Vacation to Colorado!! Denver

We are having a wonderful time in Colorado visiting Barry's Mom.
We have tons of pictures...the first set below are from Denver.
We flew into Denver on Friday and visited the 16th Street Mall. It is pretty cool!


Amy and Joel at the Cheesecake Factory - YUMMY!


Fam shot at the 16th Street Mall


Barry @ Virgin Megastore


Barry and Joel at Johnny Rockets...some of the best burgers ever!

Chilli Cookoff! Decision 08!

Today we attended the 23rd Annual ULM Chilli Cookoff! Jamie, Dan & Brad had a team and everyone's friends and family showed up. There were about 30 of the coolest people on the earth there to support the Chilinators. Not only did we have great Chilli, there were several different dips, 3 or 4 kinds of cookies, some krispy pb bars and some shrimp stuffed french bread.

Sadly, the Chillinators did not bring home a plaque this year, but we all brought home great memories!






A few of the crew


The parade before the team took the field

An Montage of the failed Chilli spat.. (it was excellent, the judges were mistaken)

Happy Halloween!!

We had a great Halloween. We made a few stops to Trick or Treat at our friend's homes...and then we took all of the kids to Highland Park where they had a trick or trunk.


Harley, Brooke & Joel dressed up for Halloween.


Barry & Joel at DeeDee & Jamie's


Joel sliding across the floor at DeeDee & Jamie's


At the Trick or Trunk @ Highland Park. We had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch 2008!

Astronaunt Joel

Joel made an astronaut 'outfit' at school...here is is modeling it!

Fall Festival!

Tuesday was the Fall Festival at school. Almost all of Joel's classmates were there. Harley and DeeDee also joined us. We had a great time!


Bumble Bee and Kitty


The Ring Toss


Joel and his bat..they painted their hands and did handprints. They were too cute!

Halloween Preview

Joel tried on his costume today. He is excited to be Bumblebee!

Coordinating clothes.. :)

After Joel's bath tonight he picked that he wanted to wear his new Thomas PJ's. I thought they were 5 T, so I said ok. When I took them off the hanger I discovered that they were 6T. After he picked his pj's he went to his underwear basket and got Thomas undies so that he would match...since he want thru all the effort of matching, he wore his 6T jammies. They were not too much too big. I can't believe how much he has grown.

Here are a few pics from today.

Fun at Krioli!

We went with Harley & DeeDee to Kiroli Park on Saturday. DeeDee's family was having a reunion and one of Joel's classmates was having a birthday party. It was a perfect day to be at the park!
A few pictures

What I want to be when I grow up..

This last week was community helpers week. The firetruck came to school one day, the police car, boat and motorcycle came another day. A hair dresser, dental hygenist and several other professionals came to Joel's class explaining their jobs. It was really neat. Joel started the week wanting to be helicopter pilot...then he wanted to be a transformer and finally he said he wanted to be a construction worker (think Bob the Builder). So this is what he wore to school on Friday... He also brought his Handy Manny tool set.

Fire & Police Safety Week

Joel has had a great time at school this week as they learned about Firefighters, fire safety and police officers. They made firemen's hats one day. Here is a pic of Joel wearing his hat.

Louisiana Purchase Zoo

Today Barry, Joel and I went to the Zoo. This trip was much less uneventful from the attempt to visit the Audubon Zoo. The weather was beautiful (especially compared to the horrible weather we have had from Gustav).

Anyway, here are some of the better pics.


Monkey boys


Joel enjoying an exhibit


He is such a big boy!




The best sign ever..apparently someone thought so and their attempt to take it home was botched. They could have at least glued the corner back up..


One of my favorite pictures of Joel ever...I have a zillion favorites though..

Some flowers

A yellow butterfly on the flower. A Mardi Gras pic :)

Preschool

Today was Joel's first day of preschool. He had a blast...its hard to believe that he will be 4 in a few short months. The years feel like only minutes.

Here are a few pics.

Joel and his teacher


Joel and Mom..he didn't even want to take a picture with me...oh well, he was happy to be there.

He colored a bee and a flower today..and he had a sucker in his bag when he came home, he thinks things are grand! I hope that all the rest of his school days are just as happy.

Pictures from the last week

Joel The Dragon Slayer!



Behind the shield..a cutie!



Sporting the Seattle outfit. Thanks Gram!


Boys in white tees and green gym shorts...Barry has a mini me!