Botanica and Riverside Park

At the end of September, there was a free Museum day. We decided to meet Crystal and her girls, Paityn and Jordyn and go to Botanica.

Crystal's girls looked adorable in their new bows from the Hillsboro Craft Fair.



Paityn and Jordyn smelling the flowers.




Me and my little guy.



Paityn, Jordyn, and Crystal.



The toddlers in a deep conversation about life.



Cutie pie Paityn!



The last thing we did at Botanica was go through a butterfly garden. There were butterflys everywhere!







Antonio was so excited and pointed them all out.




We decided to let the little ones out of their strollers, but this was a bad idea! Jordyn fell and busted her lip the concrete. Antonio started throwing a fit when he was supposed to get back in his stroller. We decided it was time to go!

Antonio admired a few more flowers on the way out. My mom always points out flowers to him when they go on walks. He's going to be a little gardener.



Naughty boy trying to pick the flowers! No no!



Antonio hitting on the older chicks. He must get it from his dad.



Oh wait, he doesn't want to do that! Run away Antonio!



We decided to go to Riverside Park after we left Botanica. The kids had a blast playing on the swings and climbing on the equipment. We decided that we definitely needed to go back there soon!








Who needs toys when you have a water bottle? Somebody remind me why I spend hundreds of dollars on toys for this kid???

Rainboots!

My best friend Melanie sent Antonio rainboots for his 1st birthday. After it rained one day, my mom took him outside and let him play in the puddles. He had a blast!





The problem is, now he wants to splash in the puddles when he is wearing his Nikes! No no Antonio!

My Little Man

These are just some random pictures of fun times with my little man.

He is getting so big! He looks so grown up in his booster seat now.



He always wants to feed me his food. Nothing like soggy Cheerios out of a toddlers slobbery hand!



Is it wrong that I don't want him to get more teeth? I love his two bottom teeth so much!



The most fun part of taking Antonio out to dinner? Him pulling stuff off the table! This time he thought he was one of those magicians who could pull off the tablecloth without knocking everything else off. Naughty boy!

Zoo with a New Friend

For awhile there, I couldn't stand to be at home. So we just kept ourselves booked up! The day after the State Fair, we met my friend Lacy and her son Maddox at the zoo. Lacy and I were best friends in high school and college. Our sons are almost the same age. It was great seeing them and Maddox was a total cutie pie. He kept wanting me to carry him.

The boys.



Antonio checking out the turtles.



Giving hugs.



Antonio loves to smell flowers. But when he smells, he actually puts his lips up to things and breathes out of his nose loudly. It's adorable!




Thanks for meeting us Lacy and Maddox! It was the first time that I'd really laughed since Antonio's dad left.

Kansas State Fair

Back in September we went to the Kansas State Fair with Sky, Crystal, Ella, Jordyn, and Paityn. It was really fun! It was also kind of hard because we had gone as a family last year. It is disappointing that things that we did as a family will never be done as a family again. But friends are the family you choose, and we love Sky and Crystal and their girls!

We picked everyone up at Sky's house in my mom's minivan. Manuevering four carseats in to the van took us a little bit of work, but we made it. When we got to the fair, we saw some horse and buggy races first. The kids were really in to looking at the animals.



Then we went to the petting zoo. Each of the kids took a turn feeding the animals. The moms each took a turn freaking out about all the nasty germs that the animals were getting on our baby's hands!





The kids thought putting their faces in this cutout was fun. Crystal even got in on the action!






After the petting zoo we went through the different buildings and saw bunnies, cows, chickens, all kinds of animals. Then it was time for lunch. You'd think we'd have a Krispy Kreme burger or some other fair food, but Antonio and I had chicken and noodles. Yum! We did eat a fried fat ball and some deep fried oreos later though!

Antonio loving his lunch!



After lunch we went to a really great toddler play area.



Antonio trying out his dunking skills.




Antonio also took a spin in one of the cozy coupe cars.



He even got his driver's license!



He took some time to do a little art too.



At some point we also saw Mickey and Minnie made out of produce. So exciting!



I insisted that we go to the Pig Races and it was a complete disaster. It was so hot and crowded. We had to wait forever for it to start and by that time, the babies were totally over it and we only saw one race.



I'm so glad to have Sky and Crystal. We always have a great time together and they've really been there for Antonio and I during this tough time.