Pumpkin Hunting

A couple weeks before Halloween we decided to take the kids to a pumpkin patch to search for the perfect jack-o-lanterns. Of course they enjoyed the petting zoo far more, but the best part was just getting out on a beautiful, unseasonably warm October day.

Lenny helps us look for the perfect pumpkin.










Faye is astonished to be so close to such a large goose.









Here she is trying to feed a goat.







Lenny decides to try the same trick.







Both Lenny and Faye are enthralled by the extremely large bunny.









What a generous Daddy, Faye has to share his yummy corn!

Happy Halloween!!!

You didn't think I would forget to post my babies in their super-adorable Halloween costumes, did you? We'll here they are in all their glory. Enjoy!!!

Here's Faye at her first Piotrowski Family Halloween party. Sophie and Harry sure have some great toys!








Just look at those cheeks! They can hardly be contained by the monkey hood.





Here's Lenny in his "monkey-suit!"







Lenny and Faye's cousin Tommy was a bat.










And their cousin Joey was a pumpkin. Aren't they cute???









That Sunday, we went with my Dad and Josie to Boo-at-the-Zoo at the Brookfield Zoo. Lenny was thrilled to ride the merry-go-round.








And after some initial doubt, Faye tolerated the ride as well.






Here's Faye enjoying her camel ride.










And then Lenny.










Faye and Ed wrestle a crocodile.










Then we headed over to the farm area where Lenny and Faye tried to talk some chickens into letting them into their coup. No luck there, but they gave it a good shot.




Lenny basks in the sun in the gravel next to the cows. You would think the smell would have made him bask elsewhere. You would be wrong.








Lenny hugs his Abuela after an awesome day at the zoo.

Autumn leaves

The things that are all over my lawn that is. Our street is beautiful this time of year, with all the trees turning yellow, orange and red. It's beautiful, but as October has come and gone, so have our lawn service guys so all those pretty leaves must be raked, by yours truly. Fortunately, the kids love to sit in the piles of leaves while I rake. It must be something innate in humans to roll around in the leaves. I know Lenny and Faye have never seen anyone doing this but as you can see, they jumped right in.


Faye was thrilled to be surrounded by leaves.






Lenny spent most of his time crawling through the leaves or chasing my rake.






"Watch out Lenny, I'm on the move!"







"Hey, Faye! You have leaves on your bottom."
"Really? You have some in your hair. Let me help you with that."




Bonzai!!!!!!!!







Huzzah!!!!!

Summer is almost gone

And what a summer it's been! Lenny and Faye have grown so much and are up and about running all over the place. I can hardly believe it was only a few short months ago that they could barely walk without someone bending over them holding both of their hands. Now, they're racing around our back yard, playing with one another, chasing the poor beleaguered squirrels and generally having a spectacular time.

Faye enjoys bouncing up and down on the couch.









Faye demonstrates her amazing (although admittedly infrequent) ability to use a spoon correctly.








Lenny shows off his "eat from the handle" technique.









Up at the Milwaukee Zoo with the Bannon clan, Faye spends some quality time yelling at the goats.








Lenny ditches the stroller for a nice walk with Daddy and Grandma.









Their cousin Annika came for a visit in August and all three babies had a good time.






Lenny still loves to have his close up photo taken.






Faye smiles and laughs whenever the camera gets turned on her.









Lenny still LOVES Ignatius.






And our backyard is where we spend most of our time now. We've got a pretty sweet set-up, what with the slides and the pool.




Faye spends a lot of time watching everything; watching Lenny push the bubble lawn-mower . . .





watching Lenny "fix" the bubble lawn-mower, watching the leaves and grass grow. This girl is a scientist waiting to happen. Empirical Observation!!!!



Lenny's a mover and a shaker. He likes to get out there and climb, push and chase. Of course they both switch roles and sometimes Faye is the active one while Lenny's busy collecting leaves to bring back inside. It's just so much fun!! We hope you get a chance to enjoy the last few days of Summer, they're going fast!

Zoo - two

Monday brought our second zoo in a week, the Lincoln Park Zoo. This time, we went with my sister-in-law, Elaine, and her two adorable boys, Tommy (who's almost 3) and Joey (who's only a couple weeks older than Lenny and Faye). A great time was had by all. Elaine is so laid back and fun, it was a very relaxing day (which a mother of twins doesn't get to say all that often).

Here's Joey, enjoying the zoo from the comfort of his stroller.






And Tommy, proving he is indeed a boy and not a monkey!









Lenny and Faye were also strolled along in comfort. Life is pretty sweet at this age, if you don't mind wearing diapers that is!




The flamingos were beautiful, if somewhat stinky.



The giraffes were lots of fun. They even stuck their tongues out at us, but I wasn't able to get it on film.

Caden's in town

This past week, my nephew Caden came to town to visit with my dad and step-mom. I love all my nieces and nephews (I have quite a few and they are by far an exceptional group of kids!), but I have had a real blast spending time with Caden whom I rarely see because he lives in Missouri. Well, this week I got the chance to make up for that. Monday, we all went to the Museum of Science and Industry. Then on Tuesday and again today we went to the Brookfield Zoo. It was a blast. All three kids had a marvelous time and Dad, Josie and I had a blast, too!

This summer seems to be my summer for the zoo, too, as I'm planning to go again (to Lincoln Park Zoo) on Monday with my sister-in-law, Elaine and her family and then again in August with the whole Bannon clan at the Milwaukee Zoo. It's good family fun and a great place for pictures. Speaking of which . . .

First stop: the lions. This is as active as the king of the jungle got during our visit. All three of the kids were a little non-plussed having expected a roar or at least some pacing.

Caden bravely got up on the fence by the lion's area and gave a growl for the camera.





After the staid behavior of the jungle animals, we went up to visit the seals and walruses. Faye actually said, "Whoa!" when she saw the seal pop up out of the water. She was quite impressed!


Faye poses with the walrus statue. She found it quite interesting as it has whiskers on it's lip just like her daddy. She patted it's head and giggled!








Lenny and Grandpa take a moment to pose just outside Pinniped Point (where the seals and walruses were).





Next we headed over to the children's part of the zoo where the kids got the chance to chase some geese and pet some goats. Why no pictures of petting the goats, you ask? Two reasons - one, we were busy trying to prevent the babies from tormenting the goats by pulling tails, ears, fur, etc. Two, we were really, really busy keeping the babies away from the copious amounts of goat droppings that seemed to be pouring out of every goat in the pen. Gross!!!!

Well, after that we headed off to the cleaner, if insanely hotter, Dolphin show. Honestly, Tuesday was hot, in the nineties with humidity off the charts, but being outside was so much nicer after we spent half an hour in the sauna that was the Dolphin show.

Here the trainers are with their charges. They were the happiest folks there because they got to dive into the water.



One happy dolphin hops up on the edge of the tank.




Group shot of some sweaty, mostly happy zoo patrons.





Faye tries to convince her grandpa to make a run for it.









Caden and grandpa hang out by the bears later on.







Caden says cheese while the polar bear cub frolics in the background.









Finally we decided to go for a tram ride around the rest of the park. The kids got to see a camel . . .



. . . some zebras . . .





. . . some giraffes . . .







. . . and some bison. It was wonderful, both days!!!!