I love Fall!

Payton in his new play house

This weekend was very relaxing! We spent Friday night celebrating our last night of freedom before Graham puts us on a VERY Strict budget, which begins Monday:( We went to Boston Blackies, a new Burger/BBQ restaurant in Naperville and had a great meal. We treated ourselves to some Oberweis for desert by the request of Payton:) We met Alyssa, Andy and Emma at the Montgomery Fall Fest on Saturday. It was such a nice day and the fall fest was a great place for kids. They had a jumper, slide, petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides and many other activities. Payton was a bit hesitant that day but I think he still had a great time. We had a few couples over Saturday night for our Game Night. It was so nice to see them, have a few drinks and hang out. On Sunday we spent most of the day outside. My parents came over for breakfast and then Payton and I headed over the park after his nap. Payton is getting his top canine teeth so he hasn't been in the best of moods but they are coming in now and he is much happier. He has such a sense of humor these days and when people are over, he is such a ham!!

Another busy weekend:)

I know it would be weird for me to ever say that we didn't have a busy weekend so I will just conitinue with the trend of "busy weekends"! On Saturday morning we woke up at 5:30 in order to go get a number for the twice a year resale that is run by one of the elementary school's PTA. They hand out numbers at 6am and open the doors at 7am. Graham got there at 6:05 and got number 39!!! I thought for sure we'd have a better number than that. All the good big stuff gets taken right away so I was pretty bummed. I had been looking for a little house for the backyard all summer long and never found one. When I got into the resale, which is all baby stuff, I saw only ONE house and nobody had claimed it. I felt like I had won the lottery:) It cost me $30 for something that is for sure over $100 and it was in great shape! Payton cried when we had to take him out of it to break it apart and put in the truck:)

Later that day we went to the Shedd Aquarium with my family to celebrate my Dad's and my Sister's birthdays. The kids were pretty good, Emmett was definitely the best behaved:) We went out for pizza later and then headed home. On Sunday, we went out to breakfast to this place we had said we wanted to go for the past 4-5 years. It is a restaurant called, Charlie's, and it is at the Clow airport in Bolingbrook. Payton had so much fun watching the planes take off and land while we ate breakfast. The food was good and came out quick, which is key when eating with a toddler and the best part is that it was very reasonable priced. We can't wait to go back!! We went out to the Bolingbrook Promenade later in the day and let Payton play in the splash pool before heading home for dinner. It was a great weekend!!! Now, GO BEARS!!

Graham and Payton watching the dolphin show

Clapping for the dolphins

Payton, Jolie & Emmett

Payton & Jolie acting silly

Chicago Skyline

Time With Friends

Exploring the tunnel at Cosley Zoo Looking at the Skink
Cole, Tricia and Payton at the exploration table

Jovani, Tricia, Payton, Jordyn & Cole at Cosley Zoo

Austin attacking poor Dora

Payton in Ally's Mickey Mouse Ears

Payton & Francesca playing in the sand table

With their matching jerseys on:)

Go Bears!

This weekend we spent a lot of time with our friends, while Graham did some work around the house! The weekend started out with Payton having to be picked up early from the sitters on Friday with a 103 fever but thank God it ended up not being anything serious and was up and running around again on Saturday. We went to the Cosley Zoo in Wheaton on Saturday morning with some of our play group friends. They had an exploration class in the barn where they got to touch snake skin, turtle shells, feathers and the zoo keeper brought out a bunny and a skink for the kids to touch. Believe it or not, Payton actually touched both animals and didn't cry once:) Saturday evening we went over to a friends house for another play date! Needless to say, Graham got the entire day to himself and is in the process of cleaning out the garage and getting it prepped to paint the floor.

On Sunday, we went out to the Outlet Mall to pick Payton and Mommy up some fall clothes since neither one of us has clothes that fit us anymore:) Then, we we went over to Brady and Emily's house for the Bears game! It was a fun weekend and filled with lots of good company:)

Not much new

Brady, Francesca, Payton & Graham at swim lessons
Francesca & Payton

Payton smiling with his new cousin

Payton pointing at the baby

Well, there is not much new this week so I will post some more baby pics of Emma and a few pictures from Payton's first swim lesson this session:) My friend Emily's husband and daughter are in Payton's swim class so Emily and I will have a great time hanging out while watching them! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Baby Emma!

Emma GraceMommy (Alyssa), Graham and Emma
Mommy and baby

Proud Uncle with Emma

Proud Aunt with Emma

Isn't she so cute?

Today we went to see baby Emma and boy was she cute. She is such a peanut! Alyssa and Andrew look great and are just loving their new daughter. The are naturals at it and are going to be great parents. Graham and I are just so excited for Payton and Emma to grow up together and to be able to do so many fun things with the kids. Payton already knows how to say Emma but as of right now he associates the name with a stuffed turtle:) Tomorrow he will meet his cousin and hopefully learn that Emma is the baby not the turtle! We are so excited for Andrew and Alyssa and are so proud of our new niece.

New Baby Cousin

Emma Grace was born yesterday, Sept. 7th at 7:22. She weighed 5lbs 1oz and was 17.5in long. She is so cute!!! I will post some pictures after our visit later today. You can click on Andrew and Alyssa's webpage to see a couple of the pictures they took.

Playing with the girls

Francesca & Payton Payton & Mia
Mia

Payton

Leaning in for a kiss

Stealing another kiss while Mia is not looking Francesca, Payton & Mia

Mia

Today we had a play date with Becky, Mia, Emily & Francesca. We went to Emily's house after work and Payton got to spend some time with his favorite girlfriends:) The kids are all very close in age, 3 months separating each of them. Payton had a hard time dividing up his time between the two girls and was very aware of how they would feel so he denied most kisses in fear that one would get jealous! There is a picture of him sneaking a kiss with Francesca while Mia was busy playing. Thanks Becky for some of the pictures:)

Great Weekend

Payton catching the wind with his tongue Al & Cyndee
Payton's cheesy smile

Graham & Payton

Andrew & Alyssa

Bouncing on the tube

Driving the boat (we were really docked:)

Snoozing with Mommy

Florence Henderson (a.k.a. Mrs Brady) at the parade in Naperville

Old time fire truck

Payton with Nana & Papa at the parade

This weekend was very busy but FUN! We relaxed on Friday night, making sure to get everyone 100% healthy before the weekend officially started. On Saturday, we had a family friend's wedding which was nice because Graham and I got out by ourselves for a little bit. On Sunday we headed out to Morris, IL to spend the day on Andrew & Alyssa's boat with Graham's family. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. There were only a handful of people out due to the fact that many of the places that you could put your boats in were closed due to flooding so we really lucked out! Payton did really well on the boat and finally crashed in my arms around 3:30! I really didn't think he would be able to fall asleep on the boat but I guess he was tired enough. We ended the evening with Oberweis ice cream to celebrate the family being over the stomach flu:) On Labor Day, I met my parents at the Naperville Labor Day parade. It was a nice parade but a bit longer than I had remembered it being. Payton loved the characters that went by but was not so impressed with the loud bands! Well, we couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend and hopefully after a few more hot days, we'll see more weather like this.