Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving in Minnesota this year visiting Dan's family. The car ride up was great, and both girls were so good in the car. We drove up thanksgiving morning. It was such a nice day out. Dan's brother Dirk, his wife Jenny and her mom Nancy joined our family and Dan's parents for a great dinner. Afterwards, Jenny, Nancy and I took Potter for a walk.

Friday the whole family hit the Minnesota Zoo. (thanks to the Blank Zoo pass it only cost us to park!) They had awesome exhibits, and we walked around for 2 + hours. We didn't take a stroller, so Sophia gave mom quite the workout for the 1st hour running thru the indoor trails, and not actually stopping to look at much. Her favorite phrase lately seems to be "c'mon".....very cute....

After a pit stop at the house for some grub, we hit the bowling alley, where Jenny and I proceeded to beat Dan - twice! Saturday we drove home and hit the Redwing reunion show and had a great time, while the girls caught up on some time with their cousins at Nana's. It was a magnificant holiday visit and weekend, and we are very thankful for all our family and friends during this holiday season.

Happy Holidays

Happy Halloween!

What a week.....Monday night we carved our pumpkins! I went with the traditional cut, while Dan got creative and did a skull and crossbones pattern. The girls had a great time, and they both actually helped clean out all the "guts".....

Hope everyone has a safe and happy halloween! I found out today that telling jokes on Beggar's night is a central Iowa tradition only. Isn't it funny how you assume that everyone has the same traditions you do? Now I am researching this tradition and will let you know what I find out.....

In the meantime......last night was great. Julia was a vampire bride! Very cool. Sophia started out as Snow White, alas, the costume was too long and she was tripping up the sidewalk before passing the house....SO, she came back in for a wardrobe change, and tadaa! Tinkerbell to the rescue. Dan took the kid's around the neighborhood, while I handed out candy. Julia was very helpful, taking Sophia's hand as they set out to the neighbor's. Sophia had no problem walking right up to people's doors, and tried to steal all of the candy in each bowl. Apparently, Julia thought since it was nice out she didn't have to wear socks. That didn't work out very well considering she was wearing boots! So, I picked them up around 7:00 and we hit our annual visits to friends and family. We finished off the night at Baratta's, so we could all have a dinner treat. Julia insisted on wearing her costume to bed, and to Nana's house today...lol.

OH - and Julia's joke......Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9!!! Happy Halloween!

Picking Pumpkins

Saturday we went to Jill and Steve's house to pick some pumpkins! Apparently BOTH girls are complete hams, as you can tell by the photo....Sophia made herself right at home pulling out Macy's shopping cart, and scooping up all of Aidan's hotwheels....good thing he wasn't there.....

She definitely loved the little kittens running around and mastered the stairs to chase them immediately. I was so proud of Julia for playing with Macy right away. There are 3+ years between them, but not much difference in height/weight....lol.

Sophia loved the farm, but loved the big yellow kitty even more. She started following the cat into the harvested field, and dad had to chase her down......She absolutely loved running free, and by the end of their walk, she was kickin back on dad's shoulders enjoying a ride, while the cat followed THEM back to the house....The funny thing is, Dan is allergic and doesn't really care for cats, so it was quite ironic that one followed him around.....

Character counts

Julia received an award at school the other day! Teachers and students nominate their classmates for students that display RESPECT for others. Parents were invited to attend a suprise assembly. Grandma Flo showed up a little early however, and got busted when Julia was coming in from recess. She didn't see me until the class was led in to sit down.

I went to an Iowa game!!

It is not very often I get to go to an Iowa game. A friend's hubby had free tickets to the Iowa/FL Int'l game on 9/6. Dan had to work overtime, and his wife was working - so we made a day of it! We had perfect weather, and the team looked great. We ended up sitting behind the friends of defensive player Tyler Sash. They were very excited about his 1st starting game, and seeing how he had his 1st interception last week against IA state, I'd say they have a lot to be happy about. It was also cool to watch #4 Jordan Berstein. His mom is a family friend, and he is a Lincoln High school alumni!

So, here are some pics from the game.

September '08

Well, summer is over and we are back into full swing at the Hejkal house. Julia started 2nd grade at St. Anthony's on 8/21. We are very excited about 1st communion this year. Also, instead of a combo dance class, she will be taking acro only this year. The dance studio has moved to downtown Des Moines, and it is kind of fun to have the studio in the new Gateway area. Class is only a half hour, so no time to really run anywhere, but there is a park across the street, so I'll be walking during her class. I'm still doing Yoga on Tuesdays as well, so two workouts in one day......could be the start of a great trend.

Sophia just turned 18 months on 9/12. We had her checkup yesterday and she is 23lbs. Up by 1 1/2lbs and they said no gain for height, but I think since she was squirmy, we didn't get an accurate measurement. She is talking up a storm, and very entertaining. This weekend we even got her to say GO HAWKS for the big Iowa/Iowa State game.

Dan's birthday is this weekend, and we are having some friends over and going out. His brother is coming down from Minnesota to hang out, and we are looking forward to a night out with friends (thanks mom!). Dan's parents came down last week, and had a nice visit. Dan and his dad even managed to get a round of golf in on friday.

I'm going to try and update this more often, but just in case....here are some pics of the cutest Hawkeye fans ever!!

July 21st

Well, I started this blog a few months ago and never really got going. I'm all about social networking, so I figured now is as good a time as any to get started.

We received a free swingset from a younger lady that I work with. The girls absolutely love it and Julia can already do flips on the rings! We also got a small pool for them to play in on the deck, so we were out in the sun all weekend. Last night we cooked out at a friends, and Sophia was trying to sneak off with a glass vase....it is amazing what kind of things they can get into in a matter of seconds.....lol