Thanksgiving and the wineries

What a beautiful Thanksgiving we had with Laurie and Crispin and our friends from St. Louis, Steve and Erin and their kids. The weather turned out great and we were able to eat dinner outside with the kids table outside as well. The turkey turned out great and we had a wonderful time.

We also went to the wineries for a big picnic with a bunch of friends this past weekend. It was absolutely beautiful with the vines all changing colors and gorgeous weather. The kids loved running around and exploring and the parents enjoyed the atmosphere as well. I can't say we relaxed as we were busy chasing the kids but we all had a great time -- including Andrew who got a hold of an empty wine glass!

Momma, Pappa...

Andrew has had a word explosion lately. He is saying quite a few words including, "Momma, Pappa, Hannah, cheers, cheese, thank you, hot dog and Elmo." He is such a little ham for the camera and loves to see himself. He is such a cutie. Speaking of word explosions, Hannah has had one herself lately. The other day in the car, she says to me from the backseat, "Mommy, what in the world is going on? This is ridiculous." It was hilarious. Where do kids get these things from? Their mommy of course -- sounds exactly like what I say to Hannah when she gets up for the day at 5 am. RIDICULOUS!!

The Von Gunten Family singers

Maybe we have found our calling! The kids have always liked music and now Hannah and Andrew are trying to learn to harmonize! They love to turn on the music and just dance or play the instruments and put together "the band" as Caroline likes to call it. Hannah is very into the Little Mermaid and walks around the house singing, "Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun..." at the top of her lungs. They are so cute together except when they are pulling hair, taking each others toys or just aggravating each other. Katie, where is my referee shirt??

Our little mermaids...

Hannah and Caroline have always loved the water and now they love spending time with Daddy in the water. Hannah now loves to go paddleboarding with her daddy and asks to do it all the time. She just sits there with her fingers in ther mouth an just relaxes. Caroline really enjoys swimming in the canal and being towed behind the paddleboard. She has even learned how to paddleboard on her own next to Daddy. The girls are very at home on the water --- just like their daddy!

Happy Halloween!

What a beautiful night that we had for Halloween here. Trick or treating with the kids was so much fun as they had been anticipating it for weeks! Caroline dressed as a pumpkin as she had planned for months, Hannah was a "ladybug princess" as she called it and Andrew was a mini Spiderman. We trick or treated with our neighbors and even little Andrew got the idea of going door to door. He didn't quite get the candy part but he loved running around.