Toddler expressions

Josh and kenna practice their expressions on the way home from Heathers. Here are a few of her favorites:

--thoughtful--

--surprised--

--sleepy--

--shhhh, quiet--

--shy--

--mad--

--happy--

--grumpy--

--big bad wolf (she did this one on her own)--

--confused--

--crazy--

Ahhh my little actress....how silly you are!

Feeding the duckies

Last weekend was so gorgeous I was determined to go feed the ducks with kenna. I have been wanting to do this all summer...so we decided that was the day! So we gathered all the icky bread from the freezer and headed out in search of ducks.

We saw some off the DMACC campus lake. So we got out and I told kenna she had to be quiet and stay back from the water. Every time we got close they swam/flew away. So we threw a little bread in the water and then about 1000 seagulls flew in. Kenna thought that was cool, so we fed the seagulls.

--watching seafulls fly by fountain--

--there are some ducks...just ignoring us--

--notice all the bread right by the bank...she can't throw that far yet :) --

--so happy--

--more gulls and fountain--

--ripping bread it small pieces--

--"need sa more mom!"--

--she thought a seagull was chasing her--

McKenna - I so love spending these silly afternoons together....I think I have more fun than you do :)

Emmi's 1/2 marathon!

The Des Moines half marathon was quite the event. This year Emmi decided to enter and was determined to run the whole thing. We did our best to support and got there early. It was chilly so I packed coats, blankeys things to keep kenna busy and fed.

We waited at the starting line to send her off, then hurried to the next meeting point. Then, we got in the car and hurried to another meeting point, and then waited for her at the finish line. Josh had the idea of wearing my cat in the hat hat so she saw us from a mile away..literally! Was fun to watch all the runners..I couldn't believe how many people participated!

--starting point....Go EM!--

--off they go! 45 degrees and most are half naked...brrr!--

--we stopped and waited somewhere between mile 7-8--

Some crazy people were shouting the whole 30 minutes we were there and gave me a splitting headache. I also found it ironic that many people were eating doughnuts while watching people run....

--Em running towards the finish...she finished it almost 2 hours!--

I am glad we got to go support her! We went to breakfast at Perkins where Emmi had some giant waffles and immediately threw them up :( Well, she did just run 13 miles!!!!

Nolan's birthday

Two weeks ago was Nolan's (Nolo's) first birthday. It was unseasonably warm, so Shelly had the party outside. We ate loose meat sandwiches, potatoes, fruit salad and of course cake!

On the way over a tragedy occurred. Kenna was wearing a pretty blue dress and fell down and scraped her knee...pretty badly. It bled, and she had never had a scratch that bad before. After about an hour of babying it with a wet washcloth, I snuck the washcloth away and she was okay, but there were a lot of tears for the first bit!

--singing happy birthday...loudly--

--not sure what to think about that cake...doesn't like his hat much--

--hey this isn't so bad :) --

--kenna making funny faces at the dinosaur--

--patiently waiting for dunner with a cheeto appetizer--

--what a mess!--

--wow, look at the gifts!--

--we think he liked kenna's gift...we know she liked it when she was one!--

What a fun time, even with the injury. I can't believe Nolan is one already!

Happy Birthday Nolan!

Toddlers say the darndest things

I need to be better about writing all the cute things kenna says.

Lately she has a few favorite phrases:

"No, I DO IT!"
"Kenna's turn"
"Not time for (leaving, bath, bedtime) yet!"
"I get the candy!!" (after she goes potty)
"mommy will take it away!" (when she is doing something naughty)
"dese are all my fwends" (talking about people on TV, her animals, things in her book, pretty funny!)
"I no go to Headers (heather's) I stay home wit mommy!"

Everything with S's are pronounced with a yu sound. For example "yurt" (shirt) "yous" (shoes) you get the idea.

Every morning the same thing:
mommy: "Kenna, what do you want for breakfast?"
kenna: "hmmm, oatmeal, and banana, and juice and vinamin (vitamin)"

Funniest thing this morning. I am eating my breakfast and Kenna exclaims "oh no mommy, I have a problem!" She had spilled some oatmeal on her jammies, so I cleaned it up. Then in the cutest most concerned voice "oh no mommy, I have a BIG problem!" She spilled it on her chair and bib...pretty hilarious!

Fun days at daycare

Last week was Braden's last day at day care. McKenna and Braden started going to Heather's at about the same time, so it was sad to say goodbye. His family is moving, so Heather got a picture of all the kids together! How she did it, I have no idea!!

--kenna, cole, heather, nick (kenna calls him nicky), braden, wyatt and jenna--

It sounds like there is a little boy that is starting next week that is kenna's age, so they will probably have a great time together!

A few weeks ago Kenn'a friend Braden moved so they had a couple pictures of all the kids taken. I can't believe that Heather got them all to sit still! She is such a great nanny!

What a fun weekend!!

Friday night we went to Nikki's 14th birthday celebration. We started by eating at Bravo (an Italian restaurant at Jordan Creek Mall). The service was not good, but the company was! Nikki wanted to stay in a hotel at the mall and shop until it closed then go swimming with her friends. While the girls were shopping we took advantage of the pool, and Kenna and daddy swam until almost 9 o'clock!

--family at Bravo!--

--Her first time in the big swimming pool!--

--she had no fear, jumping, swimming, telling daddy to let her go....it was awesome!--

The next day we got up early, got all dudded up and went to a photo session in Boone. My friend has a professional photography studio and that is her full time job. She shot pictures of us as a family and of Kenna in her Halloween outfit. More to come on those!

After the photo shoot we went to Hickory Park for lunch, then home for a nap.

--waiting for food at Hickory Park--

That evening I decided we should call Gona and Baca and go to Center Grove Orchards. I had heard about it on the radio and it sounded like a blast! They had hay rides, petting zoo, lots for kids to do, train rides, pumpkin patch, corn maze and pick your own apples. For a girl from Washington, I was pleasently surprised at how yummy the apples were! We bought cider, pie and a half peck to take home and munch on all week!

--kenna trying to pick up a pumpkin--

--playing in the pumpkin bins--

--silly family!--

--another silly photo op!--

--the toddler train, Kenna LOVED it!--

--large view of the train--

--petting baby goats (they were SOOO cute!)--

--I am asking for a baby goat for Christmas!--

--these goats climbed on the building and all along these planks!--

--feeding momma goat--

--they had the cutest 3 little pig houses!--

--brick house--

--view of the barn--

--Josh was surprised I could milk the fake cow--

--Kenna LOVED the corn pool. Who would have thought playing in corn could be so fun--

--Baca also enjoyed it!--

--we rode the tractor to the pumpkin patch--

--Daddy and kenna tring to find the perfect pumpkin--

--gona and kenna pretending to be farmers--

--the end of a fun day!--

We took our pie home to Gona and Baca's and watched Smallville. We had such a fun and eventful day. I think we will make this a ritual every year! Kenna spent the night and she came home with stories of being the big bad wolf. I think her and Kenna had a fun morning of talking about the three little pigs :)

Sunday we did chores all morning then headed out to Grandma and Grandpa greats in the afternoon. We watched Uncle Mike harvesting beans with his new combine. Kenna and Daddy went for a ride, and she thought that was pretty neat! Hard to go back to work with all the fun we had!