Bartholomew Cubbins

We have a family tradition with the Kirkwood side to read  The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins when we all get together for holidays.  All the cousins pile on the couch with the uncles, and each uncle is a different character in the story, reading that portion of the book in his own silly voice.  This tradition started when we were little, and even as grown adults, we still look forward to the reading of Bartholomew Cubbins each holiday!  This picture was from 2007, the first time Paul got to be a part of the traditional reading!

Anyway, my sister Kristin heard that Bartholomew Cubbins was to be performed at the Children's Theater in Minneapolis.  And THAT was the reason all 18 of us gathered together during a weekend in October, coming from all across the country including Colorado, Michigan, and of course, Minnesota!  Gotta love our family!

Well, we decided to do Thanksgiving in October in conjunction with this special production, which turned out to be a great idea now that several married cousins have in-laws to visit on "actual" Thanksgiving--we might even start a new tradition of always holding Kirkwood Thanksgiving in October!

Here are some pictures of our silly family as well as the first time that many of the Kirkwood clan had the opportunity to meet Summer and Tucker!

 The  first time Summer met her Great Grandma and Grandpa Kirkwood

 

The Turkey was bigger than Summer!

The Cousins

Playing "Tucker in the middle" with the frisbee

These silly boys don't get to see each other much--Paul in MN and Heather's hubby Nick in CO.

We got to see Leah's college dorm room

 Yup, we all wore Bartholomew Cubbins hats to the show :)

Paul really liked his hat!

The whole clan after the show!

Everyone came back to our place for dinner after the show.  We managed to all squeeze into our kitchen!

Gotta love family!  LOVE YOU GUYS!

Lebanon Hills

Hello Everyone!  Sorry we haven't posted in a while :).  It is time to update you on the our lives, and it will take several posts to bring you up to speed.  Let's start with our fun Saturday at Lebanon Hills for some hiking in the leaves.  Mommy held onto Tucker while daddy climbed the many hills pushing Summer in the jogger.  Here are a few pictures.  Enjoy!

After a fun afternoon of hiking, we came home and made pizza.  YUM!  Here is a glimpse into our evening.

Saturday Night at the Tommerdahls

I found my thumb!

Apple Orchard

Two of my all time favorite things are crunching leaves in the fall and going apple picking.  Paul found a place that had both, and he took Summer and I there to celebrate my birthday.  Here are a few pictures, as well as a video of Summer enjoying crunching in the leaves too!

Summer sleeps through the Corn Maze!

Looking at the map

 Summer's hood serves as a "cup holder" for daddy!

GORGEOUS fall colors!

One of Mommy and Summer's favorite trees--look at the color of the leaves!

Summer "walking" in the leaves

Summer loves her daddy!

And daddy loves his Summer!

Whee!  Higher daddy, higher!

Awe!

Mommy's turn to cuddle!

 Summer poses for the camera...a model for some magazine....

And now, the model with "attitude" :)

Summer crunching through the leaves

 

After we got home, we grilled out cheeseburgers.  Summer sat in her bumbo seat while we ate and provided the entertainment for our meal!