A million grasshoppers!

We went on a bike adventure the other day that had me begging for more! It is so much fun watching the both of you glide across the bike trails. In fact it takes me back to my childhood days on a bike and the feeling you get when you are on an adventure with the air blowing against your face and the freedom to go as fast or as slow as you please while looking at nature along the way. (Scratch that...I never had a nature trail bike ride) I did however have about a ten minute bike ride to friends houses with 2 stop lights and multiple sidestreets to be on the lookout for turning cars! I give my mom a lot of credit for letting me have that freedom, because the thought of you two having that much freedom has me scared and feeling as though you'll be 18 and I still won't want to give it to you. 

Anyway, we had a wonderful day. You two were troopers and enjoyed being able to catch grasshopper to your hearts delight. In fact today we caught some, released many, stepped on a couple, cut one out of a net, made some a snack to a school of minnows and managed to walk away with an empty bug cage at the end of the day, as well as a catepillar casualty. Not too bad. I just loved the excitement of seeing you find another one and another one! Little Julia couldn't be any cuter or more thoughtful by yelling to Jacob, "hey look, I got one, I got one!" Or pointing out the yellow flowers on the side of the trail became they were you favorite color. 

Hops and potatoes

In September we cut down our privacy fence of hops and started digging for spuds. You two love anything your dad does with you, but if it involves hands on help with shovels or scissors then it's even better! 

Jacob wanted to take a nap on the tarp in the sun with the hops. Julia insisted on gloves to wear while digging for potatoes. One of them got their way...

The hops were completely dry when we picked them, which made them even messier! Why not bring them inside to pick? 

We didn't make a very big dent in the hops. Luckily our friends came and helped out another night. However, I spent the entire night catering to the children. Most of the times I don't like messes, but that night I would have gladly plopped my biscuits down to do a little harvesting. 

As for the potatoes...it was another successful treasure hunt. I made a big batch of mashed potatoes and am ready for a batch of soup. 

Where's mommy?!

Oh Julia...I love you so. Not sure I am in love with the attachment issues you have with me. Still, you are something. Everyone says it wil be the opposite in 14 years, but yet it would be nice to gain some freedom. So you might ask what you were like as a little girl...and right now most of our comments about how you behave usually bring a smile to our face. 

For instance:

- last night you came into our bed with a book for me to read to you at 3am!!

-today when we dropped Jacob off at school you proceeded to tell Jacob to "have a nice day, and sorry I yelled at you!"

-after riding around on our new balance bike in the dark we discovered poop on the wheel to which I discovered poop on your leg to which you just had to touch...gross

-you still love to do whatever Jacob does, which has led you to swimming underwater and attempting to dive down to get a toypedo. 

-you two were the cutest things on the piano last night...I wonder who will stick with lessons the longest (whenever we start)

- you are pretty sure about being Buddy Holly for Halloween when originally you said you wanted to be a blue monster

-you still like your milk when you wake up in the morning and go to bed at night

-you demand things "right now!"

- tonight I took the remote away from Jacob and you came to save him by swinging a cardboard flap at me and saying "if you don't give it to Jacob right now, I'm going to spnk your biscuits"

-when we got you excited to come home from Colorado by saying we are going to see Aunt La and uncle Agustin it was cute, but it was even cuter when we told you that we were getting close to home you spoke up and said "I smell some eat meal"

-anytime we do anything together you say "you have one and I have one!"

-you are so confident on the playground and I'm more at ease when you push me away to say "no, I do it"

 

Oktoberfest

There is something to say about a fall day that is filled with the warmth of the reminants of the summer sun. It could be viewed as perfect. However, imagine it with polka music, delicious beer, and pretzels as big as your head. That's our New Glarus experience and has been for the last 7 years (minus the year I was in the hospital).

I'm so glad we went this year...and look forward to many more trips! You two were that much fun:) Our friend Herman would say the same thing! 

  

Bbop, Jabba, and Jake

Just this last month, Jacob has gotten another nickname. Although our neighbor calls you Jake on a regular basis, it wasn't until this summer that Julia decided to add that to her tags of getting your attention. It came so nonchalantly and appeared to be a flash into the future of what it would be like when we decide to call you Jake. That has been our intention with your name since the day we decided to name you Jacob. Although, we were going to see if Jake fit you as you got older. Anyway, you started calling yourself "Bbop" and when Julia first started talking she referred to you as "Jabba". Then one day she became attiment that you were no longer Jabba, but Jacob!