Huskers!

It's that time of year again, college football is upon us.  We could not be more excited about this season for the Huskers!  While I was in Omaha in August, I got the boys some new Husker gear.  It was sorely needed and has been put to good use the last few Saturdays.

The boys have learned the cheers, Go Big Red!  and Husker Power!  We like to keep them in the know of good sports teams with great history. 

Maybe I should have gone up a size on Gabe's



All 6 of us watching

Bennett's Birthday Party

For Bennett's birthday we decided that we didn't want the formal birthday party.  Let's face it, the 1st birthday party is more for the parents.  So we sent out a few invites and had an open house for people to stop by whenever and watch football, eat chili and cake. 

It was the perfect day.  Decent games were on and the Huskers(not ranked) were playing Michigan State (ranked #7) on prime time TV.  Gabe helped Bennett open his presents and play with some new toys, where were all greatly appreciated. 

Bennett was ready for his cake

He wasn't too sure about the singing

Gabe enjoyed the cake

Don't Take my Cake!

We loved seeing friends and family join us to celebrate Bennett.  It was a great day and the Huskers beat the undefeated
Michigan State in the last seconds of the game. 

Side Note:  We did not stay awake for this, B had me up early and he and I saw the replay at 5am.  GBR!

Apple Picking

We took the boys apple picking this weekend.  It was cooler than I had expected when we left the house so an emergency trip to Target to get Gabe a hat was in order.  After trying to get him to pick a hat, we just found one and left. 

We drove over to Belleville Eckerts Farm and arrived before the crowds.  It was great, we walked right up to a waiting tractor and wagon and got he seats at the very top.  Gabe was in heaven sitting up there.  It was a little chilly for him at times, but we had fun. 

Gabe's new "cheese" face

We had the rows to ourselves for the most part.  It was nice to not worry about other people and just let the boys enjoy the rows of apple trees.

 Gabe wanted his own bag to fill and carried that most of the time.  I was pretty impressed with him.

Bennett's first real apple - success!

Bennett's first time apple picking

 

We had so much fun apple picking year.  I'm glad the weather was a little cooler - it finally felt like fall.  It kept the crowds away and allowed us to have fun.  Now time to make an apple pie.

Labor Day Weekend

It was incredibly nice and needed for us to have a 3 day weekend.  Scott has been working like crazy and I was just tired of being beyond slow at work.  Plus I really like being at home with Scott and Gabe. 

Friday night, Scott and I took Gabe out to dinner at Houlihan's.  We rarely eat out with Gabe and I was little nervous as to how he would do.  But he was a champ and ate a lot of his Mac and Cheese and even tried pot stickers.

On Saturday we were up early and out the door quick.  We headed to Soulard for much needed coffee and then to Wilmore Park to check out the new playground. 

Our goal was to go to the Greek Festival for lunch but a huge downpour stopped us.  We ran to the car and were soaked.  Gabe loved it.  Instead of gyros for lunch on Saturday we opted for sandwiches at LeGrands.  It had been a while since we ate there.  And of course, what is a trip to LeGrands without a free sample of little smokies.

We made got home in time to try a nap for Gabe and watch the first Husker game of the season. 

Great football game and zero napping happened.  Instead Gabe helped me make banana bread.  He is becoming a great little chef. 

As soon as the bread was done we headed south to meet Scott's parents at Garvey's for some wings.  After that busy day, Gabe was asleep 10 minutes after we left dinner.

On Sunday, Scott skipped Cross Fit and cut the grass at 7:30am instead.  I'm sure our neighbors loved us for that.  But it was sorely needed and we were trying to beat the rain.  We got cleaned up and met Scott's dad for breakfast at Bee Tree Park. 

A little playground time on a Sunday is always needed. 

After the playground we took off for the Greek Festival.  The food there is amazing.  Even though we weren't really hungry, the fresh gyros hit the spot.  Gabe did his best to pick and choose off the menu, he enjoyed some fries.  We were there early enough to catch a little bit of the Greek dancers.

On Monday we hit the mall as soon as it opened.  Gabe was in need of some new shoes and Scott and I are still looking for ways to decorate the house.  So, new shoes, Bread Co. for lunch and then a good walk around the mall for morning work out.  We got home in time to get a nap in and chill out before going to Scott's parents house for BBQ. 

A busy, but uneventful weekend for us.  The only thing we missed doing was watching the Gateway Cup bike race.  I'm sure we'll catch it next year.

Round Here

I was going for the "Round Here" sound of the Counting Crows with that title.  It's almost Thanksgiving and it has me thinking of Omaha - somewhere in the middle of America.  Although this year we are heading up to Chicago for Gabe's first Turkey Day.  Scott and I are excited to get some family time in and time away from work.

Thankfully, we haven't been too busy lately.  We've been spending more time at home, have I checked off a lot of my to-do list, not really.  However, there has been a lot of play time and practicing our walking skillz.

Gabe has started posing for pictures.  When I tried to be sneaky and catch him playing with Scott's shoes, he stopped, turned and smiled.  He is a ham and loves to see the flash.

 He started to really enjoy feeding himself.  I'm not sure if it's because he sees his buddy, Ford, eating and he is now mimicking that, but the Puffs are a way to get him to sit in his highchair.  He loves his Puffs and is starting to share with Reily.  Reily is starting to get on board with having him around for extra snacks.

 We really try to cheer our Husker's on, however, bad defense makes it difficult to watch the whole game.  So we opt for getting our picture taken in our awesome Husker's onesie.

 This past Sunday there was horrible weather around the St. Louis area.  In our neighborhood it was sunny and 72 - in the middle of November.  While Scott did some work, Gabe and I took a walk to the Aquaport and back in hopes of a nice long morning nap.  The morning nap didn't happen, but it was really nice to get outside for a while.

 Like I said, this kid likes to pose for the camera.  He really is a little turkey.

 We sent Zio Andrew a picture of Gabe holding a basketball in hopes that he sends us a soccer ball soon.  I figured Andrew should hook his godson up with a sport that he enjoyed and loves to watch. 

That's just a little bit of what is going on "Round Here."  Scott leaves this afternoon for a couple days of training in Chicago.  I'm extremely happy that this trip is in the same time zone and only for 3 days.  Ha, 3 days, that's nothing for Gabe and me.

Fall Festivies

Fall is quickly becoming on my for favorite times of the year.  We have so many things going on and it's wonderful to be outside enjoying it all.  This past weekend we finally got decent fall weather, the highs were in the 60s and it was time to bring out the long sleeves and jackets.

We didn't do too much on Saturday, we ran errands and watched football at home.  It was really nice to have a Saturday where we were not rushing anywhere or had a plan for the entire day.  And the Huskers won, so all is right.

On Sunday we got moving early in the morning to make it down to Missouri Botanical Gardens (MoBot) to check out the Missouri's Best fair that goes on every October.  This has become a yearly tradition for Scott and I, and really, it's a free breakfast/lunch/dinner depending on the time of day you go.  The samples are insane.  There are so many different types of foods to try and wines to drink.  Plus, there are a lot of woodwork and crafts to check out.  All from local Missouri businesses.  After going so many years in the afternoons, we found that getting there as close to the open works out great for stroller movement.  It was busy but we weren't constantly saying sorry for running over people.

Afterwards, we said good-bye to Michelle(she headed off to work) and on to Ursuline's Fall Festival.  This is the first year since I was a senior that I attended Fall Festival.  A lot has changed in those 15 years!  There were more booths, more kids activities, more crafts being sold, more fun to share with Gabe.  I ran into a couple people from my class and their kids.  Gabe is still just a little too young to really do anything, next year will be better.  I saw teachers and coaches from my time at UA.  Then Scott and I hung around for a little pre field hockey alumni game.  I wasn't going to play but it was nice to see my Varsity coach and cheer heckle Loreen on against a bunch of Freshmen. 

We left and headed home to enjoy an afternoon at home watching football and relaxing.  It was a very relaxing weekend and we even managed to do some cleaning and rearranging in the basement.

Fall trip to Omaha

Call us crazy, but we had back to back travel weekends.  We have returned from a quick, fun weekend up to Omaha for my cousin, Luke's, wedding.  We hadn't been up to Omaha since Memorial Day and we were looking forward to a little Grammie and Papa John time for Gabe. 

We left St. Louis very early on Friday morning.  We wanted to get as much time on the road with Gabe sleeping as we could.  It is a 7 hour drive up to Omaha and everyone gets restless in the car that long. 

Gabe managed to sleep all the way to Columbia, MO and we stopped for diaper, bathroom, and coffee break.  We were back on the road and heading to KC.  Gabe was awake for most of that 2 hour leg.  We stopped for gas and a walk around Wal-Mart to kill a little time.  My parents didn't get on the road until later than we had thought and so we needed to kill time in order to meet them when they arrived. 

We had lunch in St. Joe and then took another walk around outside.  It was just too nice to be stuck in a car but we managed.  And Gabe slept a lot.  We got to my parent's hotel around 2 and waited for them to arrive.  Gabe had a blast crawling around the hotel and listening to his hand make squeaking noises on the floor.  

Once my parents arrived we, my mom, Scott, Gabe and I, needed to do a little Husker shopping.  We went to our go-to store, Husker Hounds, and found new shirts for all.  There were so many choices for Gabe, but I think he is happy with what we found. 

We dropped my mom back off at the hotel and headed to my aunt Pam's house.  We caught up with her and got ready for the rehearsal dinner.

The dinner was at a small Italian restaurant close to the zoo.  Gabe did pretty good at dinner.  He was very tired and there were a lot of new faces all at once.  Scott and I took turns eating and hanging outside.  It was nice to catch up with a few cousins.

On Saturday, Scott went for a long run, 8 miles, while Gabe and I played.  

We met up with my parents for brunch.  Then it was time to see how Gabe likes to swim. I figured the indoor pool at the hotel was perfect.  The pool was a little chilly so we started in the hot tub and then moved to the regular pool.  I think we might have a future Olympic Swimmer!

We headed back to get ready for the wedding.  The wedding was in Iowa at at winery.  It was a beautiful location for a wedding.  The ceremony timing was perfect with the sun setting.  My cousin looked very healthy and strong, a lot better than he did at his brother's wedding 3 months ago.  Gabe did great during the wedding.  He would make noises whenever he saw one of his cousins.  That boy just wanted to play.  

 The down side to a sunset wedding was a fussy baby.  He was completely over it and just wanted to go to bed.  Scott and I snuck in line for food and then quickly said our good-byes.  I hated leaving early and not getting to talk to a lot of people, however Gabe was over the weekend and the travelling. 

We got up early on Sunday to drive home.  The Chiefs were playing the NY Giants at home at noon and we knew we would have a lot of traffic there.  We tried to avoid it but we arrived in KC in the mist of tailgating.  KC really knows how to tailgate. 

We arrived home around 1, just in time for Scott to get fitted for a tux for Mike's wedding in a month.  It's a crazy busy fall and I love this time of year.