Three Sweet Peas: Fall Update!

I can't even begin to explain why the lack of posts...only that things have been incredibly busy. It seems every night I am working on one project or another in the few hours I have before I pass out from exhaustion and blogging has not been a priority.

We are in the full swing of fall. The boat was put to bed a few weeks back. It never made it back into the water after Labor Day (for numerous reasons). Ben scrubbed and scrubbed and got it looking brand new again, fogged out the engine, and pulled to storage late September. We found heated storage for a pretty reasonable price so all we really have to do this spring, is change the oil filters and launch!

Audrey is settled in at school. Her school had Grandparents Day a few weeks back so Grandma and Grandpa Pat came for her performance then spent the afternoon with her and Ben at the Zoo. I had to go back to work but it sounds like everyone had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa treated her to the book fair and brought her flowers and Anderson a balloon. They were ecstatic!

Her teacher implemented a 3 star system where each of the kids starts the day out with 3 stars. If they don't follow instructions or get in bad, they lose a star. The first 2 weeks were rough, but I think she is getting the hang of it. If they come home with 0 stars, she comes home with a note citing the reasons why she lost stars. It has been a learning experience just not for Audrey but for us as well. Some of the words we routinely use are clearly NOT ok to use at school so we are all adjusting :)

I have to admit....as much as I love Summer, Fall is almost as good. I am loving the weather we have been experiencing. Low 70's to mid 60's, SUN, and the crisp air with no humidity! I've been getting a lot of running in at lunch time and on the weekends. I just can't get enough of this weather and sadly realize it is going to change dramatically in just a few more weeks.

One piece of exciting news.....we booked a Disney Cruise for Nov 15 to the 20th. Audrey is beyond excited and talks about it daily- which I don't mind at all! We leave out of Miami and make stops in the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. From what I have heard and researched, Disney knows how to do Cruises and it is money well spent. By the end we should be "puking Disney Magic" (per one of my FB friends). Of course we got an amazing deal :). I mean it still is technically hurricane season...... I am more excited for the kids then anything. I think that this is going to be the perfect compromise between taking them to Disney World and a relaxing vacation. Even better yet, the Stigall Family is going as well! This is our first cruise and I am sure an experience of a lifetime. To say I am looking forward to it is an understatement.

Ben continues to travel for work. He was home most of the summer and really had not traveled since June. He spent the last 2 weeks in North Dakota and talks about how amazing it was out there. It sounds like gas and oil is creating quite the boom. Fingers crossed his bid is the winning bid. I think he said it would be a $40 Mill project. That would be a nice win!

Anderson is your typical 2 year old. One moment he can me a monster and the next running at you to give you a linebacker hug and a kiss :). He is so funny to observe. Him and Audrey fight on a consistent basis and it is something awful. The screaming and crying can really wear on you that is for sure. We forget that they are not spending nearly as much time together as they were over the summer not that Audrey is in school so that presents a challenge. He is talking more and more and his words are becoming clearer (or our translation is getting better). Halloween is going to be a bit of a challenge especially since he is not a fan of his costume. We still have a couple of weeks so hopefully he can get over himself and get into his elephant role :).

We took a trip to Chicago the last weekend in September to visit Aunt Melissa. We got in late Friday night had some great Chicago Deep Dish Carry Out and spent most of Saturday at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The weather was amazing and Zoo was literally a zoo! I think the kids favorite parts of these trips are the roof top dance parties they have with their Aunt. Cheetos and juice boxes included!

Here are some pics from the last few weeks. More to come!