JAMAICA!! Ya Mon!

We survived planes, trains, bus and car travel with our 2 year old and had a great week in Jamaica. We left our house Friday morning after Thanksgiving at 3:30 a.m. with lots of luggage and Memaw and Papa in tow. Lauren did great. She truly couldn't have been any better. She was patient in the airport waiting for our flight, played a little on the plane, then took a two hour nap. We couldn't have imagined it to go any more smoothly. After we arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica, we took a two hour bus ride to our hotel in Negril. What a beautiful resort with a fabulous beach and pool. Lauren was in heaven. She would love to be on vacation all the time...swimming in the pool everyday, drinking non-alcoholic strawberry daquiris, dancing at night, and eating unlimited hard boiled eggs for breakfast everyday! What a life!!

We went to Jamaica with about 15 of our family members to celebrate my cousin Christopher's wedding to Alexis. It was a beautiful setting for the wedding. And Lauren was very excited to be the flower girl. She did a great job and of course, looked completely adorable. She got about 10 steps down the aisle before she had to stop to take off her shoes because she got sand in them. Wouldn't want a girl to be uncomfortable. Click here.

Each night the staff at the resort put on a show. Lauren was fascinated with the dancing. She even went up on the stage. The first night she stood there most of the time with her hands in her mouth watching the other kids dance. But by the second night, she was much more comfortable and followed along so well. She is so old! I can't believe it! Watch her doing the hokey pokey here.

We had a great time in Jamaica! We wish we could have stayed longer. But we came home refreshed and relaxed and looking forward to the Christmas holiday season.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time---

Halloween Extravaganza!

We've had a great week celebrating Halloween. We carved pumpkins last Sunday. Lauren actually liked getting her hands "ooey gooey", but I don't think her Daddy liked it so much. I carved a great Hawkeye pumpkins...it was great until the squirrels took a nice bite out of the face the first night. Well it was pretty cute until then.

A few weeks ago, Memaw and Papa were in town to visit so we took them to this great little pumpkin patch near our house. Lauren loves it because they have lots of rides--her favorite thing.

Halloween week has been filled with lots of fun events. We started with "Trunk or Treat" night at Lauren's daycare on Thursday night. It was a really neat idea. People decorated the trunks of their cars in the parking lot and the kids got to trick or treat to eat car. It was a great and safe way to enjoy trick or treating. We celebrated the success of the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-0!!) this football season by decorating our truck with Iowa football paraphernalia. Lauren wore her Iowa hawkeye cheerleading outfit, complete with black and gold pom poms and Justin & I wore our Iowa shirts! It was a great night and stopped raining long enough for trick or treating. Lauren loves cheerleading and is often showing us her "new cheers." Check out her cheering here.

Our friends, Trulie, Mark and Jessie Simpson came over on Saturday to visit and Trick or Treat in our neighborhood. We had a great time! Lauren was dressed as a little lion and Jessie was a little monkey...and they were so adorable! They were very polite and both got way too much candy! I guess Mommy will have to help eat some of it. Click here to watch our little lion in action.

What a busy week! We're looking forward to the upcoming holiday season (I've already started my Christmas shopping!)

Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--

Lauren in Concert

Our summer plans have finally slowed down and we have been able to enjoy a few weekends at home.

Lauren got her haircut last weekend and the stylist gave her pigtails. It was so cute and made her look so old. (sniff sniff!)

She's really interested in playing with her babies lately. She's such a little mother and likes to take them shopping in her shopping cart and feed them their bottles. Very cute.

As you know, Lauren loves to sing. She sings all the time...when she goes to sleep at night, first thing in the morning, all through meals, etc. I finally was able to catch a few of her songs on video! I hope you enjoy her songs as much as we do. Her favorite right now is "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band...."You know I like my chicken fried, cold beer on Friday nights, a pair of jeans that fit just right and the radio up. I like to see the sunrise, see the love in my woman's eyes..." As you can see the love in my woman's eyes is apparently her favorite line.

She likes to sing about the weather too. Watch here.

And of course, we couldn't forget the classic, "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Click here.

We're excited it is finally football season...two big games this weekend Iowa v. Iowa State (Go Hawks!!) and Bears v. Packers. We'll be watching with anticipation.

Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--

Crivitz with the Simpsons

We had a great weekend at the cabin in Crivitz with the Simpson in August. Lauren and Jessie loved playing together and of course, we always have a great time hanging out with Mark and Trulie as well. The weather was perfect and we got to enjoy some time on the boat and at the beach. Enjoy a few pictures from our weekend.

Diva Lauren!

Here is my two year old going on thirteen year old daughter, Princess Lauren!! She is very independent and wants to do everything by herself.
The other evening, I told her it was time to go upstairs and take a bath. She looked at me and said, "Stop with the attititude, Mom." WHAT? Needless to say, that didn't go over very well, but it's so hard to correct those things when you're trying not to laugh. Just yesterday, we were headed to the grocery store and I was trying to hurry her along and she said, "Let's go pal." Who knows where she comes up with these things, but needless to say, she keeps us laughing and I can't wait to hear what she says next!

Fair Fun!

Lauren has discovered that she loves fair rides!! Every summer the DuPage County Fair takes place across the street from our house. This year she and Ashley had a great time riding on all of the rides. Lauren's favorite was the great big ferris wheel! I think Uncle Mike and Justin were holding on tighter than the girls!

They also got to ride on the train and the giant slide. Wheeeee!! We love having the fair so close. Someday I hope Lauren gets to participate in all the fair activities just as I did growing up.

One of my other favorite summertime places growing up is Adventureland!! We drove to Des Moines to meet baby Molly at the end of July and also managed to squeeze in an afternoon at Adventureland. (For those that have never been to Adventureland, think mini-version of Six Flags.)

Lauren loved riding all the rides with Nick and Steph. Nick was so good with her and held onto her on the train and held her hand through the park. He's a great big cousin! Lauren would have loved to ride all of the big rollercoasters too...it's too bad she's only 36 inches tall! Maybe next year...or when she's 18 if her Mommy has anything to say about it!

The biggest moment of our trip to Des Moines was meeting Baby Molly Jane!! She is such a sweet baby girl and we barely heard her make a peep. We can't wait to see her again. Lauren talks about "Baby Molly" all the time!

Thanks for checking in on us. Summer is winding down, but we're trying to squeeze in every last minute of summer we can get. Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--

Crivitz 2009!

We spent a great week in July in Crivitz, Wisconsin with Justin's entire family! When I say entire, I mean 20 people (10 of which were 11 and under!!) We really had a great time and had some really good weather. Lauren loved playing with her cousins everyday. She was sad to come home and leave everyone behind.

We spent the first part of the week enjoying some time at the beach. Lauren loved playing in the sand and riding on Boppa's boat. Lauren liked the boat better this year than last, but still wasn't particularly interested in going fast. Good thing Boppa takes driving instructions from his granddaughter!

One evening we went to Caldron Falls, one of the favorite places to skip rocks! Lauren didn't quite "get" the skipping rocks, but loved just throwing rocks into the water. It turned in to one of her favorite activities for the week...throwing rocks into the water off of Nonny and Boppa's dock. Watch her throw rocks here.

Of course Lauren is silly as ever. She thought it would be funny to put on the lady bug floatie. This is how she wore it:

She is definitely a silly little monkey and says the funniest things sometimes. One night as I was putting her down for bed, I asked her if she was having fun. She said, "Yeah, I'm gonna tell my parents about it." I laughed to myself and asked her if she knew Mommy and Daddy were her parents. She said, "No, You not my parents." Oh really?

We spent one morning exploring the small waterfalls at Veterans Park while the rest of the crew went to Laona. It was such a nice morning and we had the park to ourselves. As we're quickly discovering, Lauren is fearless. She wants to do everything herself and isn't afraid to try new things. She definitely does not get that from me!

Lauren also got to try out her first S'more! Mmmmm! And she loved it. Who wouldn't? Gooey marshmellows and chocolate? The second picture is all 10 of the cousins!

The end of the week was a bit chilly, so we had to find some indoor activites. One afternoon I caught Lauren dancing with some of her cousins to Mary Poppins. How cute! Watch her here.

Each year we try to get a grandkids picture with Nonny and Boppa. 10 grandkids...whew!! But they're some of the cutest kids I have ever seen (Lauren's in the hat in the front...Thanks Gigi for such a cute outfit!)!

Thanks for checking in on us! It's been a fun summer so far!

Until next time--