My Brother

Claire loves Riley so much and even calls him her brother. It is pretty cute how much she adores him and how protective she is over him. She doesn't like if I scold him so I think she is ready to be a big sister. One day she decided she needed to go out and throw the ball for him and of course she needed to wear her high heels. She taught herself to hit the ball tosser against the deck so the ball would come out. I was pretty impressed that she figured that out on her own. They had a great time playing and it gave me a chance to do some uninterrupted cleaning. :)

Berling Weekend

Pete knows how much I love vacations and get togethers with family so he planned a quick family vacation to a hotel with a water park in Eau Claire. We met both of Pete's brothers and their families there so it was a weekend full of fun, laughing, and swimming. I love that Claire has so many cousins to grow up with and do fun trips like this with. We had such a great time and hope to make this a yearly vacation.

Nastics

Claire has been asking to join a dance class for several months, but I couldn't find one that worked for us at her age so we decided to try gymnastics instead. I knew with her high energy she would enjoy it, but I had no idea that she would do so well. We were lucky enough that her good buddy Henry wanted to sign up too so it made it even more fun for the kids and the moms. She had class every Tuesday for 8 weeks and she looked forward to "nastics" every week. It was fun to see her improve and develop her skills each week. If she could learn to slow down I think she would do even better, but I can't really talk because she definitely gets that from her mom. We decided to take a break after 8 sessions and do swimming lessons, but I think we will sign her up for another class in the future. I just love the energy and passion she has for everything she does. We are so lucky to have her.

Halloween Night

After our Halloween overload weekend I was a little over Halloween, but I was excited to see what Claire thought of trick-or-treating this year. Pete had to work so Megan invited us up to her parents house to go with them, Papa Rich, Bjorn, Christina, and Tatiana. We had a great dinner with the Solbergs and then we hit up the neighborhood for some trick-or-treating. Claire was the oldest kid and she played the part pretty well. She loved running up to the houses and knocking on the doors. She did great job except when she saw scary masks and then she wanted her mom. It was a very fun night and I was so glad that Claire's costume made it through all our festivities for the actual night. I think we can officially say that we got our moneys worth out of her costume.

Halloween Carnival #2

Our friends the Skarphols told us that Eagan's Community Center puts on a great Halloween Carnival so Claire and I had to check it out. We met the Skarphols there so Claire had a great time playing games and bouncing with Hannah and Addison. This carnival was way better than the one on Friday so it will definitely be an annual event for us. They had so many games, activities and even a trick or treating room for the kids.

Halloween Party

The Monster Mash!

We already went to a Halloween dance, carnival and parade so of course we needed to hit up a Halloween party. My best friend Jennie hosts an annual Halloween party and it is always a great time for the kids. She has the best Halloween related foods and snacks for the kids and the games are a blast. Everyone else is related to the Aslesons so we feel pretty lucky to be included on this fun event.

Halloween Parade

Yes, we are attended another Halloween festivity. We definitely made the rounds Halloween weekend. On Saturday morning we attended our second annual Cottage Grove Halloween Parade with the Friemanns. Pete had to works so it was just Claire and I, but we had a great time with our friends. Claire loves playing with Sam and Adam and it didn't hurt that she also got to collect candy. Cottage Grove puts on a pretty neat parade and it is always fun for me to see past and present students.

Halloween Carnival

How cute are they!

Woodbury ECFE hosted a fun Halloween Carnival at their high school so of course we had to go. We were going to get every use out of her costume that we could. Pete was off so it made the night even more fun. We were able to meet our friends the Andersons, Huebschers, and Pete's cousin Bjorn his wife Christina and their daughter Tatiana too. It was fun night of games, dancing, and of course bouncing. Claire hasn't found a bounce house that she doesn't like.

Pumpkins

We had a wonderful family night together picking out pumpkins and carving them. Claire loved finding the perfect pumpkin and pulling the wagon around. She is such an independent girl. She even helped carve her own pumpkin. She is growing up way to0 fast for my liking, but it's fun to see what an amazing kid she is turning in to.

The Whole Paul Family

Unfortunately my whole family isn't able to get together as often as we would like so we were very excited that everyone would be together even if it was only for a night. To add to the craziness of our stay at the hospital we also had a lot of family staying at our house. My mom had come the Tuesday before and my dad flew in on Friday because of work. Then my brother Larry and his wife Jen came on Saturday night and Mikey also came over for dinner on Saturday. We lucked out that Claire could be discharged early because otherwise we would have missed out on a fun family night. Claire had a blast playing with everyone and being the center of attention.