Okay, for some reason I can't get the pictures to move around so we'll just have to go in the random order that I uploaded them, okay?
Since I've posted last (it's been a while - sorry!) we've been doing lots of fun things! One of them was going to the Hot Air Affair in Hudson with Grandma Gwen, Grandpa Rich and Cousin Alex. (BTW, if you want to google this event, don't forget to type the "air" in the title like I accidentally did. You will get some very different results!)
It was so cool to watch these giant balloons - probably 20 or so on one big field - get blown up and take off. They are so huge when you are standing next to them!
Ryan and I also went to the "Moon Glow" that night where they all get blown up on the field and lit up. I felt a bit like I was in War of the Worlds with all these huge balloon things around me (we were literally in the middle of all of them at one point) but it was pretty awesome looking!
There's Grandma Gwen and Alex cuddling up while the balloons were getting blown up. We went inside to warm up with some hot chocolate and look at the craft fair right afterwards.
The first night of the event there was a parade where all of the baskets from the balloons came down the road lighting up their fires. It was amazing how huge of flames there were! Even standing on the sidewalk, we could feel the warmth of the flame as the baskets passed.
When we weren't looking at balloons and such, we got to swim in the pool at the hotel where Rich and Gwen were staying. We had a great time and I think this event may even become an annual tradition for us.
Another weekend, another fun adventure with grandparents! These pictures are from last weekend when we went to Little Chute, WI to visit Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Sharon. They took us to Appleton's Building for Kids which the girls loved!
Their favorite part was the water room where the kids get to put on little raincoats and play with all kinds of water things. The girls especially loves this water slide thing. They would put a rubber ducky at the top, watch the water carry it around, and then they screamed with delight when the duck plopped off the end of the slide.
I mean, just look at our excited faces!! That's Abby in the very first picture above and the ones directly above and below this are of Claire.
We also climbed in giant pumpkins (Claire below), went down the slide, looked at frogs...
... and played in Clifford's dog bowl (Claire below)! It was a great time.
During our visit, we also discovered that putting Daddy's hoodie on the girls makes them look an awful lot like Obi Wan Kenobi.
I also got to see my incredible friend Amanda during our trip as she lives way over on that side of Wisconsin, too. It was great to have a couple of hours to just chat with her without babies and whatnot to distract us. Hooray for grown up time! She sent a belated bday gift for the girls - the games Elefun and Gator Golf. For any of you with young ones, I highly recommend them! The girls LOVE LOVE LOVE playing them.
Speaking of playing, we got to have a couple of playdates with another friend of mine, Kira, and her daugher Zania. I hadn't seen Kira in about five years so I was very excited when she told me she' d be in town helping a friend who was having a baby and I would finally get to meet the adorable Zania. Despite Abby's reluctance to share some of our toys, the three girls seemed to have a good time and I really enjoyed seeing Kira again!
On a random note, Grandpa Mike recently got back from a golf trip to Laughlin, Nevada and brought back these Tinkerbell shirts that Abby is modeling above. They are our new favorite shirts. Thank you, Grandpa!
The girls (Abby in stripes and Claire in red) were great helps packing for our big trip to Little Chute!! They have been quite adorable and snuggling lately. Since we're two now, we've given up having pacifiers during the day and when we don't have our fingers in our mouths, we are talking much more. I love hearing what they have to say!
Speaking of turning two, you may have noticed there's a post missing about that. Well, we had a very low key celebration at Chuck E Cheese on the girls' actual birthday and of course, I forgot my camera. Luckily Grandma Gwen and Grandpa Rich took lots of pics, so before you call Child Protection, factor in that the girls have three sets of wonderful grandparents who help take good care of them. :)
Happy almost spring, everybody!
And even a couple times by ourselves!
The girls got to spend lots of time with Grandma Gwen and Grandpa Rich. They really loved playing at their house. That's Abby above pretending she's a monkey. They also came to visit us at CTV, where Claire found something that reminded her of Daddy...
And Abby had fun running under an easel!
The following weekend, we got together withSteph, Andy and Alex, as well as a couple of folks from Ryan's work, and went to 5 Guys Burgers and Chuck E. Cheese.
The girls mostly stuck to the cars that rock back and forth, particularly the one above with Chuck E. Cheese himself (next to Claire), the CLifford one below (Abby driving)...
And this school bus one (Cousin Alex at the wheel). The Chuck E. Cheese mascot came out eventually, too, and the girls were beside themselves with excitement. So cute!
Daddy also built us a fort in the sun room, which we've gotten to play in a lot on these warm November days. Cousin Alex came over to play, too, which Steph, Andy and Ryan did some painting on the Mays' renovated house. (They added a whole second story! Check out their blog at 
We got to spend Thanksgiving with our other cousin, Lily! Isn's she cute in her pink dress and new bob haircut? All three girls are sick (Claire has a cold, Abby a cold and an ear infection, and Lily a cold with a bad cough), but that didn't stop them from running around and laughing hysterically, especially when second cousin Blake crawled around them in cirlces.