Friends

In September I joined a local mom's group called Boise Babies and Tots.  They post a bunch of meetups that happen daily so it's nice to be able to have options of different activites we can go to.
Our first meet up with the group was a summer BBQ at one of the members houses.  The cozy coupe little tikes car was a hit with all the little ones, Brooklyn included.

Brooklyn and her good friend Anna

Our friends Kelsey and Eli who we met from church live super close to us which is nice for Kelsey and I cause we can send a quick text to the other and randomly decide to meet at the park in ten minutes.
Kelsey's husband is doing his residency for medical school here in Boise, he can be gone a lot like Thomas is so it's nice to have a friend who can relate.  Also, our girls are just a few months apart.  We've had a couple game nights with them that have been really fun.  The girls get to socialize and so do the adults.  Even though Brooklyn isn't much older than Hallie, she likes to act like Hallie is a baby and feed her, give her a sippy cup and make her drink it, hold/hug her, put her binky in her mouth.  It's pretty cute (Hallie might beg to differ).

"Here you go Hallie!"

"A little help here guys!"

Boise River

My friend Elise and I took our kids to a local park for a play date, sometime in September, and we brought along all the kids' bikes.  We biked along the river a bit and her and her kids showed us this great hidden kind of spot off of the Boise river.  It's super shallow which makes the water warmer and makes it perfect for the kids to wade in.

Later, we went back on the weekend to show Thomas.  Such a great little spot! We'll be back next summer for sure.

Helping dad collect rocks.

Art in the Park 2013

Another September event that occurs yearly here in Boise is Art in the Park.  There are hundreds of vendors with handmade goods, fair food, and local entertainment.
It was a last minute decision to go for Brooklyn and I.  It was a Friday, late afternoon, when I decided to take Brooklyn for a run in the jogging stroller.  On our greenbelt route I realized we were heading in the direction of Art in the Park and I could just run there and we could check it out.
We took a look at some of the goods that were offered and I was very impressed.  There was one booth selling wood toys that this man carved as a hobby, beautiful hand made jewelery, and a booth with handmade hairbows, just to name a few of my favorites.
We then settled in front of the main stage and caught the tail end of a group singing in yiddish accompanied by some belly dancers.  Then a latino group started singing that Brooklyn and I both LOVED!! We stayed for their whole hour and a half performance and were up in front both dancing away.
Dancing with a baby is one of my favorite things ever.  Kids are so uninhibited and just move their body however feels good to them no matter how it looks.  I am not a good dancer and when I get self conscious it makes my movements even more awkward.  But this particular night there were so many kids dancing with their moms and all types of people just feeling the music and dancing, that I just let myself enjoy the special moment dancing with my girl without feeling any embarrassment as to who saw.

Brooklyn in the bottom right corner.  Enjoying the Yiddish singer and belly dancers.

Harry Potter Party

Neither Thomas or I have read the Harry Potter books but going to this Harry Potter party totally made us want to (or at least watch all the movies ;) ). For Christmas or Thanksgiving my family would always go to the theater to watch the newest Harry Potter movie but I never really knew what was going on in the series. I am now on a mission to read the books. Maybe by the end of the holidays?

My friend from book club, Elise, started this tradition of hosting a Harry Potter party and this was it's second year. Since we were first years though we had to be sorted into our house. Thomas was Gryffindor and I was Ravenclaw.

Elise had the cutest set up of treats. Including magic potion where you put pop rocks in your soda for a fizzy/poppy surprise.

We all filled our plates up with food and then settled in with blankets, chairs, and pillows on the front lawn to watch the second Harry Potter movie. We are excited for next year's party and to graduate to second years!

Hyde Park Street Fair

Back in September we rode our bikes downtown to check out the Hyde Park street fair. We didn't really know what to expect and found it was basically a place to get fair food, buy things from local vendors, and watch and listen to local entertainment.
We had some fair food and then enjoyed watching a performance of belly dancers, before heading back home for a game night with friends.   Belly dancing is so fascinating to me! And apparently to everyone else because it seemed to be the most popular even at the fair.  It doesn't matter what size you are it seems, as long are you are confident.  In fact I think if you have a little more jiggle the moves are more noticeable.  I hope the mom's group I am part of does a Mom's night out and does belly dancing lessons!

You can tell it was hot! Snuggling with daddy, despite the heat.

Cheering for the belly dancers.

Fall Festivities

I am officially declaring that fall is my favorite season.  You can't ask for better weather, the landscape is just GORGEOUS, and the anticipation of the holidays is hanging in the air.  LOVE IT!!
Here are some fun fall memories we've made this year. There is a new shopping center that opened up and for their Grand Opening they had vendors handing out food samples, live music, face painting, people walking around on stilts, etc. I met up with some friends from Baby Signing Time class and we enjoyed a whole afternoon/evening there with the kiddos. My friend Laurie has twin boys who are about 9 months old and Brooklyn loves them.

"Hi! Hi! Hi!"

She will get up in their faces and say "Hi! Hi! Hi!" and go in for hugs and do the sign for baby whenever she's around them. It's adorable.
While we were waiting for our dinner reservation at a sushi restaurant that just opened up we listened to a live 90's cover band and Brooklyn tried her first cotton candy and loved it. At first she wouldn't eat it, I think because of the texture, but once she got a taste she was hooked.

Mmmm! Cotton candy!

They had a fun park area for kids with a big tree house and slide and Brooklyn and I both loved the slide. Laurie got some great candid shots of us going down it that I love.

I love her expression!

That's the look of exhilaration right there.

And a look of pure joy.

  Both Thomas and I love getting Brooklyn dressed up in her BSU gear for game days.

Go Broncos!

This particular day Brooklyn was standing at the door saying "I walk! I walk" so we went on a walk down the street and brought our rake to make piles to jump in. As you can see from the pictures Brooklyn loved being swung in the air but did not appreciate landing in a pile of leaves. She hates having her legs covered in anything like leaves or sand.

"You missed some leaves over there dad."

YAAA!!!

"Get me out of here!"

Throwing leaves in the air.  Thomas looks so sexy in this picture.

Run from the leaves Brooklyn!

HAPPY FALL YA'LL!!!

BSU game with the babe

We went to our second BSU game and took Brooklyn to her first.  Well, okay she was a fetus of like 6 weeks or so when we went to our first, so you can decide if it was her first or second.
We drove part of the way there and parked then biked the rest of the way so we didn't have to deal with traffic.  They have a courtesy valet bike parking where they watch your bikes for you during the game which is AWESOME!
Since Thomas is a student his ticket is free and then we just pay for a guest ticket for me.  We were on the very end of the student section which seemed to be a little less crazy.  We had some fun people behind us who entertained Brooklyn most of the game with their cheering.  Brooklyn did awesome the first half and just started to get restless after halftime so we took turns walking with her part of the third quarter but were still able to enjoy the game.  Thomas even scored some free kettle corn for us as he was walking around with Brooklyn since they were closing down.  That entertained her for the rest of the game that we were there. We left partway through the 4th quarter when it was clear BSU had won the game.

Brooklyn is waving to the band as they enter the stadium playing.

Enjoying some roasted pecans.

Trying to figure out why the people behind us are going crazy.

Checking out the crowd.

Bronco Fam

Now whenever there is a football game on t.v. Brooklyn gets really excited and shouts "GOOOO!!!!!" So on that note GO BRONCOS!!!