First Time Apple Picking

Chris and I haven't been apple picking since we were little kids.  The triplets have talked about wanting to go for some time, and since our raspberry farm friends suggested a mom and pop farm, we went for it!

It was funny because on our way, we passed by a very busy pumpkin/apple farm that was just packed with families.  I was so happy when we pulled into this beautiful little farm complete with a store selling jams, donuts, apples, etc.  The lady was really nice and we purchased a bag for picking.  She told us to go ahead and pick from the aisles that had a flag.  This was a rare year because we were allowed to pick Honeycrisp apples, my absolute favorite!

We could not believe the amount of apples that were on these trees.  Not to mention the dozens and dozens of apples that were on the ground.  There were tons of bees, but they were just interested in eating.  Of course, the kids wanted to grab every single apple they saw, but we limited them to each pick one at a time after we inspected them.  And let me tell you, these apples were huge!

This little girl was content walking around.  Thankfully she did not pull any from the trees!

It was so nice to pick apples in peace and not have a dozen people around us.  We were the only ones there!!  And the apples: DELICIOUS!!!  We will definitely be back next year!

Brooklyn-17 Months Old

This girl amazes me more and more every single day.  If you could just hear her talk, you would be shocked!  She repeats everything you say so clearly!  I know that she is learning from her brothers and sister.  

Her daily schedule:

Wake up around 5:30-6:30 A bit early, but she wakes up happy!

Nap time: 9:00am-10:30

She used to take a second nap in the afternoon, but now we pick up her siblings from school, and that interferes with the time.

Sleep: 7:30-8:00pm

I can't believe how independent this little girl is.  She will just do her own thing and be so happy.  She definitely does not believe that she is 1 year old.  The high chair barely gets used as she climbs up the stool to the counter.  She will just sit in the craft room and play with crayons and markers.  Often times she is running around between the first floor and the basement.

And I cannot even explain how much she adores her siblings.  She always wants to be around them and mimics everything they do.  So much so that we always have to remind them to watch what they are doing.

When it is drop off and pick up time at preschool, she just walks in like she owns the place.  Somehow I don't believe she will mind going to school ;)

We just cannot wait for Halloween to come and to go trick-or-treating next month!

Raspberry Picking 2013

The big kids don't have school on Fridays, so we try to do all our big outings then.  It has worked out nicely as Chris is usually off, too.  Today, we decided to head to our favorite farmer's house for some yummy raspberry picking.

We found this guy last year through a website, and he and his wife are the kindest people!  They have all kinds of raspberries and do not use any pesticides.  Plus, he has some animals that he lets the kids feed.

The kids were very eager to pick their own berries this year.  We had to keep telling them to only pick the ripe ones and leave the others.  They did a great job!  Funny how Abby loves to help pick, but doesn't eat any of it.

Afterwards, we went to feed the chickens.  The farmer gave each of the kids some bread and he called them over.  The kids also found some crickets, which they just love!

Brooke was not afraid to just walk up to the chickens.  I was more worried that they would peck at her!

The farmer had this great, old pickup truck that I just had to photograph.  Such a cool color, too!

We took home so many yummy berries and look forward to our trip back next year!

Soccer...It's How We Spend Our Saturday Mornings

Another first around here...Soccer!  You should have seen us going to pick out the gear.  I was clueless as I have never played!  We have practice Wednesday nights and games on Saturdays.  

Can I just say how much I love this league!!!  The coaches are fantastic and knew the kids names by the second practice.  They know what they are doing and keep the kids occupied the whole time with drills and games.

I can definitely see improvement with each and every practice.  Abby is quite the go getter.  She will go up to the ball, but is afraid to get in there and actually kick and steal the ball.  Jack tries, but definitely not his hardest.  He will chase after it, but again, our kids are just not aggressive.  Josh, that boy!  He is a bit lazy and doesn't run after the ball.

Thankfully, every weekend has been wonderful and it really is exciting to watch the kids play.  They have come such a long way since the first game when they would stand there and pick their nails.

We have also lucked out that in each time the kids have played goalie, there has been a lot of this going on because the ball barely went their direction.  Woo hoo!

And the uniforms are just so darn adorable!!!

Our team is so fantastic.  Our neighbor's son is on the team as well as a girl from their old preschool.  We met some wonderful people and see a lot of people we know when the other team practices with us on Wednesdays.  I will actually be sad when the season comes to a close at the end of October!

We Love to Ride Our Bicycles!

Can you believe that these kids have never ridden bikes?!  I mean, they've ridden tricycles and Big Wheels, but never big kid bikes.  These bikes have been sitting in our garage since Easter and it was finally time to give it a try.  

The kids had to get used to leaning side to side and it was a bit difficult trying to pedal.  Let me tell ya, it was a bit tiring running behind each of them!  But, after a little while, they had the hang of it and didn't want to stop.

This little girl was happy chasing them!  I was worried they were going to plow into her as they didn't know how to stop yet.

I was super proud of them for not giving up!

First Day of Preschool 2013

Well, our first day started off exceptionally well.  If you remember last year, Jack wouldn't even pose for pictures.  Today happened to be our 8th wedding anniversary.

The kids are going to preschool four days a week for 2.5 hours in the afternoon.  On the first day, parents and siblings were invited to stay for 30 minutes and then leave.  The entire half hour, the trio just stayed glued to us.  Granted, there weren't too many toys out to play with. Brooklyn, however, made herself at home and went to every section of the room to play.

Then it was time to leave and it was just pure chaos.  All the parents left and their kids were fine and happy.  Ours started screaming and hanging onto us for dear life.  They were pleading with us and they even managed to hang onto Brooke's leg.  The other parents just looked at us with sympathy.  Oh my goodness!  I have never seen anything like it.  The teacher's were getting the wrong impression of our kids!

Chris took Brooke and left the classroom while I tried to peel them off of me.  Each teacher took a kid and the program director took the third.  They couldn't believe how strong they were!  Finally, I managed to escape.  

We then went to the pediatrician's office to drop off some papers and on the way back, received a call that Abby and Jack were still screaming and crying and we should come back.  What?!  Who were these kids?!  The director said that Jack and Abby were waiting by the door crying.  So we went back and agreed that only Chris was going to go in the class.  Josh had calmed down shortly after we left and went to a table to color.  When Chris went in, he said that Josh walked over and took Abby's hand and led her to the coloring table.  Good, one down.  Jack was a bit more difficult to calm down.  It took the director taking him into a special room to pick out a toy to play with and he was happy.  Chris escaped and the director gave him the okay sign to leave.

I was so relieved to see Chris walk out to the car by himself.  I thought they would be with him and this wasn't going to work.  

When we went to pick them up, the teacher said they were completely different kids.  I told her they were never like that!!!!!  She said that they agreed that tomorrow they would not cry.  And you know what?  They didn't!

Labor Day Parade 2013

Time for our favorite parade: Labor Day Parade in Schaumburg!  This year, we brought our good friends, the Edwards family.  Our kids absolutely adore their girls and follow them around everywhere!

The kids were ready with their bags!

Brooke was happy to be free and walk around.  I love how older girls just love little kids.  We will have some great babysitters for her!

And here's Lizzy!  She held Brooke throughout most of the parade.  It is so funny how Brooke doesn't mind sitting with and being held by other people.  The triplets never would have let that happen!

Once again, the kids got an absolutely insane amount of candy!  Our friends couldn't believe how full all the bags were.

Afterwards, we had lunch at Portillo's.  Brooke slept the entire time, which made it easier for me to eat. We had a great day!