Week in review

I normally am GREAT at updating this thing within hours of taking pictures but lately... not so much! So here's a review of what went on last week with my aunt and mom in town.

Sunday stroll in the park
What do you do when it's freakishly 80 degrees on a Sunday in October? Clean your house because your mom is coming to town? NO!! Go for a walk at the park and take a million pictures!! We went to Happy Hollow Park and had a great time playing with our camera. We tried all kinds of settings and just enjoyed the unusual heat. We saw the Purdue train, beautiful colors, soaked up as much sun as we could, and just enjoyed being together.

Chicago

We drove to Chicago to pick my aunt and mom up from the train station. We got into town a little early so we drove down Lake Shore Drive and took some sunrise pictures of the city. Then we decided to wait at the station for them to arrive. We were VERY happy to find a Jamba Juice at the train station. For those of you who don't know what that is, I feel sorry for you. For those of you who do know what that is then you can understand why I was so excited. After putting the suitcases in the car we drove down to Navy Pier and walked around. Next we had Giordano's pizza (Of course! Could Jesse go to Chicago and NOT get pizza?!) and then headed south for Lafayette.

Looking out on Lake Michigan from Navy Pier

The Sears Tower
Pumpkin patch
We took my mom and aunt north of town to a pumpkin patch. They have a petting zoo, hayrides, pony rides, and all kinds of games set up for kids. We all had a great time! I still haven't carved the pumpkins but I figure Halloween isn't for over a week so I still have time.

The kid made her laugh SO much! I was afraid it would scare her, but nope, she just kept laughing away.

She LOVES pumpkins just like her mother!!

On the hayride out to the pumpkin patch

This is the view of the field from the hayride.

The pumpkin I found was so big I had to have Jesse pick it and then carry it to the wagon for me.

Aunt Billie found a blue pumpkin that we're going to paint like Frankenstein

Rosalee and me in the pumpkin patch

Jesse bringing his pumpkin up the path

Aunt Billie, Mom, and Rosalee in the field

Rosalee loved having pumpkins tall enough to stand against

Our pumpkins!!


While out in the field we saw another family. Amazingly we knew them from church! We had so many pumpkins that we needed a wagon to get them back to the car. Their son helped Jesse push the wagon back to the cars. Rosalee had SO much fun sitting in the wagon with all the pumpkins. I was afraid she'd try to climb out, but she stayed put and laughed the whole time.

Unbirthday birthday party
My aunt and mom wanted to have a birthday party for Rosalee since they won't be here for her actual birthday. She got a toy phone (which she LOVES!), a stuffed doll, a car seat, some socks (we are the COOLEST parents!), and a potty chair. So far she just likes climbing on the potty chair, but has NO idea of what to do with it. For dinner my mom made a WONDERFUL stuffed chicken that I think we all gorged ourselves on. Even Rosalee had some rice and chicken for dinner. My aunt made her potato salad, which is one of my FAVORITE foods! Seriously her potato salad puts all other potato salads to shame.

My sad attempt at frosting and shaping cupcakes... good thing her birthday is in a couple of weeks so I can try again!

Reading with Aunt Billie while dinner cooked



She had A LOT of fun making a mess with her cupcakes! She fed herself, fed her mom, smeared frosting, licked frosting, and ate like a pig. At first she just poked at the cupcakes but it didn't take too long before she knew what to do. I love the top picture of her laughing because it truly shows what kind of person she is turning out to be.
Crazy end of the week!
After having a nice week with my aunt and mom things got a little crazy. I drove them to the train Saturday morning to find out it was 3 hours late. With our extra time together we went to the Farmers' Market. We drank hot cider, ate Russian food, and tried not to freeze the baby. Thinking we were smart we went to the train 1 hour before we thought it would leave to see it pulling away from the station! Apparently the train gained speed and made up for lost time. So Jesse drove like a madman on the freeway to catch the train at the next stop. We made it there about 5 minutes before the train came. Hectic, yet memorable. After some consideration we decided to put Rosalee in her new forward facing car seat. She looks so small in it, but it should fit her until she's big enough not to need a booster seat. We also had our friend Theresa come and stay Saturday night with us. It was nice to see her again and spend time with her. The week was crazy, but we loved every minute of it!

One of Rosalee's winter hats
My mom and aunt at the Farmers' Market

Passed out in her new car seat.

Our friend Theresa (we taught with her in Russia) came to visit us on her way to Utah.
Exhausted after a busy week! (That's her new stuffed doll she's snuggling.)