Preschool!!!!

Well Tristen finally started her first year of preschool. When we took her to the orientation meeting I was a bit nervous to how she would react. She cried for a little bit and she was clingy, but after a few minutes and after her teacher taking her into the class (so she couldn't see Jason and I) she was fine. A couple days later it was her first official day of preschool and Tristen did great....or so I thought. The substitute teacher neglected to tell me when I picked her up the first day that she cried for the first 30 mins. Anyone who knows Tristen and her cry knows that it is not the little girl quiet cry, it is the ugly everyone hears me cry. Thankfully almost 2 weeks later she absolutely loves going to preschool!!!!!
Anyways Tristen has school 3 days a week, Mon, Wed, Fri, for 90 mins each day and her teachers are the local high school kids (the preschool is through a high school). Well so far so good and I have no complaints myself. Below are some pics of Tristen on her first day of school.



Pic. for my mom to see Tristen in the dress she bought her.

"Last Fling" Naperville, IL

Well over the labor day weekend we decided to go to the "Last Fling", end of summer bash with our friends the Ashworth's. We figured we might as well give it a shot since we weren't leaving town. Well we ended up having and great time and the kids had an absolute blast. We first went to the kids section where they enjoyed free inflatable slides/climbers, a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, and free products being handed out. I was pretty impressed by the amount of stuff they had for young kids and to top it off, it was busy but it was a very enjoyable busy (wait in line for maybe 2-3 minutes for a ride). After we were done with the kids section we decided to go to the carnival just across the street. We had some yummy things to eat and then the kids were ready for the carnival rides and games. So after a couple more hours of fun and exhaustion our day was complete. I think we ended up being there for 4-5 hours. Crazy stuff but I think the Last Fling will become a end of summer tradition for our little family!! Below are some pics of our fun day.


Tristen and her friend on the carnival ride, she was screaming the whole time not because she was scared, but rather b/c she thought she was funny and get a reaction from others.


Blake posing while at the petting zoo, he loved petting the animals


My little "Ham" in the background having a great time with her friend on the slide


Tristen and dad playing the shark game

:)
The end of a long day, we weren't even out the parking lot before they passed out...I was ready to join them

Update: Summer Birthdays

Back in June we celebrated Blake's 1st Birthday. I am shocked at how fast this past year flew by! We decided just to have a small birthday party for Blake so we could enjoy family time.It is funny to see how much his little personality has changed over the past few months.....he is still our sweet little guy, but he is certainly starting to hold his own when it comes to Tristen taking things from him. But it is fun seeing Tristen interact with Blake and you can tell how much she loves him. She is always asking where's "Bud" if he is napping or playing on his own. (Note we would have pics of of his bday but just shot a video of him and we have no still shots, bummer I know, next time daddy can help with the cake and mommy will take the pics)

Also in August we celebrated Tristen's 3rd Birthday. We had another family over, and Tristen loved all the presents and attention she was given. We also decided to go away the weekend of Tristen's birthday to downtown Chicago. We booked a nice hotel room and enjoyed a fun evening at the Rain Forest Cafe. The next morning we decided to go to the beach. The kids had a blast and it was a beautiful day outside. The weekend was perfect until we got back to the car and notice Blake looked like a speckled egg. No it wasn't the chicken pox or the measles or anything like that (I believe in vaccinations), but after a couple of days of being stuck in my house (because his skin, face included looked diseased) and his skin wasn't clearing up I decided to take him to the doctor's. I would have taken him to the dr.s earlier except I always hesitate because the doctor normally tells me that whatever "it is" needs to run its course and that he can't do anything for him.....yes then I feel kind of dumb and I wasted my $$$$. Oh well, anyways I guess Blake had folliculitus. Basically ALL of his hair follicles were infected and inflamed from the bacteria in the water (Lake Michigan). Gross....all of us were fine, but Blake has really sensitive skin and allergies. Well I got the response from the doc. that I expected.....it had to run its course and there was nothing I could do that would really help. Oh well, I was just happy to know the source of his "speckled egg" syndrome. Well below are some pics of Tristen's b-day and a couple of our trip to Chicago (the camera died). Note: we do have pics of Tristen's bday b/c I was in charge of the camera.


(Out of order, but us at Rainforest cafe, wish the camera had more juice to capture our adventures that weekend)


Tristen after eating her purple dora cake, she got 2 cakes for her b-day b/c I promised her a dora cake but ran out of time to make it. Thank you walmart :)


Tristen and her buds Hudson and Olivia


Tristen eyeing up her cakes, after dinner the kids went out and played in the pool and on the splashpad