First snow!

This afternoon, it snowed for the first time this winter. Not a lot of snow, but enough to play in on the deck!

Playing at IKEA

Today, we took a trip to IKEA. Ben loved playing with one of the toy kitchens on display. Lily loved drawing!

Halloween 2012

Today was Halloween and we celebrated with the annual preschool party & parade, then pizza with friends and trick or treating.  Lily was a fairy and Ben was Mickey Mouse.  Ben was not so sure about the parade, but LOVED trick or treating. He had a pumpkin container (just like Lily), a glowstick (just like Lily), and wanted to go to all the houses (just like Lily).  Do you see a theme?

Summers Farm Pumpkin Festival

Today, we took Ben and Lily to a pumpkin festival at Summers Farm in Frederick. It was great (minus the driving rain storm for 10 minutes. We took refuge in the petting zoo!)

Coloring

Lately Ben has been very into coloring. Or as he calls it, "ca-ya." Here are two pics of Ben and Lily coloring together.

Ben the baller

Ben is now tall enough to dunk... Sort of.

A boy and his Elmo's

Ben now fits in Lily's old Elmo crocs. He loves them and wants to wear them all the time!

Siblings

This morning, Lily and Ben were both up early (not unusual). This morning, however, They sat quietly together and Lily "read" Ben a book. It was so sweet!

Lily draws Bert

Lately Lily has gotten very good at drawing characters. So far she has done Mickey, Minnie, Curious George, and several of her stuffed animals. Her is one she did tonight of Bert.

Family reunion in NJ

This weekend we were in NJ for the Straus family reunion. Here are cute pics of Lily and her cousin Vivianne, te kids playing badminton, Ben putting stickers on his body in the car, and Ben enjoying his lunch on the way home.

Ben v. The Lemon

Who won?

A Quick post from Disney World

Kennywood

Today, after several rain delays, we finally made it to Kennywood. Ben rode his first rides and Lily had a blast just like she did last year.

EatnPark Cookies

The other night, we won a gift certificate to EatnPark at a Namat fundraiser BBQ. Today, Lily and I went to buy some of their famous cookies. While there, Lily posed for a picture with a giant cookie!

Children's Museum

Yesterday, we went to the children's museum with Aunt Rachel and Grammy. Lily and Ben had a great time doing art and exploring the museum!

Pittsburgh Zoo

Today, we took the kids to the zoo. We went early in the day to see the animals before it got to hot. The kids had a blast!

Siblings

Yesterday, we got a great picture of Lily and Ben sitting together after dinner. Enjoy!

Blueberries

Ben loves blueberries. He can't get enough of them. This past weekend we went blueberry picking with Grammy and Ben, just like little Sal from Blueberries for Sal, ate his way through the field. He even picked mostly purple ones!

Lily doesn't eat blueberries, but she sure loves to pick them! She filled her bucket all the way up.

A Visit with Granny

This past weekend we went to NJ to visit Granny, who recently moved up from Florida.

Ben loves his towel Grammy made

Before Ben was born, Grammy embroidered two bath sheets. Lily uses a purple one with the m & m dudes, and she "gave" the blue one with Sesame Street and Mickey characters to Ben. He is obsessed with it. So much so that he pulled it out of the basket of laundry I was folding and snuggled/attacked it.