Halloween 2016

We had a great time getting ready for and celebrating Halloween this year. The kids really love all the fun that comes along with Halloween each year!

Pumpkin Carving with Grandpa, Grandma, TiTi, and Nana Pam

 (Good thing Grandpa is so artistic...Batman pumpkin was no problem for him!)

 One last preschool Halloween party....can't believe it!

 This boy was THRILLED to see Grandma behind the door when trick-or-treating at preschool!

 Ready to go do some trick-or-treating.

 Caleb and his best buds Alec and Jack. We're so thankful for these two sweet boys!

 The Lake Road crew (a few of them anyhow).

 That's A LOT of candy!!!

Backyard Bash 2016

We had another great Backyard Bash this year....possibly the best one yet! The weather was AMAZING, there were tons of great friends and family, the food was outstanding (and there was SO.MUCH.OF.IT), and the two champions were from the Lamont family!!!

The kids all had a blast in the jumpy and playing out back.

There's never been this much chili!

There's nothing like a house/yard full of all the people you love the most!

There were so many amazing desserts!

This day definitely ranks pretty high on our list of favorite yearly traditions. We have such a blast and it's wonderful to make these lasting memories year after year!

Annual Illinois Trip

It has now become somewhat of a tradition to make a trip down to U of I each Fall for a football game, time on campus, and a visit to our favorite apple orchard (Curtis Orchard). This year, we FINALLY had great weather - after several years of serious yuck!

The kids had fun hanging out at the tailgate with family and also loved going to the football game. Caleb has been going to the game for a few years, but the other two got to experience it this time as well. They didn't have as much interest as Caleb, but still had fun taking it all in. Joel did not like the loud noises from the fireworks and band, but we finally found a solution to that by tying his sweatshirt around his head/ears!

We enjoyed walking around campus for awhile and seeing some of our favorite spots. The kids are starting to recognize some of the landmarks as well - proud Illini parenting moment!

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a stop at Curtis Orchard for some yummy apples and (of course) donuts!

Carmi Fun

It's rare that this family has a weekend with absolutely nothing on the agenda....so, when we realized that Labor Day weekend was wide open, we decided the best thing to do was to FINALLY make a trip down to Carmi! It's amazing how much easier of a trip it is now that our kids are quite a bit older. We jam packed a lot of fun into the three day weekend. 

It started when we picked them up from school on Friday and told them we were going somewhere special...to which they guessed a few different places before finally realizing we were heading down to stay at Grandpa and Grandma's house. There was a lot of cheering and excitement! The car ride was a breeze and we didn't have to stop once. When we got there, the kids were so excited to see the new bunk beds they'd sleep in and all the toys they remembered from years ago.

Over the next couple of days, we packed in plenty of quality family time. We also made a trip to the children's museum in Evansville. The kids had fun hanging out at Grandpa and Grandma's house and loved getting to see the farm where Daddy grew up working and making memories. By the end of the weekend we were all quite exhausted, but happy to have had so much fun!