So last Saturday in PA, we were all up bright and early, thanks to Fischer. :) While he slept great on the floor, he was up early and ready to start the day. We put him in bed with us and pleaded for him to sleep a little longer, but he just wasn't having it.

So we got up, had some breakfast, and began our day. Our first stop was an apple orchard. The rain finally stopped, so we figured it'd be best to get outside and do something. It was still pretty muddy, so it was a challenge keeping Fischer out of all the mud.  Addison was in heaven because she loves apples - I'm pretty sure she ate her weight in apples.

After we picked and sampled lots of apples, we headed to the store part of the orchard to see if they were doing hay rides that day. And they were! So we got our tickets and waited for our ride to start. While we waited, the kids got to ride on a wagon and do a little hay maze.

The ride included a stop at a pumpkin patch, so we got out and looked at some of the pumpkins even though we knew we weren't going to get any.

Once that ended, it was time for lunch! We decided we needed to get a cheesesteak - what's a trip to PA without a delicious cheesesteak?! Sadly, Addison and Fischer decided they weren't in the mood for theirs and only ate french fries for lunch.. and a tootsie roll from the owner of the place we ate.

After lunch we headed back to Grandmommy K's house. We took the scenic route so the kids could nap for a little while. Just as we got home, Aunt Julie and cousins Griffin, Ashley and Cohen were getting there too. Good thing the kids napped a little bit because it was non-stop action with the cousins for the rest of the day!

We spent a little time at home, then headed to a playground/park nearby. We went there last summer too, and the kids could barely climb on the small equipment. This year, they were climbing all over the large equipment, with minimal help from us. So much changes in a year!! They all played hard while we were there! The older ones were so good about keeping up with Addison and Fischer, so that was a nice little break for us!

I wish you could see Addison's face better in this picture. She got so excited each time she went down this slide!

After that, we went back to take showers and baths before heading to dinner. We ended up eating at Friendly's, and we all got to enjoy some delicious ice cream for dessert! I love that place. By the time we were leaving, Uncle Brian was there too - or "Uncen Bwian" as Addison and Fischer call him.

We went back home for some more play time, and the kids all watched The Fox and the Hound together. I tried getting a good picture of the 5 of them, but it was hard to get Fischer to sit still with them.

Addison and Fischer got to bed later than normal, but they went right to sleep in their sleeping bags again and slept all night!

I will post more about our trip soon. Hopefully tomorrow while the kids are at school!

For now, I wanted to share these pictures. The first two are from last August when we drove up to PA to visit Scott's mom. Addison and Fischer turned 18 months while we were there. The last two are from this past weekend. The "babies" are 31 months old....

Pretty much the same exact pictures, but the kids have changed SO much this past year! They take up so much more of the piano bench now! 

As I mentioned, we went to PA over the weekend to visit Scott's family. It was a short trip, but we had a good time.

Here are the details of Friday (September 23):

We left around 8 that morning and headed to the Charlotte airport. It was raining so hard and we thought for sure our flight would be delayed because of the horrible weather. But it wasn't! Thank goodness! :)

After parking our car, we had to get on an elevator to go catch a shuttle bus to our terminal. After our short elevator ride, Fischer said "Yay! We're at Grandmommy's!" Um... nope! We have quite a bit more traveling to do before we get there! :) They weren't too sure about the shuttle bus ride at first, but then they decided to sing a "Wheels on the Bus" duet, so that helped them pass the time during our ride.

We didn't have to wait in the security line too long... good thing because standing still in a line is a major weakness of Fischer's. We got to our gate with plenty of time to spare, so we decided to get an early lunch. Then Scott and Fischer went to stock up on some snacks for the plane ride, just incase things got rough with the kids.

Finally we boarded!

And as expected, the kids got impatient while we sat on the plane at the gate waiting for everyone else to board. We did end up having to sit on the runway a bit longer than we'd hoped, but at least we were moving every couple of minutes, so that kept the kids somewhat entertained. Luckily we'd packed their blankets and "wubbies" so that helped them a little bit. Once we were in the air, Fischer fell asleep for about half of the flight and Addison played with some of the toys I'd packed in their backpacks.

And yes, we did have to get out the snacks. But, mainly because Fischer had seen Scott buy them and knew they were there, so he wanted them ASAP.

Once we landed, the kids were again impatient and wanted out of their seats. Finally we were able to get off the plane, and we headed to yet another shuttle bus to go get our rental car. We didn't have to wait long there, but Scott did have to install the car setas. We sort of thought that if we were renting them from the car rental place, they should install them for us?! But they didn't, so Scott had to do that in the rain (luckily it wasn't raining hard).

Then, we headed to see Scott's Grandmom and have a late lunch with her. Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot for the kids to do where she lives, and they had been sitting all day up until this point so they were a bit antsy. We did manage to spend about an hour with her though, so that was really good.

From there, we finally headed to Grandmommy K's house, where the kids were able to run around, up and down stairs, play the piano, chat on the phone, and have all sorts of fun.

We didn't get to play outside at all on Friday because the backyard looked like this... and no, that's not a pond!

They didn't go to bed until around 9:30 that night, which is late for them. Their adventure continued because they were getting to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags for the first time! We had NO clue how they would do, but they actually did great! It didn't take them long at all to fall asleep and they slept all night....but, they were up very early Saturday morning. I guess they were just extra excited to see what was going on that day. :) I wish I could've taken a picture of them sleeping in the sleeping bags, but I didn't want to risk waking them up with the flash.

Next up - Saturday's adventures. :)

We went to PA over the weekend to visit Scott's family. We had a great time, and it was one big adventure for Addison and Fischer. We were nervous about how they would do on the flights, but they did pretty well! More on that later, along with some pictures, when I have a bit more time.

For now, I wanted to post a picture of our furry baby, Sassy. It's hard to believe we've gone a whole year without her. We still miss her, and the kids still mention her from time to time! Time sure does go fast.

Addison and Fischer had a great two days at school this week. Both days, they walked right in without one single tear! Yay!!

Today they brought home little photo albums with pictures of all the kids in their class. I'm excited about this because they talk about some of their friends a lot, so now I know who they all are!

I really thought that I'd have more free time by them being in school two mornings a week. So far though, it doesn't seem that way. I still feel behind on a lot of things, and haven't even gotten to start any of my little projects. I guess it doesn't help that naps seem to be going away.... not completely, but a little bit. Each day this week, one of them has stayed awake instead of napping. I am trying to teach them that even if they don't nap they need to stay in their room for a little while and rest. This isn't going over so well, but we'll keep working on it.  They are both sleeping today, but it sounds like Fischer is waking up after only 30 minutes. I guess there's always something new going on... :)

When they are awake, they are talking constantly and they say the funniest things. Recently, Fischer asked to try some of my soup broth (or, as he called it, juice). I gave it to him and he said "Oh, that's paradise!" I just wonder where they come up with half the stuff they say! Addison is always the little mother and I can hear her saying "Fischer, Buddy, are you ok?" and things like that a lot. I will have to start taking detailed notes about what they say so I can remember more of it!

We have a big weekend coming up, so I will post about that next week!

Sadly, the kids have already missed a day of school. I have been warned by many people that they will miss a lot this year because of all the germs they will be in contact with, and it being their first year.

Wednesday, Fischer developed a fever that went up to 103 during the night. We still aren't sure what was wrong, but we are guessing it was some sort of stomach virus. I decided to keep Addison home too. Scott was out of town, so I would've had to wake them both up, get them ready, etc. just to take Addison in. And I'm 99% sure she would've freaked out if I left with Fischer and not her. So, we spent the day at home.

This morning, we woke up to much cooler weather. Yay fall!!! We went outside and Fischer immediately found, and jumped in, the mud puddles leftover from last night's rain. Addison eventually joined in.... it's a good thing I forced her to change into pants (she had been wearing a tutu before we went outside).

In other news - the kids are each working on the last of their 2 year molars!!! We are almost done with this teething business, for awhile anyway. :)

Here are a few pictures from this morning.

Busy busy busy! That's how it's been around here!

I spent the weekend working my Mothers of Multiples group consignment sale. They were long days, but it was nice to hang out with other moms! Scott and the kids held down the fort, and they had some adventures of their own.

Yesterday was my birthday! Thanks to Dianne, Scott and I got to go out to dinner! Sadly, I didn't get a picture with the kids like I had the past 2 years. :(

 The kids had a great day at school yesterday morning, too. Addison had a big day - it was her show and tell day, and her day to be the line leader. For show and tell, she chose to take "Meow Meow." Meow Meow is a black and white cat that has seen better days (it now only has 1 eye), but Addison is so attached to it, so I know she was very excited to take it to school with her.

Tomorrow is Fischer's show and tell day. He's still deciding what he wants to take. Hopefully tomorrow will be another good day. They get to start music class tomorrow.

Potty training is going pretty well. The sticker charts are still pretty motivating, and they are loving getting to pick out new "treasures." On Sunday, we ventured to another playground, and ran a few other errands. We were accident-free the entire time!

Things are going to stay busy around here for awhile, but I'm going to try my best to keep posting updates. Coming up Scott and I are getting to go to a Carolina game (Go Cocks!), and we are flying to PA to see Scott's family.

I need to take more pictures - I've been very bad about that recently!!

Just a quick post today - Addison and Fischer had a great week at school. WOOHOO!!

Both days were a little rough at drop off for Fischer. His teacher said that on Tuesday she had a talk with him, explained the schedule for the day, and then he was fine. I'm not sure if she did the same thing today, but he ended up having a great day. And Addison didn't cry either day. YAY! She did end up taking her blanket to school with her both days, but if that's what makes her calm, then that's just fine with me. Luckily her teachers don't mind either.

Fischer does seem to be a bit anxious about the whole school thing. He even woke up last night and Monday night crying about not wanting to go to school. I'm hoping that as he gets more comfortable there, he won't be anxious and won't dread going. It breaks my heart when he says "I don't want to go to school. I'll go in the morning (in order to avoid going right then)!" while crying. I want them to be happy and have fun!

This week they've learned some new songs and made some pretty pictures, which are hanging on our refrigerator. Their theme this week was teddy bears, so they got to take bears with them today and have a picnic. They seemed to enjoy that.  Next week they get to start their weekly music classes! I know they will love it!

I can't believe it's already September. Labor day has already passed, and football season is here!! Football season is one of my most favorite things in the world. I'm trying to pass my love of Gamecock football on to Addison and Fischer. They still won't sit and watch with me though - one day, maybe?! I did turn on the TV the other day and there was another football game on. Addison yelled "Go Cocks!!" Yay - maybe my training is working! :)

Our long weekend was fun, but busy. We started back with potty training. Again. I feel like we can't get over that final hump of making it official. But we made a lot of progress over the weekend. I started a sticker chart for them on Saturday morning. For each time they pottied, they got 1 or 2 stickers, depending on what they did on the potty. They would get to pick their own sticker (I got Toy Story and Princess stickers) and put it on their own chart. Each time they earned 7 stickers, they got to pick a new toy out of the goody bag (which I stocked with "treasures" from the dollar store). It seems to be pretty motivating for them. We will keep up with the sticker charts as long as necessary!

Saturday was a pretty messy day for Addison, and a great day for Fischer. Sunday, they both did great! We even ventured out to a playground in big girl and big boy undies, and they stayed dry! Yesterday was pretty good. We did go to Edventure, so they wore pull-ups there, because we weren't sure how all of that would go. But overall, I am proud of their progress and am encouraged enough to keep going! I'm hoping that wearing pull-ups to school won't set them back too much each time they go.

That's about all that's been going on here. I'm hoping the kids are having fun at school. They seemed to have switched roles - Addison didn't cry this morning but Fischer was very upset and kept saying "I don't want to go to school!" I'll know soon how they did! I really want it to be a fun experience for them.

Here are a some pictures from Edventure yesterday. As usual, it's impossible to get a good picture of them together. And yes, Scott dressed Fischer so they would match. :)

Addison and Fischer have already been in preschool for 2 weeks! That's really only 4 days for them, but still over a 2 weeks period! Day 3 was pretty rough for Addison. She screamed when I dropped her off. She also cried most of the 3 hours she was there. But, as soon as she saw me when I picked them up, she said she had fun. And continued to talk about having fun at school for the rest of the day. Fischer had a great 3rd day, and the teacher said he is adjusting wonderfully!

Yesterday was a bit of the opposite. I dropped them off, and Addison screamed (worse than on Tuesday, if that's possible). I heard her yelling "Mommy!!!" all the way down the hall. It was all I could do to not cry before I even left the building. I figured it would be another day of her crying for the 3 hours until I picked them up. About 45 minutes later, my phone rang. I knew it was one of the teachers calling. I wondered how bad could Addison be if they were calling me!!

But, to my surprise, they were calling about Fischer. They said he hadn't stopped crying and wasn't acting like himself. He'd had a runny nose all week, so I think he just wasn't feeling well. We decided it'd be best for me not to pick them up really early because Addison was actually having a great day! So I picked them up 30 minutes early, after playground time. Addison was really excited and told me several times how much fun she'd had. The teachers said as soon as Fischer started to cry, Addison stopped.

Maybe Tuesday neither of them will cry. I'm sure that would make the teachers (and me!) very happy!