My dad seriously went to town on our yard, and made it look awesome, because he is amazing. He and Bowman were out there raking, burning, clipping, sawing, and generally taking care of things. The man was on vacation, and he spent it doing our chores. You rock Dad. :)
We bundled up for a walk through the neighborhood and down to the river.
The incredibly colored leaves had all fallen by the time my parents got here, but the forest is beautiful anyway. We love having this little forest and its trails right in our neighborhood.
Danny treated us to multiple performances of his greatest talent: unloading the craft cupboard. As soon as you are able to wrestle the markers out of his iron fists, he is off again, unloading the mixers and bowls from the other cupboards. I never needed cupboard locks with Rayna, but obviously I am past due for them with Danny around!
On Halloween we had the most adorable fairy princess and pirate in town! As an unbiased and completely objective parent, I gave them the "Cutest Children to Ever Exist Ever" award.
We braved the cold and the sprinkling rain, and it turned out to be a great evening! All of Rayna's trick-or-treating practice (we worked a lot on volume) paid off, and she had fun!
Danny decided to break up the monotony of riding in the stroller by munching on some Cheetos. A few in the mouth and one for each mittened hand, thankyouverymuch.
By the time we made it to the end of the street, he was pretty much over the whole trick-or-treating business. Good thing someone was passing out those Cheetos.
Rayna told me that she wanted a kitty jack-o-lantern, so I put my non-artist skills to work and created this masterpiece of a kitty jack-o-lantern (with a pattern, naturally) that I was sure would impress and delight her. It did not. She told me, "Let's make another one with a kitty face."
This was my second attempt. There were no patterns with only kitty faces, and so help any pumpkin I try to carve without a pattern, so this is what she got. :)
We came home from trick-or-treating to eat dinner and enjoy the spoils. The little half-mustached pirate knows his candies like a pro, even the ones he's never seen before. Crazy how little kids know that kind of thing!
Later in the week we went to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, which was awesome!
We confirmed Danny's love of balls and knocking over blocks.
There were tons of things that were fun and interesting for kids, and adults too.
Danny was going bananas for all the slides/conveyors/buckets/pits full of balls.
Look at that face! He was having the time of his life.
Both kids stomped and crawled on this piano forever. They loved it!
Rayna made a huge bubble around herself.
These steps played the notes of the scale when you stepped on them. Love this action shot of Rayna!
Back at home, we played and took turns squeezing these two munchkins.
Over the weekend we took a trip to Dearborn to see the Henry Ford Museum. There were some amazing trains and cars there, but the only picture we have is of Rayna and Grandpa on "TV" in front of the green screen. They were quite the pair during the visit, especially considering their newly formed relationship. :) It was only last Christmas that Rayna decided she was okay with Scary Man.
On the way home from the museum we made a quick stop for one of Michigan's best fall traditions: donuts at the cider mill.
On Sunday our little baby Danny turned ONE YEAR OLD! I experienced the typical (but still bewildering) "he was born yesterday, except that he's also been around forever" feeling that comes when any little person has a birthday. I will be forever grateful for the wonderful experience it was when he was born. If you want to know what a perfect labor/delivery is like, his was it. We're talking painless, stress-less, and awesomely perfect. In a world of pregnancy horror stories, I don't hear about too many like that, and I am so grateful things happened the way they did.
Here is the birthday boy, all dressed up and ready for church!
Danny is a lightening-fast crawler, but he is not interested one bit in walking. We tried all week to encourage it, and we didn't even get one step! BUT, he did accomplish another big thing! On Sunday night, just in time for his first birthday, he learned to go backwards down the stairs! What a birthday present! (for his mom...)
After dinner and little naps for the kids, we got the party started with some birthday presents! This boy is lucky to have so many people who love him. Aunt Megan got to be there via Skype, and he listened to birthday songs over the phone from Grandma Mitchell and the Johnsons (sounds like an awesome band!), and Grandma and Grandpa Burton.
Rayna helped me with chores around the house, and worked hard to save her "monies" to buy a birthday present for Danny. She wanted to get him a doggy toy, and she picked out the best one! Look at the joy on his face!
With Bowman being half-Korean and all, we had to do the Korean birthday tradition. It's so fun, and we love it! We set out some items to represent different paths in life: a pencil (scholarly), a ball (athletic), a string (long life), money (wealthy), and a Book of Mormon (spiritual). Can you guess what Danny chose?
Then we dove into cupcakes.
It was a great birthday for the sweetest little boy. We love Danny so much, and cannot imagine our family without him.
We spent our last couple days with Grammy and Grandpa just hanging out, getting pictures taken, and enjoying our visit. Rayna loved having an audience and more players in her conversations with her toys.
Tia MayMay (it's what my kids will call Megan, per her request, hahahaha!) gave Danny a blue kitty hat for his birthday, to match Rayna's pink kitty hat. They are adorable together!
Danny's little spiky hair cracks us up. It won't lay down! Bowman said he used to judge other parents and think they were lame for doing their kids' hair like this, but now he doesn't because he knows that sometimes there's nothing you can do. Haha!
Cute kids in their matchy hats
Grandma and Grandpa Burton sent a card with instructions to get Danny a birthday present that he would love. Well, there is nothing this boy loves more than balls he can throw and hold for hours on end, so we picked out this dinosaur that bounces all these rainbow balls around inside. Danny loves it, Rayna loves it, and as long as the music doesn't play for too long, I love it too. :)
Happy Birthday Danny!
2 comments:
We loved all the fun pictures! My kids kept saying, "We want to go there again!"
I must agree with your assessment: your kids are the cutest ever! Can't believe Danny is one. What a fun week!!
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