A weekend away

Kurt and I went to St. Louis for the weekend

Having never spent any time there, we were excited for a new adventure other than the adventure of parenting.... plus there was a marriage conference there!

The Arch 

While we were gone, Andrew hung out with Gramps and Gram

And Lucy of course!

Most of the cousins stopped by to see him as well!

Two in a tub... pretty fun

Four in a tub... exciting

Five boys in a tub... get me out of here!!!

Family Pictures

Hard Work

 This fall, Andrew has done a lot of hard work. Every time we are at Gramp's and Gram's house, he has to go out and feed the Who Who's (aka: Chickens)  Feeding the chickens includes raking the straw, collecting the eggs, pouring water in the bucket and placing food in the feeder. This whole process can take over an hour. Good thing Gramps has the patience to do this with Andrew because I sure do not!!

Then comes raking...

He works very hard...

 

But then a leaf gets stuck in his rake and he gets distracted.  What to do?!

 

After hours of raking and a little help, he has succeeded!!  The leaves are in a pile!

Lucy and Gram celebrate with him!!

 

Then Andrew has to go home and work so hard with daddy

But it is still FUN!!

Projects...

"Daddy probably needs some help fixing this table leg..."

 

 ".....Let me see if I can just loosen it up a bit..."

"....hmm I'm not sure we've made it any better yet."

 

It sure is fun having such a big helper!

Falling for Fall

 

So far this fall, the weather has been pretty nice. It was nice enough to go to Fred Meijer Gardens to check out some of the Artprize exhibits (even though they all ended up being inside).

That wasn't the only time we went to Artprize.  We even went downtown with Aunt Elise and the girls!

Andrew found some time to just sit by the woodpile and make a friend....

 ....Her name was Lucy, and from the looks of it, she tells really funny jokes.

Oh Where Did the Summer Go?!

This summer was filled with adventures... 

like making a cozy coupe train, and having it pulled by a dog!

Andrew wants to be a big boy now

 

He helps mow the lawn

 

He reads his books daily

 

He discusses with daddy the best way to throw rocks

 

He tells mommy that he wants to go down the slide by himself

 

He can pick blueberries by himself, and eat them by himself too!!

 

 He rides in his own seat

 

He is off to see the world!

Gulf Shores

 

We took another adventure on the road to Gulf Shores. Now that we have Andrew, we choose to drive through the night so that we don't have to listen to children's music and fussing the whole drive! 

Andrew was not so sure that he liked his eye mask!

 

Andrew woke up and we were at the beach with Jill and Brandon!

Every day at the beach we all got sandier than we ever had been before in our lives.

Thank you, Andrew. 

 

Attempting to make this boy a beach bum for life. We have some more work to do! 

We had better prioritize going to the beach more....

Brandon and Andrew were twins.  

Two good looking boys in their polo shirts!!

The beautiful beach

Happy Father's Day!

 

Love you, daddy

 

Our cool cat!

One on One

Andrew didn't realize that he and Kurt were playing their first game of basketball together. Kurt showed him up and took the ball to the basket. Kurt: 1 point

 

Andrew's turn... 

 

He dribbles...

 

He shoots...

 

He sits down with a frown... he missed his shot.

 

Maybe he will be more successful with Kurt's ball... that one always goes in!!

Stay tuned for more games! 

So far the basketball win count is 

Kurt: 1, Andrew: 0