October

McKay started preschool this month and l.o.v.e.s. it. I knew he would. Max always wants to stay and play when we take McKay to his class. The class I ended up doing is though the Rec center in the city next to us. Check out McKay's cool Toy Story lunchbox. I have enjoyed having one-on-one time with Maxwell and each day McKay wonders if they will paint or color or what animal they will talk about. He has preschool Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Tuesday is our park playgroup day, Thursday is story time at the library, and Saturday is soccer. The fun never ends!

These boys love to play with cars. Maxwell is always so anxious to get to play with McKay when he gets home from preschool so I typically wait a bit before I lay Maxwell down so they can have some time to play.

A whole new world has opened up for Maxwell... YIKES!

After McKay's soccer game on October 15th we drove to my mom's sister Mary's home in Palmdale, California. Her youngest son Cory just returned from the Ft. Worth Texas Mission and spoke in church on the 16th. McKay was anxious to get to play the drums he remembered from 2 years ago when we were there for Cory's farewell and Maxwell quickly caught on.

Grandpa Cardon did a triple-take when he saw me. They didn't know were were coming. It was so great to get to see them!

My Uncle Sam and his family were there and the kids were anxious to swim in the pool. I didn't even think about bringing swimming suits... something about it being October, windy and cool. The boys were disappointed though so while Jordan visited with Grandpa and Grandma Cardon outside, I took the boys inside to play the drums, play pool, and drive fast cars. McKay surprised us by knowing the basics of playing pool. His game is a bit simpler though... you win every time you get a ball in the hole. :)

I love the expression on his face.

Maxwell and I slept in one room and McKay and Jordan slept in another room. I think Max was too hot because he couldn't seem to stay asleep until I turned the ceiling fan up on high. So with his short nap on Saturday, his late Saturday night bedtime and difficulty falling asleep, he was wiped out! He doesn't usually sleep in the morning but with 1:00 church, we knew we wouldn't make it unless he took a nap. Only problem was after 1 1/2 hours he was still in such a deep sleep he was hard to wake up. Since we got home he has been taking longer than normal naps and both boys have been sleeping in. I guess we effectively wore them out!

We have so little vacation that it is hard to make it to all the reunions and get-togethers. Even then, just because I am able to make it one year doesn't mean other cousins will be there. As a result, I hadn't seen my cousin Kathryn (Mary's daughter) since Cory's farewell 2 years ago. It was so great to get to visit with her and to meet her little Sena. She is expecting her 3rd little girl in January. It is fun to be pregnant together.

(click on the picture to get the full effect)
McKay made this picture frame at preschool and insisted this is how you use it. He had me take picture after picture of him.

Then he took pictures of Maxwell and I.

Today his preschool had a field trip to Oma's Pumpkin Patch. I was a bit bummed I had to pay full price for Maxwell ($7) since he couldn't do or enjoy a lot of what was there. Such is life. However McKay had a lot of fun. He probably went down this cotton-seed on the toboggan 50 times.

The only thing we did with the rest of the preschool was go on a hay ride. Max kept calling the tractor a train and loved seeing all the animals and making their sounds. Well at least the cows, horses, and goats they had.

We stopped the longest to look at the cows and Max was 'moooo'ing at them. Both boys really enjoyed the hay ride.

McKay: king of the haystack!

Another huge favorite of McKay's was the maze. He went through it several times. I was too tall so Maxwell and I waited outside, peeking in on him every now and then.

I told McKay to face me for the picture in the maze and Max thought asked for his fishy face. Here is Maxwell starting to do his fish face. :)

Both boys enjoyed throwing or strategically placing magnetic darts on the target. They also enjoyed swinging and climbing on the playground.

Each child got a 'jack' pumpkin. They had WAY too many to choose from and it took McKay a while to choose the one he wanted to take home. Max picked too many...
Maxwell has learned a new word: punkin, which is what he calls the pumpkins when he isn't calling them apples. This afternoon I caught him kissing his punkin. mmmmwwaaaah! :)