated by the crowds but she lined up and was ready to go with the other trikes. She wasn't the fastest... probably because she was so busy looking around at all the spectators :) Daddy met us at the end of the race and after he took some pics she said she had to go. She thought the race was still going. Then she asked us if she won. It was very cute. She is all ready to do it again. She was also very excited that Poppy and PaPa came to cheer her on (or cheer her up as she says).

At the start line... Madeleine has on the yellow jersey
At the finish line
This is when she asked if she won
Enjoying a post race ice cream
Back at home with her schwag... new shirt and green ribbon