"I like to feed myself"

Jude may only be 14 months old (or he was when these photos were taken) but he's already getting his independent streak. No longer the days of clean feedings, nope. Jude has gotten to the stage where he wants to feed himself. And sometimes this works out for the better, because when Jude wants food - he wants it NOW.

And we get some cute faces out of him. Plus he has learned to say the word "Drink" instead of pointing at his cup. So mealtimes have gotten a little easier on Mom and Dad, but a little messier to clean up after.

September in the Zoo

Three years running now, Shelley has joined her friend Laura at the Zoo in September. It's so nice to go in September because the crowds are much lesser, the temperatures are cooler and it's now a tradition. Keep it up. Since we've done this three years running, we've taken some photos in the exact same spots all three years. The last two years, there was a "crashed airplane" in this spot. They have removed the plane and put up a fence now. Darn! That plane was so much fun! But we still took our photo here.

Another place that Daphne has taken her photo all three years is standing next to this tree archway. And yes, she is sticking out her tongue... First year she could barely stand. Second year she gave us a model pose...and this year - it's the tongue sticking out.

Laura brought her son Oliver. He is about six months older than Jude, so next September the zoo trip will probably have to include Jude instead of Daphne. Or have Ian come along to help with the kids. Oliver and Daphne get along great, though. Here they were sharing a snack while we stopped to watch the lions play.

The Zoo was preparing for a big charity event scheduled for the upcoming weekend. At the event, the zoo was going to auction off paintings done by some of the animals. We happened to catch in action the artwork being painted by the turtles! We just missed the hippo painting!

Always a fun day at the zoo. Is it September 2010 yet?

Parkville's Paris

A shopping district in Parkville has created a miniature Paris as a children's play area. But big kids seem to enjoy it too. Lisa and Shelley played in the Arc D'Triumph! (spelling??) Daphne's trying to run into the picture... The have a "Normandy Beach" area with steam vents. Daphne was scared of the steam, and Lisa was trying to show her it was fine to walk through...

Daphne much prefered climbing up the Lourve. Daphne's version of King Kong??

Lisa and Shelley enjoyed their day running around Parkville taking photos, which of course included one of the famous traditional shots Shelley always takes...

Go Chiefs!

Yes, Kansas City is a great place to live. But the sport teams here over the last decade or so have been a little lackluster. But that doesn't we still don't support them! GO CHIEFS! September 2008, Daphne and Jude showed their red and gold in this photo... And Shelley decided to re-create the photo in September 2009. And ironically, the kids are in the exact same outfits....Notice both fit much tighter now. My my my have the kids grown in a year!

It was quite the chore to get this photo, as you can well imagine with a 14 month old and a 2.5 year old. Here's one of the funnier "bad" ones. Classic Daphne face! And Jude is always taking off........

Sarah and Grace

Just after college, so many of our friends got married in the same one or two summers. It was always fun to share similar life experiences around the same time. And now, it's happening again. Except it's pregnancies and babies! One of Shelley's best friends has a beautiful daughter named Grace! Just look at her eyes! Grace's family lives about four hours away, so we don't get to play with her very often. So when Sarah came into town recently, we got some facetime. Daphne and Jude loved playing with Grace, too!

Sarah tried to help encourage Jude to walk more on his own...

And the traditional style picture that Shelley just can't resist....

Chadwick Weekend

Weekend trips to Chadwick are always fun...even if Ben gets hurt (and he has the last two trips!) Most of the group takes off riding their dirtbikes on the trails during the daytime, but Shelley will often take off into town to do things (like get new tattoos or retouch old ones at her favorite shop!) or visit old college friends. This trip, Shelley met up with Jody and had a fun time catching up over Starbucks! On our last trip, it was pretty cold and raining the entire weekend. Thankfully, Ian's Mom had volunteered to stay at the house with the kids. So this was a kid-free weekend - which meant we didn't have to get up at 7am....sleeping in is always a huge blessing! Thank you Marlene!! But the rain didn't stop the boys. Here is a great shot of them getting ready to go off riding.

And while they left on the trails, Misty and Shelley had to get the camp rain-proofed by trying to tie up a huge tarp over the tents.

At the end of the day, Ian still loves his toy and trips to Chadwick even more!

Playing with Friends

Occasionally getting together with college friends is a must. And while Amy and Austin Brown were in town with their family (on their anniversary none the less! They like to spend their anniversary nights at our house for some reason...) We had to see them. We also saw Steve and Andi, as well as Julie and Brad!

Daphne and Olivia enjoyed a book read to them by Amy.

At one of our favorite places to grab a burger (Five Guys Burgers and Fries) Malachi and Jude enjoyed Amy's entertainment! Amy is wonderful with kids!

It was great to see Steve and Andi too! They only live a few miles from us....hmmm, we need to see them more than just when Amy and Austin come into the state!