Lincoln Balloon Festival

In August, we went to the balloon festival in Lincoln with Granny and Papa.  It was an awesome event for kids.  Brody and Liv LOVED watching the balloons and the "glow" at the end.  Brody also got to partake in some bungy jumping too.  We thought he would like it because he loves bounce houses.  Boy, were we right!  He's our fearless man.  It was soo fun watching our brave little guy!

Our family of four

Bungy Jumping Time!

The harness was a little big on him :)

Wow

Granny and Liv

The Glow!

The kiddos with Granny and Papa

Papa and Brody

The Good Ole Illinois State Fair

This past summer was Brody and Liv's first time to enjoy the food, animals, and rides at the Illinois State Fair. It was definitely a HOT summer.  Nothing like hot moist mini donuts on a hot summer day.  Needless to say, we didn't stay too long, just long enough to see the baby chicks, pigs, goats, bunnies, and some other animals.  Brody loved petting them.  Gentle was a word he heard a lot.  Livi was a trooper during the whole event.  She cruised in the stroller part of the time, but mostly wanted to be held so she didn't miss any of the action.  We then ventured over to the ride section of the fair with the Egizi family.  Brody was only tall enough for the train ride and giant slide.  He didn't mind though.  He could have gone down the giant slide all day if we let him.  After his first time down, he ran right back in line ready to go again.  He was a little disappointed to say the least when we were done with the ride.

He loves his tractors!

Luca

Brody

Brody having the time of his life

Hi boys!

Luca on the dragon

Dancin' King

One of my good friends, Sarah, got married in August.  Believe it or not, it was the first wedding Brody and Livi have attended.  There's probably a good reason for that, since I spent majority of the wedding in the lobby while Brody played with his cars.  Papa Don and Livi soon joined the lobby fun as well.  It's tough for these little tikes to sit that long.  Good thing Papa Don and Granny were there to help us out.  Stuart was on shift that day, so it was just me and the kiddos.  Liv stayed up long enough to finish her dinner then slept the night away in Granny's arms.  Brody enjoyed every minute on the dance floor during the reception.  He was a dancin' fool.  Bray and Addy were showing him all the dance moves they knew.  It was fun watching him interact with everyone.  Which reminds me of Brody's other favorite part of the wedding, were the mints.  He couldn't eat enough of those things!  He started going up to the wedding party table and taking theirs too!!  It was too funny.

Liv and Papa Don

Mr. and Mrs. Gremo!

Dancing the night away

Brody and Addy

Liv taking a snooze on Granny

Best Buddies

Brody and Livi are two peas in a pod.  Back in July (when these pictures were taken, that sounds pretty pathetic since its now February!!) Brody was beginning to learn that dreadful thing called sharing.  Liv admires her big brother.  She wants everything he has and wants to do whatever he is doing.  You'd think it would be a little easier with a boy and a girl versus same sex siblings, but not so much in the Blade household.  Well, Brody just likes his things in a certain way at times, and quite frankly a baby doesn't know how to gently touch your toys.  She loves playing with him alright, even if that means wrestling with him.  When I say wrestling I mean Livi on the bottom while Brody is on top of her.  She just laughs and giggles because she just can't get enough of him.  What can I say?  Boys are little rougher than girls when it comes to showing their affection in our family.  He is a sweet brother.  There are those tender moments where they do play nicely together.  The moments when you just want the world to stand still.  Then something or someone gets hurt and reality is calling your name once again.  Oh, the joys of siblings. :)   Enjoy looking at some of those precious moments when Brods and Liv are as Mater would say it the "bestest of friends."

Lazy day in our pjs



What kind of sibling post would this be without Wrigs?!??!?!



Brody jumping on Liv.  Her smile couldn't be any bigger!!

Picking out our first pumpkin as a family of four