Ward Halloween Party

This year, as you can see, we had Avery go as a Bumble Bee. She wasn't sure about the hood part at first but as soon as we got there she left it on the entire night. This year they had the kids play games to receive candy. She thought all the toss games were fun and was really excited when she got to choose something at the end. Avery tied for first place for her little costume, although she didn't have a clue she won anything. Brian was really excited about the massive candy bar they gave her (HIM) as a prize.

We just got there so she was still nervous

This is her friend Ethan who went as the tin man, they were both so cute

Brian represented the two of us by dressing up as a mad scientist

Avery and Ethan again. Oh, I forgot to say that once Avery had her bucket in hand it didn't matter what you did she was not going to let you have it. Her poor hands were getting imprints from holding it so tightly.

Mommy helping Avery get ready for the big night. Aunt Hannah is living with Grammy and Grandpa right now so she came down for the festivities.

So cute

Here is Avery's new apron, she wears it all the time. Last night we were making pizza and she came running in the kitchen with her apron so I could put it on so she could play with the flour.

Our little cook

Carving Pumpkins

Well, we were excited about carving pumpkins this year because we actually thought Avery would be into it, but we were wrong.  She doesn't like wearing her cover and hasn't since we got it for her months ago, and then she wasn't okay with how the pumpkin insides felt sooooo we hurried and finished hers so we could take pictures.

The beginning

After taking her cover off and one bow out

Final product with Daddy

Sporting a silly face with Mommy

A Little Bit of Avery

Avery has really been into wearing mommy's shoes around everywhere.  She puts many pairs on in a day and then lines them all up in my room.  She has also become pretty anal about having things in lines not stacking and keeping things the way she likes them.  The pictures of her DVDs are a good example of that.  I was in the back the other day and came out to see this on the floor.  She also does this with the books in her room, kitchen gear, and just about everything else.  She is cursed to have two parents who are a little obsessive compulsive.

Visiting Oma and Ompa in Chicago

We had so much fun in Chicago, and unfortunately we are just now getting to share our time there. This time we were there for 8 days so Avery got to get to know Oma and Ompa a little bit better.  Every morning she would yell downstairs "Oma,Oma" as she ran around looking for her. We took Avery to a couple of fun children's museums and she had so much fun, her most favorite was in the little grocery store that Oma took her around in.  The little carts were just her size and the food looked real.  She got to put it in her basket and then up on the counter to pay.  She thought that was great.  We went to the top of one of the tallest buildings there The John Hancock Building, it is an amazing view.  We went to the zoo, play ground, Navy Pier, and all sorts of other fun things. I realized after going through our pictures we don't have any with Ompa; however, he was able to take off quite a bit of time to spend with us so he was usually there even if we did a poor camera job. Thanks Oma and Ompa for such a great time.  We miss you

Navy Pier

Going fishing

I couldn't get both of them to look at the same time

Avery loved all the cause and effects toys

It was so cold this day but Avery just kept wanting to play

Here she is with her Oma

The John Hancock Building

View of downtown Chicago

Here's Brian trying not to laugh

The Lincoln Park Zoo

The exhibits were so close, as you can see we could get pretty close to this lion, and when it roared the halls echoed.  Avery was a little scared but when we started to make the noise back so did she and then she was excited.

More lions

We forgot to bring our camera this day, so this is the only picture we have of Avery doing her shopping.