Letters to Leah {3 Years}

Happy 3rd Birthday Leah!

Here are some details about you in your 3rd year:

- You stated "school" in August and haven't looked back.  You love going to school and your teacher Miss Jessie.  You love interacting with all of the kids and adults there.  Your favorite kids to talk about are Mason, Emma, and Owen.  A couple of times you've even stopped in the other classroom to tell the teachers or kids good-bye, you're a social one.

- You're still a pretty good sleeper, but not quite as good as you used to be. You go to bed around 7:30 and wake up around 6:30 (but it depends on the day, because a couple of times you've tried to crawl in bed with me around 5:30.)  When you're at home you usually nap for 2 hrs, although lately it's been over 3.
- You've been in your toddler bed for about 3 months now, that might have something to do with the sleeping issue.

-Your favorite tv shows are Olivia and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, with an occasional Curious George episode.  Your favorite movies are Dumbo and Aristocats.
- You still love anything to do with cats and you have about 5-7 little stuffed cats that you ask to sleep with, but Pursley's still the favorite cat.
- You don't really have a favorite book, you just love to read.
- Your favorite foods are pancakes, spaghetti, and chicken nuggets.
- Your talking has improved so much, I love that you can respond to questions and carry on a simple conversation.
- You're really starting to play with your toys and getting into pretend play. You like to play trains, with your princess castle, color and make cards for just about anyone.
Happy 3rd Birthday Leah!  I can't wait to see all the changes and learning that happens over the next year!

Pumpkin Picking

We headed to two different pumpkin patches this year to pick pumpkins. 
The first one, Stuckmeyers, is right down the road from our house and is a smaller, cheaper, and less crowded pumpkin patch.  We went one Sunday afternoon with Sally, Trent, Brynn, Papa Jim and Mawmaw. 

 Trent and Leah enjoyed the bounce houses and blow-up slides, all free!

Our second visit to the pumpkin patch was with Leah's school for their fall field trip.  We headed to the Eckert's in Millstadt.  We'd never been to this Eckert's before and I was quite impressed with all the extras they had to offer.  I wasn't so impressed with their prices (luckily we went with the school and got a discount, but normally it's expensive), I also wasn't impressed with their pumpkin patch, it looked like they had just "planted" a bunch of already picked pumpkins in their patch, so you didn't really get to pick one off the vine, more like just pick it up off the ground.  Leah, however didn't seem to mind.

 Grandma Debbie and Papa Greg were in town to help celebrate Leah's birthday and they got to come along with us.

 Leah loved jumping on the blow-up pillow and riding the airplanes.

 Leah and Papa Greg, birthday buddies.

So much fun!  I'm sure we'll be making multiple trips back to Stuckmeyers and Eckerts in the years to come, we're so lucky to live close to such nice places where we can enjoy fun fall activities!

Apple Picking

I've got a ton of other things I should be doing, most revolves around a certain little Miss turning 3 on Saturday and preparing for the party, but I decided I need to share our apple picking pictures instead.
We headed to Eckert's a couple of weekends ago and check out their apples.  It turned out the be the perfect day, cool weather and we arrived early enough to beat most of the crowd.

 Leah loved sampling the apples right off the tree.

 After picking our apples we headed to the games and rides.

 Riding the train, I like the think that she's saying "the Cats are #1" by holding her finger in the air.

We ended the trip with a stroll through the country store and spent a little too much money on good food and apples.  

P.S. The apples didn't stay around long enough for me to make Tim a pie, but I did buy some more to fulfill my pie promise.

Go Here for some more apple/ pumpkin picking adventures
2012
2011
 

Cardinal Cutie

 I took advantage of Leah wearing her Cardinals shirt and snapped a few pictures.  I can't let the season go by without sharing these. 

The biggest smiles were reserved for her "friends".

San Diego Vacation

I guess since it's officially fall, I should finally upload our summer vacation pictures and get caught up on my blogging.

Back in June, we took our first family vacation as a family of 3 and headed to San Diego.  I'm not quite sure how we decided on San Diego, other than Tim and I have always wanted to go there and I thought it would have lots for Leah to enjoy (zoo, beach, Sea World, etc).  I was also a little worried about how she would do traveling.  Usually when Tim and I travel we walk a lot, don't eat at normal times and stay out later than Leah's bedtime, so I knew our vacation style would have to change.  We ended up having a really great time and Leah did great.  We tried to get her to nap everyday and tried to get to bed at a decent time every night.  Sorry in advance for the bazillion pictures, I tried to cut it down.

 Our first day in San Diego, we headed to the Zoo.  It was wonderful!

 The zoo has a gondola that takes you from one side of the zoo to the other and gives you an amazing view of San Diego. 

 This was the view from our first hotel room.  We would see the bay and the Midway aircraft carrier and several other navy ships.

 Day two, we headed to Sea World.  I was a little disappointed there weren't any rides for Leah to ride, like there are in Orlando, but she still enjoyed the shows. 

 I have always loved the whale and dolphin shows and they didn't disappoint.I really loved the baby whale, so cute!

After Sea World and naps, we spent the evening at the beach.

 Day three we headed to the Safari Park.

This lion might have been the highlight of my entire trip, I just think he is gorgeous.  

The safari park is affiliated with the zoo and gives the animals more space to run. 

 The safari park had a carousel, so of course we had to ride.

 I just love her smile.

 

The city passes that we bought for the week, also included a pass to the Midway Aircraft Carrier, so we took advantage.  The perfect activity for father's day, I think Tim enjoyed it the most. 

Future aircraft controller??

We spent part of the afternoon at the beach.  I didn't realize how cool the water (and weather) were in San Diego. We stuck to the sand instead of the water.

Our last full day was spent at Legoland, which was a huge bust!!  I'm not sure if it was the park or the long lines, but both Tim and I were not impressed.  We didn't ride a single ride and left with our only souvenir, a Cinderella lego castle for Leah. 

They did have some neat cityscapes made from Legos.

We spent the morning before our afternoon flight on an ocean cruise around the harbor.

The only picture of the three of us.  

Thanks San Diego for a great time!  We hope to come back!