Where Did October Go?

It's been an action packed month, but with all of the traveling we've managed to do this month it has flown by!  One token Pumpkin Patch photo before we headed out of town.  We took a hayride out to the actual patch and cut our pumpkins from the vine.  They are beautiful, but have become snack food for the squirrels!

First weekend, we headed off to KC for my high school friend's wedding.  Laura Beachy became Laura Langdon.  I managed to survive as the six-month pregnant bridesmaid.  My date was good looking and we had a marvelous time catching up with all kinds of KC friends.  Pal did a fabulous job entertaining the girls during the evening festivities.  It was a marvelous event! Congrats Laura & Jesse!

Another EVV first, Fall Fest!  This was a festival on the west side and hundreds of non-profit groups make all kinds of foods to sell as a fundraiser.  We baked potatoes for the EDS school and managed to try all kinds of creative, fried food.  The girls played a couple of game, Caroline and Ryan enjoyed the mini roller coaster, but best of all, we had a rock star parking space which enabled us easy access to all of the festivities!

And for our next weekend, we headed north to Chicago!  The GNO crew got together on Saturday night, look at those darling faces below.  But the reason for the trip was to cheer on Allie Allie in the Chicago Marathon.  She had an excellent run on a beautiful Sunday in Chicago.  She finished in 4.43 and we were able to catch her at multiple stops.  Catherine Carr made t-shirts for all of us, so we were an easy cheering section to watch for as she raced past!

Finally, we headed east... to CT!  Uncle Doug was getting married and the Palmer girls were the flower girls.  Our kids had a great time playing with their cousin Kellan.  He did a marvelous job as the ring bearer, and everyone managed to get down the aisle without any tears.  The only issue of the day was the bee sting that Diana endured before the ceremony!  With a little help from ice and Benadryl, she survived the day.  However, her eye swelled overnight and the poor thing had a tough honeymoon with only one eye.  At least they were in Napa, made the most of it!  Congrats, we are thrilled to have Diana in the family.

Into the School Groove!

 The school year is off to a successful start.  Caroline was pretty tired those first few weeks after being at school five full days.  She's in the groove now and loading up on after-school activities.  Ballet, gymnastics and Kindermusik round out her collection.  She's loving Kindermusik and learning about tempo and rhythms while playing the xylophone.  We listen to the CD plenty of times in the evenings.  In ballet, she was just cast in the Nutcracker.  She'll be a bon bon and butterfly in varying performances around the holidays.  She was hoping for a butterfly part, so I'm thrilled they made her performance dreams come true.  Now we are all about weekend rehearsals when we are in town!

Dad stopped by for a quick overnight visit last weekend and we managed a trip the public TV family event.  Caroline got to meet Princess Presto (from Super Why) and Audrey enjoyed "driving" the fire truck.  She isn't into the big scary characters, similar to her sister at that age.  Audrey is still loving school.  She dances and attends Kindermusik with myself as well.  She loves following the big girls around in dance class, and can actually pay better attention than some of the 4 year olds.  Caroline loves having a "ballet student" to teach when she's at home.  Audrey is speaking in more complete sentences and learning all kinds of fabulous phrases... including "Oh yea!" She's still non-stop entertainment and makes us laugh on a daily basis.

Ryan survived his week-long orientation at the VA in Marion, IL.  I managed to survive with the help of some neighbors in the evening - they were fabulous help at entertaining the girls while I managed to get dinner ready.  He's seeing patients now (only one per hour.... can't stress the new guy out too much) : )  twice a week and loading up on his Midwest ENT schedule.  More surgeries, more patients, and he still seems very happy.

We made it to the Mayse Pumpkin Patch last weekend and loaded our front step up with pumpkins.  The girls enjoyed the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and we got to pick it right off of the vine!   We did vote that Erie has a better pumpkin patch in Port Farms... but this one will do!

I'm growing along nicely, made it to 25 weeks and can't be more ready for January.  This little person is non-stop action, so we will see what happens when it hits the planet.  Could be very interesting around here!  Guess that is the latest from September.  October is loaded with weddings and travel, we are all kinds of excited to be included in these celebrations!

Normal Life, Evansville Style

Life in Evansville, IN is fantastic.  We've settled in, met all kinds of friends and jumped into this new routine with school!  The girls enjoyed the final days of summer eating popsicles outside, swimming away and exploring the cMoe - Children's Museum of Evansville.  

We've been fortunate to have all kinds of visitors already!  Dad came into town for a super-fast weekend.  We got him to the pool, enjoyed a marvelous dinner with Sally at CKB and, of course, loaded up at the Donut Bank - an Evansville establishment.  Our Erie friends, the Garriotts, stopped by our home on their way home from visiting family in Washington DC.  They are master road-trippers!  We were just so thrilled to have an evening with them, and the kids loved a good slumber party.

Caroline is doing well in school.  She adores her teacher and is slowly talking about some friends in her class.  It makes us happy to hear about these new kiddos in her life, she still sincerely misses her Erie connections.  Audrey goes to Mother's Day Out one morning a week.  She wasn't thrilled being dropped off the first couple of times, but now seems excited to see her friend Luka when I drop her off on Tuesday mornings.

All in all, we can't complain.  Ryan's job is working out so well.  We have much more time together as a family, but have definitely realized how quickly the days/weeks fly by when the school year kicks into high gear.

Hard Goodbyes Heading to Hoosier-land!

We spent the last few weeks in Erie, PA saying good bye to all kinds of good friends and co-workers.  Ryan was celebrated on multiple occasions and couldn't have felt more love.  He was well trained during his time in Erie, and it shows that he was respected by so many.  It was incredible to experience the outpouring of love for our family as we left town.

Henry and Audrey have been good buddies for the past year.  They knew each other from the neighborhood and the YMCA.  She still asks about him when I take her to the YMCA here in Evansville, makes me sad we won't see them again.  Debbie took care of the girls while I worked at the ENT office.  I'm glad we were able to check on her one last time before we left town.

 At least HAVOC was able to pull off a solid victory for our final night of softball.  We managed to celebrate Ryan's birthday as well.  The next day we said our goodbyes at the ENT office which were much harder on all of us than we ever imagined.  Ryan connected it to the final episode of "Cheers".  The office was quiet, everyone was at lunch, and he just gave Bonnie one last hug.  They were definitely more than co-workers by the end; they had become family. We dearly miss them!

The neighborhood is a little quieter now that we have left.  Miss Denise was an incredible support from across the street, and now she'll get to know a new neighbor once our house closes August 30... a definite relief to not have two mortgages forever!

Dad requested a self-portrait before we walked into our home for the first time.  We saw it on Face Time, but didn't get to see it in person until we arrived on July 1.  It needs a little love, but it is a fantastic place to call home!

This is Ryan heading out his first day at his "real job" at Midwest ENT.  He is making the transition well, and seems to be enjoying it.  His patient load/surgery schedule is picking up which is a great sign; he wasn't used to so much free time!  Welcome home Palmer family to Indiana, I think we are "gonna like it here!"

We've Seen the "Magic"

 It was princesses, princesses, princesses for 5 days in Orlando, FL.  Ryan was at the national ENT conference taking his written boards, so we decided to tag along.  He did a great job on his exam - we will get the results at the end of June.  Best of all, we have time once again at night without him reading up on the latest in the ENT world!

 We spent two days at the Magic Kingdom.  As you can see, the girls were in heaven.  We met the Fairy Godmother, many of the princesses and the usual Mickey Mouse gang at dinner at the Contemporary Resort.  Some of our fellow residents joined us at Chef Mickey's for a kiddo feast - pizza, mac and cheese, hot dogs - they loaded up and had a few adult offerings to enjoy as well.

 Friday morning, we had breakfast at Cinderella's castle.  We walked in and got to meet/photo op with the fabulous princess herself.  Caroline did a great job and didn't let the characters scare her, which was a nice change from her usual behavior with dressed up characters!  Then we headed upstairs for breakfast, great menu - but the attendees were even better.  Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel also stopped by our tables for more chatting and photos.  Caroline was in heaven!

Caroline and I managed to check out the Electric Light parade on Thursday night and she was completely transfixed.  I don't think we missed any important events, and can't wait for the ENT conference to take us back in two years for more magical moments.

The Birthday Zone

March always starts out with our focus on Caroline's birthday.  This year she had some friends join her for a swimming party at the Gertrude Barber Center.  It is a fantastic facility in which the pool floor can be raised/lowered to any height.  The kids were loving all of the pool toys and being able to reach anywhere in the pool.  Their favorite part seemed to be running around the gym after eating cake, you could tell cabin fever had set in!

April brings us Audrey's birthday month.  She invited her friends over to share a cupcake with her.  The kids loved batting around the pinata - but in the end it took a sledge hammer to really get it open!  She's now every bit of 2... flying off the handle for no reason, while her language is jut exploding!  She's a little parrot most days, trying to imitate anything we say... Caroline thinks it is the greatest game around.  Audrey can say just about everything, but still refuses to say "please".  So strange!  Oh well, she'll get there.

And in the midst of the birthday madness, we made a family trip to Evansville!  It was great for our family to check out Caroline's new school.  She's ready to be a kindergartener next fall!  Ryan's family joined us as well, they were great babysitters and they got to see our new city.  Below is a photo of our new home, 3001 E. Blackford Ave.  We are so pleased, and bought it only after seeing it via Face Time.  Gotta love technology! : ) It will be home as of the end of June!  Now to sell our Erie house... always something.

The Never-Ending Winter

Apparently, like everyone else in the USA, Erie is never going to have spring.  Seems like there is way too much cold all over the place!  I'm needing some new ideas on how to entertain inside, this was supposed to be my Zoo month.  We should have visited it everyday! Maybe April...

We are going out of turn this month, I uploaded photos first 

and this was the order they appeared in on my screen!

Audrey: becoming quite the chatterbox.  She's able to repeat almost everything she hears - for better or worse.  But she is more clear than her sister was at this ago, so it's nice to not have to translate everything she says for other people.  She loves puzzles and has an affinity for finding any puddle that may have formed outside.  When she wakes up, she always asks for her sister which is so charming (even when they are fighting over toys)!  Next up is her big birthday month... we are ready for the 2s!

Anna: I can't believe I have a 5 year old, and that she's Kindergarten bound.  It is quite strange, but I'm really enjoying this age.  I can talk to her about things associated with the move and she really gets it.  The YMCA seems to be my saving grace these days.  I still get plenty of workouts in each week - read, time away from the girls - which helps in everything I do.  Caroline attends all kinds of classes which have really helped us get through these months.  I'm all finished packing for now, the 'For Sale' sign is in the yard and we've had a few showings.  I really can't do much more until the 'Sold' sign is up!  I did manage to survive the installation of new carpet.  It really does look nice, and you can't beat the fresh carpet smell when you open the doors.  I'm just sorry for all of the Moms whose children crawled around on our previous carpet... what a mess!

Caroline: Birthday Girl!  She's wearing a shirt made by Becky Copple.  You can find her shop "Sew Ro" on etsy... hint hint!  She loves ballet and continues to practice all over the house.  Caroline loves her Barbie dolls which is new for me.  I wasn't into them as a kid, but I'm doing a great job of corralling  all of those little plastic shoes.  In the evenings, she's able to stay up later than her sister - sh, don't tell Audrey!  It's nice to have some alone time with her in the evenings, and she respects our space when I need to work.  She's always available to watch another episode of "Electric Company!"  Next week we head to EVV for a house hunt.  Caroline (and the rest of us) are very excited to see her new school and learn all about the wonderful world of Kindergarten!

Ryan:  Does this guy look tired?  Well he survived a night at Chuck E Cheese, Caroline's choice for birthday dinner.  Call has been a little nuts lately and trying to keep up with studying and house projects, the poor guy needs a 28 hour day just to get a little extra sleep!  He was doing great at working out in the AM until last week, when he found himself shoveling more than not.  He's doing great and trying to keep his nose to the grindstone until boards arrive in May.  We are all looking forward to our Evansville trip, he gets a few days off and we get to show his Mom around our new city!