Nanny and Pappy came to visit!

 Just before Halloween Nanny and Pappy came to visit.  We all had a great time! With their help Brett and I were able to replace our broken shower and finally finish painting the interior of the house.  There is no longer any builders white in the living areas.

 These home improvement projects were bookends to a wonderful weekend.  Conner took Nanny and Pappy each to the Lake Mary to show them the dock and the fishes.  Each trip took about 2 hours!  In addition to show off "his lake" we all got to go to the pumpkin patch.
When you ask Conner what is the best part about the pumpkin patch, he will tell you..."everything!"  This year we were old enough to try to hay maze with Nanny.  We did run out ahead but were good at coming back and not going too far so that Nanny got lost.  Everyone needed pumpkins this year.  So we had quite a few to load on the the hay wagon.

We always have such fun with Nanny and Pappy.  We can't wait for Christmas when we get to go to Minnesota and play at Nanny and Pappy's house.

Halloween has come and gone

Halloween has come and gone again.  This year Conner wanted to be Bob the Builder.  After hunting every Target in Lawrence and Topeka I finally found a part of overall that work!  Believe it or not, the hard hat was the easiest part of the costume to find!

can we fix it? YES WE CAN!

Once again we joined our playgroup friends for a fun night of trick-or-treating.  We all meet at the Japanese peace garden on Mass St. and attempted to get all the little ones to sit for a photograph...did you know that trying to get 10 excited kiddos to sit still for a photograph is like herding cats?

After we got home, Conner and mom went around the neighborhood for a little more trick-or-treating while dad got dinner finished and handed out the candy.  

Here is Conner with the pumpkins and the spider web that we used to decorate the front porch

look mom - i took off their hats!

Conner and dad's creation on the left and mom's attempt to make big bird on the right

The hardest part for a little one to understand about Halloween is that all the trick-or-treating only last one night.  For a few days after school Conner kept asking if we could got trick-or-treating and hand out candy again.

Oh, what a full summer we had

I finally loaded our summer photographs to the computer and was remember what fun we had this summer.  Conner and I spent a weekend afternoon at South Park listening to the fiddle competition.  The little man had a great time and even did a little dancing.  Everyone at the park loved his hat - a Easter gift from nana and pappy.

There as a great Lego exhibition in Topeka this summer - so Conner and I decided to hope in the car and have a "Conner and Mommy Day" in T-town.  Conner really liked the Lego art but had a hard time with not touching...He kept trying to figure out how many pieces were in each one. At the end of the art exhibition we went to the Art Lab and make our own Lego Art.

but how many legos are in it mom?

"the broken red bridge that will never unlock" by Conner

The highlight was not really the legos but the huge art installation by Patrick Dougherty.  Who would not love running in and out of a structure made from sticks!!!

you can't find me!

This year we decided to try the Renaissance Festival for the first time.  Mom was up for some medieval fun, dad was craving a turkey leg and Conner didn't know what to expect.  

We start the day with a joust.  Conner was mystified by the huge horses and the Knights.  

It took him a little while to get used to all the people dressed up in costumes and talking funny. (Mommy why that man wearing tights?  Why that lady sound funny...)  After a few explanation we think he got it, if not at least he started to relax and have fun. After the Joust we found the petting zoo and Conner and dad had a great time feeding all the animals.

Next up was meeting some knights and trying on a helmet.  Conner was really good at sharing the helmet with a little girl right behind him.

And what Ren Fest would not be complete without an elephant ride and a huge turkey leg...?

We had a long and fun filled day.  But before we could go home Conner had to visit the animals once more and attempt to hug each one and tell them he loved them.

Conner and Isaac's summer vacation

So as seen in our other post, cuz Isaac came to help Conner celebrate his 3rd birthday.  The first thing to greet Isaac, Andrea, Jace and Grandma was the HEAT!  They arrived at the tail-end of this ugly heat wave we have been having in the lower Midwest.  The first day in was 100+ and the Wisconsin clan was not ready for the 80%+ humidity either.  Well luck for them the temp dropped on Conner's actual birthday and for the rest of the trip Conner, Isaac and Jace  got to play, and play, and play outside.

On Conner's birthday, he asked to go to the Zoo so we all piled into Grandma's rental and drove to Topeka...minimal sleep the night before lead to naps on the way to the Zoo.

First this...

...than that

yes, Isaac that is an elephant behind you

After the zoo it was time for our birthday haircut.  Have i told you all about how much hair my child has on his head!!!  its a lot and it grows faster than mom or dads!  This year we waited until Grandma come and let her give the cut!  we think it looks great!

dad wrangles the boys for a post-haircut all male photo-op

You might think that with three cameras, two moms, a grandmother and a dad we could have had tons of photos of the boyz...you would be wrong!  these two boys would ham it up for about ten seconds for the camera and by the time you hit the button - they would have jumped all over each other - or were on to better more exciting things.  We finally wrangled the boys with the help of dad.  If you look carefully you can see Jace in the background.  I was told by Conner on the last night, to leave baby Jace alone because "he was Aunt Andrea's and not your, i'm your baby mommy"...i think Conner likes having mom to himself.

last day - the boys finally sit still and ham it up for us

Conner Turns 3

We can't believe that just three short years ago we were only a family of two.  Conner has added such joy and excitement to our lives, its hard to remember life without our little man.

This birthday was almost as hot as the actual day of birth three years ago.  This year we had the great pleasure of sharing our birthday with our friends and family, Grandma Chris and the rest of the Wisconsin clan came to visit us.

the "tool" cake - the saw is Conner's new fav tool!

while we didn't get any tie-dyeing action shots - you can see the rainbow of colors on mom's hands...

Conner and Isaac playing with one of our fav gifts - a Thomas lego set!

one of the many "cars" gifts  - he didn't want to take this one off!

We tie-dyed t-shirts with our friends before we had brats and burgers for our birthday lunch!  We were so lucky to have such great gifts, get gots some amazing stretchy dinos, Thomas movie and toys, Cars, Cars, and move Cars, and a great painting set from nana and pappy

As wonderful as the birthday party was the day ended on a sad note when Conner got a HUGE chunk of deck lodged in his foot.  Grandma to the rescue!  As few hours of water, needles and tweezers and the deck was removed from Conner's foot.  Tons of tears, hugs and kisses and the foot was better by morning - all in time for the ZOO!!!  and another b-day party with mom, dad and the visiting fam.

Conner and nurse grandma having a foot soak between trying to get the deck removed from this foot

Fair time

Conner and Mommy finally had some quality time at the end of the month and decided to go to the first day of the Douglas County Fair.  (County fairs are new to some of us, lots of animals - real farm animals not just for show)
Since we got there so early, the only things to see were the horses and the pony ride...you can see where we spent our time...  I think Conner liked the ponies!

Our new cowboy

can we go again please?

In fact we liked the ponies and the fair so much we took the Wisconsin clan with us the first day they arrived. Grandmother, aunt Andrea, Isaac and Jace all come to visit us for Conner's 3rd birthday - but first they had to visit the fair.

look a camel at the fair!

this pony is taller mom!

hold on isaac - isn't this fun!

look how tall we are!

summer trip to MN

We just got back form a great trip to MN to see Nanna and Pappy! While there we also got to spend time with the Bouressa family!  Conner and Jackson has an amazing time playing together. We got to meet little Will, one of new cousins.

Conner and Jackson played hard at everything - from the playground to the zoo! Even though the state of MN shutdown on July 1, they were finally able to reopen the MN Zoo on our last day in MN. We all spent about three hours enjoying the huge zoo. Best part about the zoo was the sharks and dolphins!!!

The crazy wake-up call that Brett and I got on the eight hour trip to and from Kansas, is that Conner is almost completely potty trained!  Every two hours Conner let us know that he had to go and after eight hours his pull-up was DRY!  Here's to another chapter in raising a child.

Until next time love and hugs from Kansas

Thomas the Train

This year so finally got to see Thomas the Train when he came to Baldwin, Kansas. We all had a great time - who wouldn't with a day out with Thomas!!

We started our day out with a school bus ride from the parking lot to the train station. The ride on the bus was almost more exciting that the actual train ride...almost.

The first thing we saw right off the bus as a fire truck! Conner had to try out the drivers seat - he looks good!

Then up was the train tables and climbing slide.  The train tables were under the tent and had tons of great trains to play with!  Then was the slide and our little man just kicked off his shoes and climbed up before i could get the video camera out.

Next up was an amazing ride on Thomas the Train! It was a cool day so we decided to ride on the open-air flat car.  Thomas pushed and pulled us through the country side of Baldwin. When we got back to the station, we got in line to get our picture taken with Thomas.

Great day for the Popp family!  And a great way to start our summer!