My Little Monkeys

There was no better costume to capture Chase and Tyler this year...

I always call them "my little monkeys" so it seemed fitting when Chase told me that he wanted to be a monkey for Halloween.

Although Chase made an adorable monkey, he went to Zoo Boo with his girlfriend, Madelyn.... she wore a poodle skirt and he dressed up as a greaser. It was so cute that the monkey costume went back into the closet. He ended up wearing his greaser costume to Zoo Boo and then again on Halloween for trick-or-treating.

Lots more Halloween pictures to come!!!

Apple Farm with Friends

About a month ago, we took a family trip to Beak and Skiff Apple Farm with our friends, the Kelly's, the Mullins, and the Murphy's. It was a beautiful fall day, and the weather was perfect for picking apples.

Chase loved the wagon ride out to the apple orchard, but he really got excited when the driver let him sit on the John Deere tractor!

Here is one of my favorite shots from the day - Chase and Madelyn running through the orchard.

....And another great picture of Tate and Chase just hanging out in the grass. Just precious!

And, of course, you can't go to Beak and Skiff without sampling almost as many apples as you pick. Chase took bites from at least 7 different apples.

Some silly time with Maeve....

A very rare family shot....

Snuggles from Tyler

And one of my favorite moments...Chase and Maeve holding hands as they walk toward the cars.

Thanks to our friends for making the trip to Beak and Skiff so much fun!

Little Pumpkin

SU Tailgate Birthday Fun

On Saturday, September 11th, family and friends joined us for a tailgate party to help celebrate Tyler's first birthday. Luckily, it was a beautiful day outside, and we were able to take advantage of the gorgeous weather!

The birthday boy was all smiles because the menu included his favorite food - pizza!

Chase was pretty excited too (not about the food....but getting to spend time with his friends). With the food, Ryan offered to pay Sydney Baker $2.00 to get Chase to eat some his dinner. Thanks for helping, Sydney!

Tyler wore his #1 SU football jersey and got lots of snuggles from his family (especially his grandmothers).

Peek-A-Boo! I see you!

Chase definitely enjoyed the football birthday treats that Nani made. He split the cake pieces apart and just licked the icing...all the while telling everyone that the "cream cheese" was yummy. What kind of cream cheese have you been eating?!?

Yup, Chase and Madelyn definitely enjoyed the devil dogs...in the picture below you can see how they were stuffing them in their mouths. Too funny!

And here's the birthday boy after demolishing his cake! He was a lot cleaner than I thought he would be....I couldn't believe that he didn't get anything in his hair!!! I was sure that we would be heading to the bath tub....

Happy Birthday, Tyler! It's been a great year, and we are so blessed to have such an incredible boy! We love you!!!!

The Pictures are Ready

It's been a long wait, but the pictures from our summer photo session with Genevieve are ready!

You can click on the link below for a little slideshow that Genevieve put together for us:

http://genphotos.com/derafam/

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Family and friends joined us on September 9th to celebrate Tyler's birthday!

As you can see from the picture below, Tyler got right into his birthday cupcake....

....and he LOVED it!
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Wagon Fun

Fun in the new Radio Flyer wagon turned into a rare moment of affection between the boys - and it was actually caught on camera!

I love the face that Chase is making in this photograph....just precious!

...And after about 3 minutes, Tyler realized that he could climb out of the wagon. Had to put the camera quickly and play "catch the baby!"

And he is off!!!

Lil' Kickers

Last Saturday, Ryan took Chase to his first "soccer" class at 481 Sports Center. It was so much fun for me to watch from the sidelines and see the father-son "sports bond" start to develop.

But even more precious than seeing Chase all dressed up on the soccer field with his dad right next to him, was the conversation that I overheard in the morning when Ryan didn't know I was listening. My favorite moment was hearing Ryan trying to teach Chase how to put his "game face on."

My Girl Madelyn

Madelyn and I had a great summer, and we spent lots of time together....we went on trips to the zoo, the NYS fair, and we even went to Sesame Place (in Langhorne, Pennsylvania). This was our first family vacation - 3 days away from home - and it was so much fun vacationing with the Murphy family. We stayed right across the street from Sesame Place, and we enjoyed two fun days visiting Elmo and his friends (there are so many great pics from our trip that my mom is making a slideshow, which will be posted soon).

Oh, and the picture above was taken right after we checked into the hotel. Madelyn and I were sooo excited to have adjoining hotel rooms. After jumping on the beds for about 15 minutes, we needed a drink. Here we are "toasting" to a great weekend.

Sesame Place was a blast, and Madelyn and I enjoyed every minute of it. One of the highlights was having breakfast with Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street characters. We especially loved when Zoe came to our table for a visit and some hugs.

The rides at Sesame Place were awesome too! They really know what little kids love to do. My favorite was sliding down the water slide with Madelyn....CRASH!

Here's a picture of us riding the horses at the NYS fair. We had an awesome time in the morning with our moms, visiting the animals, watching the trains, and going on a few rides. We went back after naptime with the dads too and went on more rides! It was tons of fun!

This picture is from the spring when Madelyn and I were in the same music class.

Peek-A-Boo!

First Row at the Elmo Rocks show!! AWESOME!!!

Guess what happens when you sit in the front row!?!? That's right, Elmo comes down from the stage for some high-fives. DOUBLE AWESOME!

Apple picking at Beak and Skiff....

Having a little breakfast with the monkeys at the zoo....

Riding the elephant..."hold on tight, Madelyn!"

Checking out the penguins....

Peeking at eachother through the penguin cut-outs....

But one of the best moments of the summer was captured in the picture below.... our "first" kiss. We were sitting on the side of the road at Sesame Place, waiting for the parade to start. The sun was setting, and I went in for a smooch...head tilted and all!

Everyone laughed so hard....well, everyone except for Madelyn's dad who insisted that we "have a talk" right then and there. What a fun day!

And what an awesome summer! I am glad that I got to spend so many fun times with Madelyn and her family. Lots of laughs and lots of good times.