Octoberfest

October is always a busy month for the Surratts and this year is no different! Last Sunday we went to Kings Dominion with the Umsteads again and the girls road the Scooby Doo several times - they are officially roller coaster hooked! We also had two exciting playgroups with our friends, visiting a local haystack maze and a fun adventure with Miss Spider at a local park and another playdate at Maymont Park to see the animals again and have a picnic lunch. We are definitely enjoying the last bit of good weather before winter sets in. This past weekend we did a pumpkin craft at Michaels with Lexa and Aunt Darcy, went to our friend Emory's birthday at a local fire station, went to the pumpkin patch, and had friends over for football and Erics famous chili (Steelers by-week)! Whew, we are all exhausted!

Riley is still loving soccer and started gymnastics this past week as well. She also went to a different pumpkin patch as a field trip and we painted her pumpkin later that evening (eventually I'll post a pix of all her fabulous pumpkins!)

Kyle is growing and moving faster than ever... so fast that he constantly falls and constantly bleeds! But smiles all the same!

Because we missed posting last week, this week is HEAVY in pix! Enjoy!

Arriving at the pumpkin patch

Kyle loved picking pumpkins. His final pumpkin pick ended up being orange and he carried it all the way back to the hay ride by him self - he ended up covered in dirt from head to toe!

Riley and Aiden at the pumpkin patch - 2008
Riley and Aiden at the pumpkin patch - 2005 - FOUR pumpkin-trips ago!!Riley at the fire station for Emory's birthday
Kyle at the fire station (they LOVE the fireman hats - thank you Ms. Katie!)Riley got her hair cut!
Half the crew playing during football/chili afternoon - check out Rileys new Steelers shirt!

Kyle got a new shirt too and now he is moving at the speed of light!

Kyle's big double busted lip - yuck!
The kids at Miss Spiders Adventure
Playgroup fun with our playgroup

Haystacks with Duffy and John
Riley driving at Kings Dominion

The Green Monster

Latest kid news:
Kyle battled a green marker today and lost. He is still mama's boy but is also very independent, therefore every time he is asked to hold an adults hand in the street, it is a throw down. Kyle is also now climbing to the top of the playground and coming down on his own.

Riley loves preschool and loves playing with her brother. Her new favorite thing to play is "school", where either Tracy or Eric is the school teacher to her favorite dolls and stuffed animals and she is the mommy. After she tells us what the lesson for the day should be, she leaves us to teach while she goes off to school. Eric enjoys this game b/c this allows him to watch sports center, where Tracy would prefer Riley "teach" with her:-) Tracy tried talking Riley into teaching with her earlier this week by explaining that she can be a teacher and a mommy. Riley paused while thinking about the suggestion and told Tracy, "hold on... I'm thinking about it..." The final decision was that she would be a mommy and a student. At least she was in the same room now!
Enjoy the pix!

Riley at the park with buddy Aiden

Kyles very green face

close up of the Green! This pix really doesn't do the damage justice!

Kyle going down the slide like a big kid!

Welcome Fall!

We have had a great week! This past weekend, Grandma and Papa came to visit and watch the girls awesome soccer skills!! Riley and Kyle loves having Grandma and Papa around all weekend. Riley and Grandma played school a LOT while Kyle continued to tackle Papa. Sammi (Grandma and Papas puppy) loved playing with Buster and surprisingly, Buster loved playing as well.

Soccer is going great - both girls are surprising us with their skills and they are having a lot of fun! Kyle's 9th tooth has finally broken through (a molar!!) This explains why he has woken up in the middle of the night 4 of the last 6 nights... too bad Tracy & Eric didn't figure out the waking was a result of the tooth earlier - now Motrin keeps him happy through the night!

School update: Kyle has also moved up to the toddler room at school. His transition has been great and he loves playing with the big kids. Riley had her first field trip this week and Tracy joined her. She had a great time with her friends and loved having mommy there to play as well!

Visit to the lake with our neighborhood friends - the ducks were being crazy and the kids couldn't get enough!

Riley's 1st time on the school bus on her way to Maymont Park for her 1st field trip!

(sitting with BFF, Brianna)

Can you see the Two Bears?!
Riley's preschool class (Riley is on the ground on the right)
Lunch with BFF, Brianna. Ri got to use her new Hello Kitty lunch box (who knew Hello Kitty was back in fashion?!)

Go Steelers! Kyle at soccer practice - its finally cooling off in the mornings! Riley's fancy footwork!
Poor Kyle - being dressed up in Rileys nightgowns already!

51 More Weeks

Hanna and Ike were no match for our family! We spent last week at Emerald Isle and had beautiful weather and a GREAT time! We spent hours on end playing in the sand and water and even found time for putt-putt, bumper boats, race cars, the aquarium, ice cream, and delicious dinners every night! Papa and Eric even found time for golf! Aside from our regular motley crew, Aunt Becky from Cali joined us - it was great seeing you Aunt Beck! Thank you Grandma, Papa, Bebe, and Mamo for such a fun week!

But most importantly, Happy Birthday Aunt Darcy! We celebrated Aunt Darcy's birthday at the beach and we are looking forward to the same next year!

The kids had a blast - Kyle now says "fut-ball" and throws his arms in the air when anyone says touchdown and Riley can't get enough of the surf! Soccer started for Ri when we got back from vacation and we'll have tons of pix of that in the future! Both Riley and Lexa were Much better than we thought they would be:-) We took over 200 pix, so no stories, just pix this week...
(for a ton more pix, check out Aunt Darcy's blog - http://umsteadupdate.blogspot.com )

The annual matching clothes picture.

Kyle and Lexa in the baby pool on the beach - the water was ROUGH so the baby pool was a great alternative. Notice the monster sand castle in the background!
Eric and Riley in the water.


The Rodrigues crew (plus husbands)

The Surratts (minus Tracy)

Pigs may now be flying... Bev is using a computer!
Birthday Girl in the Birthday Hat!
Emerald Isle Butts!
Eric being swept to sea with all the kids
Grandma tickling the girls on a night time walk
My favorite picture - Touchdown!
(Grandma, Kyle, Papa)

Riley's 1st soccer practice

We did a lot of singing and dancing to Mama Mia this week - here is just the beginning of Kyle getting into his moves...

Another cute doll!

We've had a busy week and the camera never came out... but here are some old ones that I stumbled upon...

Riley last week (3 years 10 months old)

Riley 2005 - 11 months old

Riley at one and a half years old (I'm not sure whats up with the hair!)

Instead of saying "me-ow", she would say "ow-me"... so cute!

"I DID IT"

We had such an exciting week, but most importantly, Lexa turned 4 this week!! Happy Birthday Lexa, we love you!

School is going great - Riley is transitioning to the preschool class and is very excited to be reunited with a couple of her best friends. Kyle, as always, is fighting a cold, but happy as ever!

On Friday, Tracy took the kids to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens to check out the flowers and play in the childrens gardens. Our friends Ms. Amanda, Aiden, and Ivy met us there and Riley and Aiden had lots of fun running through the water!

Saturday was super busy! We met Aunt Darcy, Uncle Mike, Lexa, Grandma, and Papa at Kings Dominion to begin a full day of celebrating Lexa's birthday! The kids has so much fun and we can't wait to go back! Not only did the girls ride all of the kids rides, Kyle joined them on a few, and the girls also rode their first big ride - the Log Flume! Though all the confusion of who was sitting with whom, Riley ended up in the very front... the look of exhilaration and terror when they hit the big drop was PRICELESS! At the bottom of the big hill, she threw her fists up in the air and yelled "I Did It!". After tons of fun at KD, we headed back to Lexa's to celebrate with dinner, birthday cake, and presents.

Tracy and Eric ventured out later that night for our friend Todds 40th birthday - Happy Birthday Todd and thank you Grandma and Papa for babysitting the kids!

On Sunday, Tracy, Riley, and Kyle headed back to Darcy's for another great dinner and some play time. And on Monday our friends Jenn and Mackenzie had us over to make pizza! Yumm! Tracy may have forgotten how to cook!!

Enjoy the many pix and videos!

Riley running through the water at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

DORA!! What a great way to start the day!

Kyle at 11am, the beginning of the day. Notice the clean white shirt... this is the 1st of many shirts for the day

Darcy, Lexa (you can't see) and Riley and Eric (far right) on the roller coaster

Riley is on the top far right.

Last year she sat near the middle of the boat - this year she went for a real ride!

Riley (a little bored) and Kyle (all smiles!) on the swings

Kyle out cold - 3pm! Shirt number 2.

This is by FAR the longest he had ever gone without a nap, but he was happy and full of fun the entire time.

As the kids dozed, the adults, including Mike who is afraid heights, ventured up, up and away.

Do you see our legs?

The BEST picture ever - taken by KD on the way down the Log Flume - look at the girls faces! Riley is out cold (4:30ish) I was able to take a sucker right out of her mouth!
Lexa is fighting it but she did not win this fight. Our kids still nap, so this has been a LONG day!

After KD, we went back to Darcy's for a wonderful birthday dinner and cake.
Look how adorable Lexa is looking at her beautiful princess cake!!

Kyle - Shirt #4! Shirt #3 was never photographed. It was during the water park. Notice how shirt #4 is soaking wet - we question how the child stays hydrated with all his drooling...

If you know Riley, you know she doesn't play dress up or princess... which is why I had to post this picture! She asked to put on a princess dress!! Maybe the tides are turning...


1st Video: Lexa and Riley really wanted to ride the cars together and there was this one little girl, Ashley who had been in line with us for several rides who volunteered to ride with Kyle... I think Kyle would have preferred a little more space, but was still happy to be able to drive!

2nd Video - The girls dancing, filled with excitement after defeating the dreaded Flume ride!

Times flying

The past few weeks have been filled with fun and sun! We have tried to get to the pool a few times a week since it will be fall soon and we have spent many afternoons at the park or riding bikes. Riley is now riding her "big" bike with training wheels and Kyle is strapped into the pink & purple princess tricycle - maybe Santa will bring him a red bike to ride! We finally brought out the slip-n-slide and Lexa and Riley loved zooming down in every direction possible. They also loved playing in the sprinkler and baby pool - Kyle decided to just watch this adventure (having just fallen down 4 wooden stairs, landing on his head, it was probably a good idea!)

We had a surprise day visit from Grandma and Papa last week. They took us all out for a fun dinner and it was great seeing them! It had been almost a month since we had visited and Kyle couldn't get enough of Grandma!

Tracy spent a fun weekend away with the girls and Eric was super-dad and spent the day at Bebes pool, took the kids to the park, and even helped Kyle battle a very high fever. Last weekend we had 2 families over for dinner and everyone had a wonderful time. The kids were so great, that the adults actually got to enjoy dinner without interruption!

I'm not sure where the time has gone, but in the last few weeks, while we have been having all this fun, Riley and Kyle have grown up!


Riley is now swimming! It happened over night. She wakes up talking about swimming and every day is willing to try something new and go the next step. Today when we were leaving swim lessons our conversation went something like this - Me: Riley Paige, are you a mermaid?? Riley: No, because the little Mermaid swims way far into the ocean, and stays way under water, and goes far, far away, and talks to other animals and mermaids, and doesn't come up for air, so no, I'm not a mermaid, I'm Riley. (all of this one thought and one sentence) Definitely a literal child... when will I learn!?

Kyle is now communicating so well - he now signs a bunch of new words and he has added bye-bye, thank you, and Lexa to his vocabulary. He knows all the movements to the Itsy-bitsy spider and loves to copy everything his sister does! He is such a sweet child but is getting more and more devilish as the days go by!

And finally, what you have all come to see - pictures!

Kyle on the swing - since this pix was taken, Kyle has decided he wants to be on the big swings like his sister. Tracy does not like this very much at all (hes only 15 months!!)!

Kyle going through the tunnel
Riley on the swingsKyle coping everything Riley does. For the most part, they get along great and are too cute together!
Riley and barbie slip-n-sliding
Riley and Lexa sliding down the baby pool slide
The crazy trio!

Right after their 2nd swim lesson - notice all floating devices (that were a Riley REQUIREMENT last week) are no where to be found! The girls had to have jumped in at least 25 times in a row. Riley wouldn't get in the pool without holding on to an adult just 2 days ago!

There really isn't anything to see on this video - Kyle was dancing for us but stopped... but hes just so darn cute!