last day of vacation

we saw three snowflakes today. we played in every corner of deedee and bumpah's house.....inside play is fun but we are ready to go home and play outside!!!  we made gingerbread houses and pete participated happily for about twenty minutes. betsy's version of participation was taking the candy off the house after deedee put it on.  pete would take a handful of gum drops and say "just one" and pop one in his mouth, then stick the rest on. it was a short fun little activity - and it will certainly be fun to see how their little candy houses evolve over the next few years. either way, i'm sure there will be a lot of candy sampling involved. that's really where the fun is anyway! :)  bumpah came home from work in time to play with the kids a bit before bed and enjoy a popcorn snack - they both thought it was hysterical to feed him so he got most of the snack in the end!  we're all packed and ready to get up at the crack of dawn and head back to our own little life in san diego. what a fun-filled two weeks its been! thank you to everyone who has loved us and spent time with us and traveled to visit us. and mostly, thank you to my wonderful parents and reid's wonderful parents for putting their world's on hold for us while we've been visiting. we love you all!

inhaling her houska for breakfast. am definitely learning to make these this month. glad this little lady likes her simpson family czech bread! and yes, her jambes are unzipped, per her request, to give her full access to her belly button.

cozy on the couch with digger in hand after breakfast. i came up with the camera and he flopped over and said "i don't like cheese!"

deedee helping betsy get the candy onto the gingerbread house before going into her mouth

candy faces

she has been having fun with this little booster seat all week - decided to take a nap in her make-shift recliner

playing "marbles" with bumpah

popcorn for bumpah

reading the  latest case ih tractor lit one more time together

last day of vacation

we saw three snowflakes today. we played in every corner of deedee and bumpah's house.....inside play is fun but we are ready to go home and play outside!!!  we made gingerbread houses and pete participated happily for about twenty minutes. betsy's version of participation was taking the candy off the house after deedee put it on.  pete would take a handful of gum drops and say "just one" and pop one in his mouth, then stick the rest on. it was a short fun little activity - and it will certainly be fun to see how their little candy houses evolve over the next few years. either way, i'm sure there will be a lot of candy sampling involved. that's really where the fun is anyway! :)  bumpah came home from work in time to play with the kids a bit before bed and enjoy a popcorn snack - they both thought it was hysterical to feed him so he got most of the snack in the end!  we're all packed and ready to get up at the crack of dawn and head back to our own little life in san diego. what a fun-filled two weeks its been! thank you to everyone who has loved us and spent time with us and traveled to visit us. and mostly, thank you to my wonderful parents and reid's wonderful parents for putting their world's on hold for us while we've been visiting. we love you all!

inhaling her houska for breakfast. am definitely learning to make these this month. glad this little lady likes her simpson family czech bread! and yes, her jambes are unzipped, per her request, to give her full access to her belly button.

cozy on the couch with digger in hand after breakfast. i came up with the camera and he flopped over and said "i don't like cheese!"

deedee helping betsy get the candy onto the gingerbread house before going into her mouth

candy faces

she has been having fun with this little booster seat all week - decided to take a nap in her make-shift recliner

playing "marbles" with bumpah

popcorn for bumpah

reading the  latest case ih tractor lit one more time togethe

meeting santa

deedee took us to the mall yesterday to meet santa.  we talked about it in the car with pete the whole time, his face totally lit up with excitement and a little bit of curious hesitation too. he was certain he was going to ask santa for a big digger (its nice when they are so specific!) and he was going to say "nice to meet you santa" when he sat on his lap. he was jumping up and down about santa's set up - there was a train and lots of christmas trees all around.  however, he wanted me to come up onto the platform with him. he gave santa a high five and then allowed santa to help him up onto his lap and answered all of his questions politely - all the while leaning away from him just a little to leave open an escape route in case he decided he needed it.  betsy, however, was not interested and was clearly on high alert with "stranger danger". i put her on his lap and she did not move the entire time, she did not look at him (or take her eyes of me lest i was concocting a plan to leave her with this bearded man) and did not move and after tolerating this game for 30 seconds she started to cry so i rescued her and let pete chat a little more with him.  pete gave him a hug and a few extra high fives and that was that.  and way to go, santa company who charges way too much for photos for giving us an extra free 5x7 to send to daddy. they also had greeting cards on the table for people to fill out and they were sending them with care packages to deployed troops. way to go!

lovely little sunday full of family fun

today was filled with more wonderful family! my aunt kathy and uncle bruce from chicago and their three grown up kids (who i haven't seen in years, one of them has never even met pete til today!) came up to milwaukee to share the afternoon. my sweet cousin liz who lives locally also came by - and her parents stopped through on their way out of town. what a blessing to be able to cram so much family goodness into two tiny little weeks...even more grateful that they were all willing to travel to us! our babies have enjoyed all the new faces and the captive audience as every takes in and chuckles over their antics.  they have both figured out the "crowd pleaser" behaviors and enjoy showing off their talents.  while both babies napped (they are both pooped and i am certainly appreciative of their willingness to take deliciously long naps during our trip!) i finally learned to play dominoes....my whole life i've only stacked them up and knocked them over. now i know how to play (even if it does involve a little counting - gotta go for the color-coded dominoes for sure!).  can't wait to play a game or six with my sweet hubby when he comes home. :)
after the company left, the kids and deedee and i jumped in the car and drove downtown to see the christmas lights. it was cute to hear pete commenting on what he saw out the car window.

the weatherman was calling for possible flurries today - he was just checked to see if there was any snow falling. unfortunately, no snow. it will probably blizzard wednesday when we are at the airport trying to head home.

my cousin liz giving b a ride in the bucket - her new favorite activity. poor p wants a turn but he is SO heavy now!  bumpah did give him a little ride. so fun to hear them both squeal with delight!

simpson cousins, all grown up. :)

while pete was "taking care of business"...she snatched up his undies and put them right on her head.   i was laughing so hard - glad mom grabbed my camera. made me think of her daddy's laundry folding antics. oh how we miss you!

whipping up some best-ever sugar cookies with grandma deedee....hope they stay soft and delicious during their three week long voyage to someone special. xoxo

pete was loving this - but had to bring his power tool to the counter to offset the apron wearing. :)

more milwaukee fun

yesterday was nice enough (barely) to be outside if we bundled up agains the wind so we took advantage of the backyard because two certain littles needed some room to romp.  the neighbors are away for the holiday and we very much enjoyed their swing set in their absence.  the stomp rocket was also a big hit with pete and bumpah. today was chilly and rainy...and we still needed some serious romping after being cooped up for most of the vacation so we hit the big backyard  for some serious play time. what a great idea for milwaukee winters - its a big open warehouse with a huge play structure in the middle and some great cars and trikes and balls for the kiddies to enjoy - and lots of open space to run. another bonus, they honored reid's service by giving us a 50% discount on our admission. hip hip for military discounts!  this afternoon while both babies snuggled in for a (very much needed) nap, deedee and i ran out to play elf and gather up some supplies for shipping to a far-away desert location; hoping it will arrive just in the nick of time for Christmas! the box is all ready to ship, except for a baking project scheduled for tomorrow morning with the help of my two teeny tiny assistants. we are having lots of fun gathering up little bits of holiday cheer to stuff in the mail and send your way, honey. :)  there will be treats for your whole team so don't forget to share. xoxoxo

wiggly, busy breakfast snuggles for her great grandma

taking a break with aunt elle to enjoy a new book gifted to pete for his early birthday

watching with delight as the stomp rocket soars overhead.

play dough with deedee

her favorite thing at the big backyard....the pink cozy coop. she rode in it, climbed in the back window, pushed it around from behind....over and over and over all morning.

the play structure with super awesome slippery slides - deedee even rode them a time or six,  following little betsy down after i caught her at the bottom. only to head right back up the ladder to do it again. :)  three cheers for deedee climbing the ladder and letting preggo momma stay on the ground.

hi daddy!!!!

the rock wall was a piece of cake for him - i think we need to hit upper limits with him next summer!

these little boys, all about 2-4 years old filled this clubhouse room with these padded pillows and had a throw-down contest. it was hilarious listening to some of the dads caution their sons to "play gentle"...i get it, no rough housing....but really? the DADs were telling them to be gentle. they are boys. this is what they do. :)  i secretly cheered pete on when he took down a kid twice his size. and then i promptly removed him to go play somewhere else before he got nailed for bullying.

betsy's first taste of hot chocolate.

christmas package teaser......pete eying daddy's treats. he kept saying he wanted to share with daddy. lol

deedee and pete attempting a game of candy land. it lasted approximately 3 minutes (longer than i bet). i think he was so excited at first because he thought there would be actual candy involved. what a let down-no jelly beans in this game?!?  i think he'll be more excited about gingerbread house making.

toting her "new" cat and lady bug beanie babies from deedee's basement in her sparkly new purse from annie

pete and his snake beanie baby, it was crawling all over the house sneaking up on all of us today. he was tickled each time we jumped and made a big fuss about the appearance of the snake.

love my little miss