Fall Fun @ The Ulrichs

Last Sunday we drove up to Oshkosh to visit with Jodi's family and celebrate the start of Fall. Karen prepared a bunch of Fall Festivities for all of us to enjoy. We had a good time!

Family picture in the front yard.

Irie and I wearing our hair wreaths.

Uncle Ryan bobbing for apples.

Another family picture in the pumpkin patch.

Aunt Laura helping Fern pick out a pumpkin.

Grandma and Grandpa Ulrich for the 4 grandkiddies :)

Karen helping Irie to make caramel apples.

Irie devouring her caramel apple....

....and Paeton looking at Irie saying "Someday that will be me!"

Benny's Birthday Party

Last Saturday, Paeton attended her friend Benny's 4th Birthday Party at Stonefire Pizza Company. Partying with a bunch of 4-year olds was a little wild but Paeton had a good time nonetheless. Here's the picture recap:

Just arriving...she was little shy.

Benny greeting his guests - you can see Jodi entertaining Paeton in the background.

I was trying to take a picture of Sophia and Paeton but Paeton wouldn't look at the camera. So...Sophia moved Paeton's head towards the camera for me.

Yummy cupcakes :)

Paeton completely fell in love with riding in this car...

....and wouldn't get out!

Kona and Elmo

Paeton has started to get into Elmo recently so we've pulled the 'Tickle Me Elmo' out of the closet and have been letting her play with him (?). Kona now realizes that Elmo is higher on the family totem pole than she. However, she's accepted her new status and has decided to be friends with Elmo. Here they are cuddling together.

Sunday School

Here's just a cute picture of Paeton having a snack before we left for church one Sunday morning. She likes to eat her snacks on this little ledge in our island that hides our microwave. It's a perfect height for her.

Dozer Day

The family and I went to Dozer Day a few weeks ago - yes, I'm still catching up on my blog. We only went for about an hour and a half but we got to do a lot in that short period of time.

Family Pic!

Me compared to the wheel of a digger.

We rode around the quarry on the back of a dump truck. Yes..I sat in a dirt pile and rode around in the dust. What I'll do for my child...

Paeton and Jodi standing in the digger.

We toured this quarry on a school bus - this picture is taken from the window of the bus.

JDRF Walk at the Zoo

September 12 was our annual JDRF walk at the zoo with a bunch of my friends and co-workers from Kohl's. It was a really good family time completing the walk and showing Paeton all the animals. She can name SO MANY animals - I know she had a great time calling out the names of the animals she saw.

This is a family picture from this year - in the green shirts.

And here's our family picture from last year - in the red shirts. My how we've changed!

Puzzles

A few Fridays ago, since I've been bad about updating my blog recently (!), I left work early to go to Paeton's daycare and take her to the carnival they were hosting in support of Juvenile Diabetes. I came in her classroom to find her completely absorbed in doing this farm puzzle. She's been VERY into puzzles recently and is getting quite good at jamming the pieces in the right places. However, I will note that if she can't figure out where a piece goes, she slides the piece around the board until it falls into the right place. Pretty resourceful huh?

Pewaukee Lake

On Labor Day, we took Paeton to Pewaukee Lake to play at the beach and get in probably one of our last nice days of summer. The weather was perfect - just about 80 and sunny. We packed a picnic lunch and the usual beach supplies and headed over there. Paeton had a blast to say the least. We actually had to lure her out of the water with snacks.

Checking out the water when we first arrived. Dad's assessment - cold.

For the first time in her little life, Paeton wanted to wear a sunhat and sunglasses. A true accomplishment!

Having fun with her sand toys.

We built a sandcastle as a family. That's her little pink tugboat swirling in the 'river' we built around the castle :)

Going in the water a little further with her dad.

Here's me attempting to survive in the freezing cold waters. The water temp didn't faze Paeton at all.

Wiping sand off Paeton's face.

Showing Paeton the seaweed.

Teaching Paeton how to people watch - I told her she needed her shades on for this so no one could tell she was looking. I also told her the pointing made it too obvious :)

Overall, a really fun day at the beach. We made yummy burgers and hot dogs for dinner and ate out on our deck. Paeton especially enjoyed the baked beans and sweet potato fries. Happy Labor Day!

Paeton Ate a Pepper

This weekend Paeton ate a bunch of her first raw vegetables. Most people that know me, know that I LOVE eating raw vegetables. There are some nights where that's all I have for dinner - a bowl of cut up carrots, peppers, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, etc. Well, Miss.Paeton, who wants to do everything mommy does, has caught on. She ate her first pieces of green pepper and cucumber this weekend. I almost died when she did it - I was yelling for Jodi to grab the camera. Sorry our picture is so distorted but this is Paeton with a huge piece of green pepper in her mouth. She loved it!

Sitting at the counter like a big girl.

Frame Park

Saturday morning, Jodi, Paeton and I packed up a picnic lunch and some 'park essentials' and drove to Frame Park in Waukesha. For my out of town friends and family that check this blog...that's only 20 minutes away but our car reflected a road trip comparable to going camping once we had the wagon, the cooler, the blankets, the sand toys, and the baby :)

Frame Park is an incredible park with it's fabulous playground and sandbox, water activities, wide open spaces, picnicing areas, real bathrooms and a train that goes by if you're lucky. We had a great morning playing with Paeton and spending time together as a family.

Heading down the tube slide.

Daddy's ready to catch Paeton.

Making new friends in the sandbox.

Getting some help from daddy.

Daddy showing her how it's done!

Back in the sandbox.

Mommy pushing Paeton on the swing.

Enjoying being 1!!

Morning Chaos

Here's a glimpse into our chaos in the morning before we leave for a typical day at work/school.

Paeton's climbing on the bar trying to rifle through all her sippy cups on drying rack. Daddy's running around in the background getting lunches packed and cleaning up from breakfast.

She finds daddy's Iphone and keys and decides to make some noise.

Paeton's telling her koala bear that she'll play with him as soon as she gets home. Pinky swear.

One final kiss and hug good-bye. See you at 5pm!

Paeton's New Boots

Paeton is participating in a 'Footwear Test Program' for some of my co-workers at Kohl's. She was given two pairs of shoes to wear for the next 2 months and then we'll give feedback on how well they wore, did they leave marks on her feet, were they uncomfortable, etc. We were told to try to have the children wear them as much as possible. Last night we gave them a good try:

We ran around the kitchen wearing them - hence the blurriness in the picture.

We chased the kitty in them.

We loaded the washer in them.

We separated the stacked luggage and climbed in them.

We worked on a coloring project in them.

And we read books in them.

Paeton loves her new boots :)