more vacation pics

you can see more of our vacation pics here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=147278&l=b1b62&id=1454962510 you don't have to have a facebook account to view them. there's just too many to post on here.

we had a great time. boden did wonderful on the long car ride. we got to spend a wonderful day at the beach and found some fun parks in the area too. michael's class went really well, he got great feedback on his sermon, and learned some invaluable things through the pastors & professor. we stopped over in west virginia on the way home. thanks to dad for checking hotel reviews for us while we were pulling in to charleston - saved us from almost staying in a total dump. the hotel we did find was very nice, but i'd be much happier with it if i hadn't left my brand new memory foam pillow there :( About an hour outside charleston i started looking around for my pillow...i was not happy to find out it wasn't there. but, at least we know it has company....we're pretty sure michael's black belt is there too. lol.

the beach

we made it!

many of you know that we were driving to virginia beach, va for the week this week and i wanted to let you know we made it here safely! it was a long drive...we were thinking it would take about 14.5 hrs, but it ended up being about 17! saturday night after church we finished packing and got the car all packed up. we slept for about 3 hours and then took off from st louis at 3am. i think boden was pretty confused when i got him out of his crib and stuck him in his carseat.

it really was a beautiful drive...west virginia was absolutely breathtaking - the trees were so many vibrant colors. i tried to take some pictures, but pictures from the passenger seat, through the windsheild at 70 mph don't really do it justice. we're going to actually stop on the way home and take some better shots.

tomtom (the gps loaned to us by deronda & myles - thank you!!!) was very helpful. although, it's a pretty straight shot...from st louis you actually take I-64 all the way. but tomtom was very helpful in finding restaurants and starbucks all along the way....and reminding us how much farther we had to go... tomtom says 5 more hours to go!

michael never did sleep in the car - he tried for awhile - but just couldn't get comfortable. so as of 8:45 pm est when we arrived, he had only had 3 hrs of sleep. that starbucks is good stuff. boden did really well in the car. the last hour he was a little fussy, but nothing a half a bag of grahm cracker snacks couldn't cure (does this make me a bad parent? :) )

anyway - we made it! michael has 4 full days of classes ahead and boden and i are off to explore. i think we'll hit up the boardwalk & beach tomorrow, it's supposed to be in the 70s. michael found out he doesn't have class on friday, so we're going to leave on thurs and split up the trip back... i think we'll stop somewhere in west virginia overnight and enjoy the scenery.

pumpkin patch

we took boden for his first trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday. it was lots of fun. he liked the pumpkins and the farm animals, but mostly i think he really enjoyed the dirt and rocks. he loves getting dirty - i guess it's my fault that i dressed a 15 month old boy in khaki pants to go to the pumpkin farm. who does that? :) we eventually found the perfect pumpkin. I think I'm the only one who is excited about getting it home to carve it - I love roasted pumpkin seeds! maybe i'll attempt a 'real' pumkin pie too. we also got some yummy homegrown veggies at their farmer's market. we ate them for dinner last night and they were so good....i'm thinking about going back for more.

(yes, as usual, i took entirely too many pictures...at least the grandparents will appreciate it :)

the zoo

we decided to take advantage of the incredible october weather and head to to the zoo for the afternoon the other day. we had only taken boden once before, at the end of may. he was so much more interested in all the animals this time - he loved it! it was a fun day just hanging out with the family and nice relaxing break for michael (except for the part where he pulled out his greek flashcards and tried to study while pushing the stroller - lol)

i think boden's favorite animals were definitely the penguins. they kept diving into the water right in front of him and he would squeal and point - he got very excited. it was so fun to watch him. in one of the photos you can see michael trying to teach him to throw a penny into the fountain - he had absolutely no interest in letting go of that penny, he had a death grip on it and was not letting go.

picture update

we've been pretty busy over the last couple weeks. michael is a bit overwhelmed with school right now, so he spends a lot of time studying. if i didn't mention it before, he's taking his first greek class this semester and it is really tough! after only about 4 weeks he was expected to translate a full page of greek! crazy. and of course he's busy with his new job as well, which he is enjoying. it's been a big adjustment for all of us, but we're figuring it out. we also started a parenting class at church called "growing kids god's way" - so far we're learning A LOT and loving it. boden and i have been spending as much time as possible outside. i've also been working on some more sign language with boden - he's picking up so much right now and starting to say a lot of words too. he surprises me every day. i was working on teaching him "please" last week, which is rubbing your chest. i mistakenly said "rub your belly to say please" when i wasn't really thinking...well, for the next day or two when i would ask him to say "please" he would lift up his shirt and rub his belly! he makes me laugh every day.

here's some pictures of what boden has been up to lately...

riding his scooter all around. he finally figured out how to get on it by himself, he really only goes backwards though, he hasn't figured out forwards just yet:

hanging out in his rocking chair. this was michael's rocking chair when he was little. boden loves crawling into the chair and just hanging out, drinking his milk or playing with a toy.

reading a book...he's finally starting to get interested in books for more than just chewing on them :)

trying to eat rocks...we have been spending a lot of time outside since the weather has been so beautiful lately and boden loves to be outside, exploring - in fact he screams every time i make him go inside.

more outdoor exploration...