Has it really been 4 years?

Christian and Isabelle turned four on Sunday. We celebrated on Saturday with a fun trip to the bowling alley joined by Grandma Shuart, Aunt Tracy, Jack & Katie, and The Arnolds (aka Jamie & Trev). The twins had a lot of fun and by the end of the day they were bowling without any help from mom and dad, which was a big step. Carson only bowled a few frames and then was content just hanging out. He got a little upset at gift time, but nothing a few arcade games couldn't cure. Overall, it was a successful birthday outing.

Then on Sunday, since it was ther actual birthday and we had to spend the afternoon at one of their friends birthday parties, we took them out to dinner so the day would still feel special to them. Isabelle picked Olive Garden and Christian agreed as soon as he heard the words breadsticks and chicken alfredo-- which was great for mom and dad because who doesn't love the Olive Garden? As soon as we were seated Isabelle had to announce "today is my birthday" to everyone. It was very cute to see their faces light up when they came out with a candle in the middle of a bunch of andes mints and sang the birthday song to them.

A Perfect Fall Day

On Saturday, Brian's brother Mike was in town for the Western-MSU football game. So while he and Brian tailgated and went to the game the kids and I decided to take a trip to Potter Park Zoo. There was barely anybody there and the animals were all out and active so it was a great time to go. The zoo is one of the kids favorite place to visit and their interest and growing knowledge in the animals is really amazing. It was a lot of fun enjoying the weather, the animals, and just nature itself. Below are just some of the pictures I took of the kids throughout the day.

The kids spent at least 20 minutes watching and laughing at the mandrills. They were very playful and entertaining.

Chris and Carson waving good bye to the mountain goats. They hung out by this exhibit for quite some time laughing because "the goats kept honking at them."

All three kids spent some time goofing off in the big leaf piles around the zoo.

Carson trying to tell the twins to wait up for him. His little legs don't move as fast as theirs and by this time he was getting tired.

As Carson tired out and stuck back with me, Chris and Izzy B got some good twin bonding time.

Isabelle and Carson both like feeding the llamas (that are all named Linda like the llama on Diego) wheras Chris prefers to just toss the food in. He's not about to let the llamas near his hand.

Carson at the play area checking out his map to show me where we went and what we forgot to see.

Christian and Isabelle also liked looking at the map to point out all the animals we saw and tell stories of each... as if it happened weeks ago rather than a mere 20 minutes.

Now if only every day in Novemeber could be this beautiful!

Trick-or-Treat

For Halloween this year we dressed the kids up as Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. They loved their costumes so much they even wore them while playing Mario Kart at home. (They each had to be their costume character while they played. So cute!) During halloween week the "pumpkin walk" in downtown East Lansing fell on a beautiful day so we did some early trick or treating. Their costumes were a big hit and they had a blast. [A cute side story: on the way home Christian kept taking out his chips, cookies, coloring pages, and other misc non-candy treats and handing them to me. When I asked him why he was giving me all these things he said in his very matter of fact way "because mom, all I care about is the candy!"]

Then on halloween day we went trick or treating again in Ubly but with the weather soooo cold we ended up driving to most of the houses. Despite the cold, they were still able to get a lot of candy so to them it was another successful outing. Enjoy the pics!

And I can't forget about our newest addition. We dressed him up as a Rooster and he was adorable.