Normal Life!

Fall has also brought house excitement and visitors. 

Since we've moved to Lawrence, we've had a constant project in our yard for everything from water diversion to beautification. Here are some shots.

Max hiding in his pool with all of his construction equipment in the backyard.

Stairs that I build from our raised garden up to our composter.
Expect this area to look lots better next spring. :-) 

Max, working on his sand table, while Paul and Mr. Larry consult in the back
about our dry creek bed and rock wall/french drain systems.

The bosses. (Though not really; it's really me and Larry in charge. )

Max, building inside. And that is all his own creation. Just call him I.M. Peiborchardt.

We were lucky in September to have a visit from my longtime friend Denise Birkholz, along with her hubs and two kiddos, Avery and Xander. Max was in heaven having his own visitors!

Max and Avery in the tent, playing camping! 

This picture kills me. Literally looks like Max has his date face on. And with an older woman.

Here is my favorite thing. Denise took these two pictures and captioned them as follows.

New Friends.

Old Friends.

Love it! One of those things that makes you love the fact of life and the people you share it with. :-)

Max is also taking gymnastics this fall. they won't allow parents in the room, so these are pictures that I have snuck.

Balance Beam

Bar with Miss Natalie.

Rings.

Max's first "real" dental visit! He was a champ once he discovered that Cars 2 was on the TV above the seat.

Another great life thing: my friends Trish and Eric Neuteboom, already parents to Max's friend Bella, had a new edition, Miss Quincey! Trish and I spent some time one morning teaching Max how to hold a baby.

Fun moment in the present!
Crazy preview of a possible future!

Once he got it down, we both got our cameras. So Bella did, too. Bella says, Max, I have to take a picture of you holding the baby! 

Cute kid moment. :-) Let's just let it be that because I am not ready for the rest. :- )

So priceless.

A good reminder that sometimes, as we grow up, we do get to pick parts of our family. And I have some pretty cool parts, blood related or not. Glad to share them with my kiddo!

Fall update

So lots of excitement this fall!

Max started preschool at First United Methodist Kids' First program. It's 3 days a week, and Max loves it. Of course, we'll see how the progress report comes in mid-November. :-) However, it's been fun with even several field trips.

Mandatory Day 1 picture.

Uncle Rob and Max got a little yogurt after the first day! 

Learning about the sense of sight. Ha!

 First field trip - firestation! Note to Max's "Uncle Jeremy": he wore his policeman shirt to the firestation. Representing!

Driving the rig! 

Taking large pictures of kids, not always easy.
Houston, Devin, Chase, Rawlin, Claire, Ben, Everett, Quinn, Katy, Tate, Max.
Yes, I know their names. We had a game to learn them. :-) 

The next week, the kiddos had a trip to Schaake's Pumpkin Patch. Pretty fun!

Max with his friend Katy, holding the pumpkins they chose.

I'm just going to start calling every photo when Max doesn't look at the camera "artistic."
Here is our artistic pumpkin patch photo. 

Always an individual. Wonder where he gets it?? :-) 

Perfect picture, courtesy of someone else, of course.
Katy's mom, Laurie, got the picture for me. Happy Pumpkin Day!!

State Fair 2012: Cousins on the Farm

I'm pretty much several months behind now. Oh well. Such in life when it is moving a million miles an hour. 

At the end of the summer, we took the time to make the trek to Hutch for the State Fair. Fuzzy and GG had both little guys as their guests this year. And Max and Dex ripped the place up! 

Max was trying to show Dex his love of farm machines and rides. Dex really liked to be his own man, even take a little doze. But both had lots of fun! 

Checking out the farm implements...

Combine operator!

Jamie and Dex got tired. Ha!

Yep - that happy around all the construction stuff.

Tractor Ride, Tractor Ride. And he got a free t-shirt for it!

Heading to check out the breeding area.
 Naturally, Max was kind of hesitant.

Not a fan of forced shots.

Of all things, he LOVES pony rides. Scared of so much, but not ponies.

As some may remember, he LOVED the motorcycle ride last year. This year, his comment was that it "hurt his parts." So, apparently a diaper does make a difference. Poor guy.

Driving the train!

A ride for Dex and Max together. Their smiles look awfully alike. :-) 

What a good time!

Summer Trip to Wisconsin, Part II

Wisconsin held some excitement this year, particularly for Max. First, Grandma and Grandpa traded in their speedboat for a new pontoon. It's pretty sweet as it provides room for everyone in the family to ride really comfortably! Our other excitement was that Max's cousin Nick from Boston would be there to spend a few days with everyone. And we had lots of fun with it all!

Pontoon Cruising

Pretty crazy crew for our maiden ride.

Parking in one cove
so Max and Nick could check out the swimming with their dads.

We pulled the kayaks behind the pontoon,
so Max and Daddy had an adventure across the lake.

Come back to me!!!

 Pontoon pulling the tuff tube

Paul and Nick were up first!

First Mate Max, at your service!

Mommy and Kelly up for action. With Phil driving. It took some courage.

But it was fun! 

Nick and I in the tube. Couple of big smiles on those faces.

 Pontoon Fishing Action!

Max and Daddy used a rubber cork for bait so Max could see
how the whole thing worked. And so he wouldn't hook everyone in the boat with a real hook.

Male bonding at its best. And yes, Max is sporting jammies with a life best and mandals. Big pimpin.

Phil and Nick, fishing!

Happy Fisherman!

Attacking Kelly.

 Pontoon sunset cruising

Grandma holding a sleepy little man!

Just a nice shot of Kelly.

The Big Guy!

When not boating, we did lots of other cottage stuff: games, playing in the water, projects, laying around being lazy, playing outside, s'mores.And the big kids had a few jobs. He, he, he.

Lazy Pajama Morning

Pretty sure that Max would have stayed attached to Nick's hip
all of the trip if her could have been.
Nick was a good sport and put up with Max!

Outdoor playtime!

Nick and Max both tried to fit into Max's tent.
Fortunately, Nick was able to escape! 

"Playing" frisbee. This meant that Max threw it and tried to grab it again without Nick getting it. 

 Lake Time

Building sandcastles at the little dock.

The boys trying to catch things.

Not certain what Max is doing here, but it seems pretty awesome! 

Cute!

Whatchu looking at, Mom?

Daddy pulling Max in the tube. 

Max pulling Daddy in the tube.

Warming up after water time.

Craft of the year: pop-bottle fireflies!
(Yes, I say pop. I'm from Kansas. We drink pop.)

 Work Time

Phil and Paul were working on some landscaping on the hill.

Kelly "working" on keeping the gator seat warm.

Fun times as always! 

Two wild and crazy guys!!