Trip to NJ

Last week Eric and I took the kids to New Jersey to visit his cousin and her family and to attend his Uncle Charlie's surprise birthday party.  We stayed in NJ with his cousin and her family.  She has 3 boys and all the kids had a great time together.  It was so fun seeing them get to know one another.  Eric and I had a wonderful time hanging out with his cousin Cris and Sean.  They are so much fun and great to be around.  Here are some pictures from our trip:

The morning of our arrival a friend of Cris offered her a free bouncy house.  Of course Cris accepted and the kids had a blast playing in it.

I was lucky to get a picture of Braden who does not like getting his picture taken

The little kids hanging out with Sullivan who is 10

The front room at the Grace family's house has been designated the wrestle room.  Cris and I watched Eric take on 5 kids.

Sullivan playing legos with Ashton

All I can say about this photo is "kids and electronics"

Braden and Cate got along very well and Braden enjoyed teaching Cate how to play games on the iPad

Cris is a phenomenal cook and we ate like Kings and Queens while we were there.  We all hung out on the deck and ate her homemade guacamole and salsa.

I think this is a very cute picture of Devin

Sean and his boys

Cris marinated ribs and chicken wings for dinner one night and Eric was in charge of grilling.  The food was amazing.

 The reason we went out east was because Eric's Aunt Janice planned a surprise 70th birthday party for Uncle Charlie in Brooklyn.  We had a great time at the party and Charlie was completely surprised.  Cris brought a bunch of things for the kids to do so they wouldn't get bored.  One of these things, which was a huge hit, was balloons for making balloon animals.

Our best attempt at getting a picture of all the kids at the party

Cate playing rainbow with Aunt Rita jean

Cathy also brought games for the kids and one of them was pin the party hat on Uncle Charlie.  The kids thought this was funny.


We had a great time out east and will have to do it again soon.  We loved seeing the kids get to know one another.  Family is so important and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful one!

Fall Fun

So far we have really been enjoying Fall:

Cate had a tea party with Ashton and then had just as much fun washing her dishes in the sink

Cate did Aunt Pat's hair for her

Cate and Ashton are really into water paints

Cate and Ashton at Miss Juliana's house where they go to daycare/preschool.  They did a performance for me when I picked them up after work.  (Ashton sure looks thrilled)

Cate and Ashton figured out a way to play with each other.  Barbies and fire trucks. 

My parent's were down this past weekend and Grammy got them both pumpkins to carve.  Cate didn't really want to touch the gooey stuff.  It took a while for Ashton to warm up to the idea of putting his hand in there.  Overall they had a great time carving the pumpkins.

Then Ashton and Grandpa Rlowe played trucks

Today I took the kids out for a walk to enjoy the fall weather and colors.  We had a great afternoon.

The kids gathered leaves and then threw them over the bridge to see if they could get them to land in the water.

Much needed blog update...

I haven't updated the blog in a while.  We have been very busy and time is flying by.  Here is what we have been up to:

We celebrated Eric's Birthday about 1 month ago

Eating lunch

Ashton has started preschool.  He is so excited to have his own backpack.  He is going to preschool at Miss Juliana's which is where the kids go while I am working.  She has a preschool program in the morning and then watches the kids the rest of the day while I am at work.

The kids are really getting the hang of their strider bikes.

Ashton loves playing in the sandbox 

Cate loves coloring with chalk

 My parent's came down from Steamboat and spent a few nights at our house.  It was great to have them visit.  While they were here we took them on a hike up the Castle Rock.

Aunt Steph came for a visit too and brought presents for the kids.  She brought Cate a Barbie Dream House and Barbie clothes.  She brought Ashton some legos and a power drill set.  They love their new toys and they had a great time with their Aunt Steph.

My parent's gave Eric an ice cream maker for his birthday 

Grandpa Rlowe and Ashton running around in the yard

We had a great dinner with family and friends

Last weekend Eric and I had a garage sale and Cate and Ashton set up a Lemonade stand.  Cate doesn't look too excited in the picture but she had a great time and she ended up making $25.

When Eric is out of town we seem to spend a lot of time at parks.  We love this park because we can walk to it from our house.  The kids are growing up so fast and they look so big.  The older they get it seems like the more fun they become.  I love these two kids so much and enjoy every minute that I get to spend with them!  (Ashton only wanted to swing so I didn't get very many pictures of him)