Visitors From The South

A couple weeks ago, Sean's older brother Rhett and his family came up from Texas for a visit. Ava loves her some cousins, and was SO excited she got to spend some time with her youngest (right now) cousin Lily. I say "right now" because on their visit, we learned that Rhett and Amy are expecting a new bundle next May 31st (Sean and Julie's anniversary - all of my loyal Blog followers would know that).

It was a very full weekend: trick-or-treating on Saturday, a visit at the in-laws followed by dinner at Ross and Ashley's place, then another family dinner at Buca di Beppo Tuesday to celebrate Memaw's birthday.

Here are a few favorite pics from the visit...

Ava and Lily playing piano:
Sunday was such a busy day, poor Lily crashed on Aunt Julie around 7:00 (I have that effect on people):

Dinner at Buca:

Rhett (aka: Sean's twin - not really, but they do look a LOT alike), Amy, and Lily:

The very proud Memaw and Pepaw with their grandbabies:

Carving Pumpkins / Pumpkins With Dad / Halloween

I know, I know, I know. Halloween was weeks ago, and I have yet to share some pics from the momentous occasion (maybe I am still blocking that night from my memory due to Aidan's meltdown). In lieu of creating a separate post for each of the remaining Halloween activities, here's a montage of the three...

Carving pumpkins at home with Daddy:

One of Ava's preschools hosted a "Pumpkin Carving With Dad" night where the kids got to carve a pumpkin (DUHH) with Dad at school. Following the carving activities, the kids surprised their dads with a little program filled with Halloween-themed songs:

Last year, I decided Ava was going to be Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz". With her dark, long, flowing, curly locks - she was the PERFECT candidate for such a costume. Unfortunately, despite all my efforts, Ava was adamant that she wanted to be a "skeleton ghost" so she could scare all the monsters away. At least she has a logical explanation...plus, it was the first time she has ever made a decision and stuck to her guns - we couldn't take that away from her!

That's our tom-girl: likes to do boy things, but her nails are polished all the while:

And our little boxer man - such a fitting costume for this bruiser! Sean thought he looked a bit like Ivan Drago...you know, that evil Russian from "Rocky IV" who killed Apollo Creed? Well, he refused to wear his boxing gloves and refused to go trick-or-treating unless he was able to roam where he pleased without holding an adults hand. Our night ended VERY early, and I can only pray next year will be better:

BOY TOYS!!

After Aidan's last birthday, it became glaringly obvious there are REAL boy toys in our house now! On his first birthday, Aidan got toys, but they were still kind of baby-ish. This year, he got toys that big boys play with.

One of the biggest hits this year was this Imaginext dragon castle he scored from Memaw and Pepaw:

Ava's Last Swimming Lesson

A couple weeks ago, Ava completed her final swimming lesson of the season. She came such a long way from the very first lesson to her last lesson. Our main goal for Ava and these lessons was to overcome her fear of going completely underwater. I would say she accomplished that...


Ava holding on to the edge of the pool and putting herself underwater (bobbing unassisted):
Perfecting her kick board skills:

Ava came such a long way in six lessons that she completed all the requirements for the beginners class, and was able to start learning some of the skills for the next level - such as, the back float:

We plan to keep signing her up to make sure she's a good, strong swimmer. Great job Ava - Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!!

Aidan's Family Party

On Aidan's actual birthday a couple weeks ago, we celebrated with my parents, Sean's family, and his grandmas. It was a fun-filled day of cake, presents, food, and family.

Grandma bought Aidan a Scooby-Doo cake (and made sure to buy an extra Scooby for Ava):
He got some really cool boy toys...:

...that the older boys wanted for themselves:

Four Kimble generations:

There was so much to do, the poor birthday boy fell asleep during dinner (a first, because this little man loves him some food):

Welcome Baby Kate!

Today, my dear friend Jenna gave birth to baby #2 - a (big) little girl. She weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs, 3ozs and was 21 inches long.

This news was especially exciting because Jenna and Brad decided to be surprised with the baby's gender.

Mom and just about everyone was convinced they would be welcoming another boy, but Kate proved us all wrong! Welcome to the world baby Kate and congrats to Brad, Jenna, and big bro Parker!