Regan's been talking about a pool for a long time; constantly wanting to go in a pool. Today she got her chance! We didn't have time go swimming last night at the hotel, so this morning after breakfast, we promised her we would go swimming. She held us to our promise and she had so much fun! The last few times we've taken her swimming, she's been incredibly apprehensive of the water and pretty fearful of going in. This time, she even got brave enough to try jumping into mommy's arms!
Moments after we got on highway 62 this weekend heading for St. Cloud for the final wedding of the year, our car got a flat tire. The worst part is that these tires are only 3 weeks old....we haven't even received the bill for them yet!! Thankfully we got a quick tow and were back on the highway with the other vehicle in less than one hour. Regan did amazingly well and really enjoyed the tow truck ride! (The driver suggested we just hold Regan, but as you can see, the top picture is of mom strapping her car seat into the truck). Although we were late, we quietly slid into church and had a wonderful rest of the weekend.
Mommy caught Regan being so nice today as she shared her snack of dry cereal with Elmo. It was adorable because the cereal actually went into Elmo's mouth and she thought he was eating it! Hours later she went back over to Elmo and found a piece of cereal inside and snatched it out and ate it!!
Regan came down with strep throat on Tuesday evening so she stayed home from daycare the rest of the week. Thursday she felt well enough to help mommy put up a few Christmas decorations, and she was amazingly a big helper! She was happy as long as she got to do whatever it was she wanted :) At one point she walked around with a candle (unlit of course) and everytime mommy asked for it back, she threw a fit. Needless to say, she got away with a lot of things she doesn't normally get away with!
I spent some time raking the leaves in the back yard this afternoon and my little princess sat comfortably in her yard chair while I worked! She did lend an occassional "hand" or should I say, made an occassional mess by running/jumping into my pile of leaves :) She then made up for it by helping, with her tiny little hands, put the leaves into a bag; it was adorable as she picked up 2-3 leaves at time and dropped them into the bag. What a helper!
Last weekend we enjoyed the beautiful weather by heading back to the park Regan loves so much. She got daring enough to go down the longest, highest slide by herself! It was the only slide at the park she hadn't done alone, partly because mom was too scared to let her go.....most people don't know that mom fell off the side of a slide when she was younger. With the help of dad at the bottom and the demonstration by the neighbor girl, Regan went right down without looking back! 
Grandma Sheri babysat Regan on Monday and later this week, she sent us this picture from their day together. Apparently they both got tired with dressing Mr. Potato Head and decided to dress Regan! We all got a good laugh :) 
This morning, while mommy and Regan were dancing around in the living room, it started snowing! We quickly put on shoes and coats and ran outside to catch a glimpse of the first snowfall. Regan couldn't quite understand what she was seeing and kept saying "it's raining" only to change her mind and say "it's snowing". She was pretty excited, holding her hand out to 'catch' the snowflakes and feel how cold they were! Depending on your feelings for snow, (un)fortunately, it didn't last long. I'm sure there will be many more opportunities for snow this winter.
I know these are bad pictures, but if you look closely, you'll see Regan can officially wear her hair in pigtails and they don't fall out within hours. I had a hard time getting a decent picture this weekend and ended up giving in and just putting the camera away. 
Tonight we went to a Halloween Party with the Hubbell's and Regan sure enjoyed it. She was a little overwhelmed at first, seeing as though all the kids/volunteers were in costumes; I don't think she really knew what was going on. Once we hit the 2 story jungle gym, she felt right at home! She loved bouncing around on the inflatable-like trampoline, sliding down really long slides and climbing up to the top with daddy (we have no idea how daddy survived; put it this way, he was "sweating buckets" by the time he got back down). Next year she will be able to enjoy it even more, there were a few things she wasn't able to participate in because she was still too little.
In preparation of Halloween, we took Regan to a very large indoor park in Edina this evening for a Halloween party. We had to snap a few pictures outside before we left for the festivities. She's just adorable in her chicken costume and even more so when she says "trick or treat" or "happy halloween"!
We've got the decorations all set for Halloween! Regan's even able to say "Jack O Lantern" and knows the difference between that and a pumpkin. Daddy has his work cut out for him next weekend when he sets out to carve 6 pumpkins! We're looking forward to Regan's reaction when she puts her hand inside the pumpkin for the first time and feels the mushy insides.
Regan found mommy's flower from Hawaii and thought it would be cute to pose for a picture. Later she walked around the house with her purse full of girly goodies: cell phone, camera and some other trinket toys. 
Mommy and daddy (and Regan too) have become bored with Regan's toys recently. So last weekend Regan got to open her Halloween present a little early :) She was pretty excited to open the box and learn how to use a sit n spin! At first she pushed herself around with her feet, but within minutes she figured out how to pull herself around with her arms! It's so much fun to watch her go round and round; we can't wait till she's a little older/stronger and can really get herself moving so fast that she's dizzy! Unfortunately, we couldn't find an 'old school'/traditional sit n spin and this one is Dora the Explorer. It drives mommy and daddy nuts with Dora's constant singing/counting/giggling.
Last weekend we headed to Duluth in hopes of getting a glimpse of the fall colors. Let's just say the ride up was more scenic than what was visible in Duluth. We didn't even realize we were driving down "the" hill until we hit the bottom...visibilty was being measured in feet. Despite the cold weather, Regan had a blast playing with Thomas and Natalie Schwartz; so much so that she only napped 45 minutes! We can tell she really has a thing for playing with cars, and unfortunately, she has none of her own to play with. Thankfully Thomas was so nice sharing his toys and she loved pushing the cars around the floor. 
Given the dreary start to the day, we didn't actually think we'd be going up the ski lifts to view the MN fall colors Friday evening. Thankfully the rain dried up and although it was muggy and humid (not exactly fall like), we were able to keep our plans. Regan really liked the ski lift "ride" as she calls it and hung on tight as we climbed to the top of the hill. She wanted to stay on and ride back down, but that wasn't exactly an option. Once at the top, she enjoyed petting a dog, looking at an owl and seeing the bonfires. The owl was a tough concept....they are a bird in her mind and they go "tweet tweet". As far as mommy and daddy, well, it was a beautiful sight at the top to see the skyline and the amazing colors; definately not 'peak' colors yet, but still amazing. Tomorrow we hope to have dry weather in Duluth where the colors are supposed to be at peak, despite the rainy forecast.
