Zoo Lights

Since it was a nice night out we decided to go to Lincoln Park Zoo for their Zoo Lights. Traffic was terrible so we didn't have a ton of time to explore, but still had a lot of fun.

Cookie Decorating

Santa

Maddon's First Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at Grandma and Grandpa Zdenek's house with a traditional dinner. Our family has a lot to be thankful for this year, especially for our newest addition. Maddon spent most of his first Thanksgiving sleeping, but took some time out to show off his smiles and coos. 

Santa

Ever since Mason was born we've gone to visit Santa the beginning of November. We go to the same place every year and have lunch at Rainforest Cafe afterwards. This year we had the pleasure of taking Maddon for the first time. The boys did a great job visiting with Santa and Mason made sure to share their lists with the big guy. Maddon was slightly distracted by all the lights on the trees though!

Halloween

Mason requested to be a firefighter for Halloween this year and got to wear his costume to a few events. He wore it to Boo at the Zoo, his Halloween parade at school, and trick-or-treating. I was able to attend his school parade, but most pictures are blurry. The kids were moving so fast! We went trick-or-treating in Grandma's neighborhood again this year and Maddon even came out too!

Here comes his class

 Our little firefighter

 Eating his free scary face pancake at IHOP

Time to trick-or-treat

 and a couple of Maddon

Matching Halloween jammers!

Mason's School Pictures

Pumpkin Picking

With Halloween approaching and the weather being so beautiful it was a great day to go to the pumpkin farm. Mason had a blast checking everything out and was really bummed to have to leave. We got a great pumpkin that he picked out in the field!

Train playground

Our little pepper

Monster truck slide

Pirate ship playground

Seeing how tall he is this year

Inflatable tee ball

Playing in the corn pit

Pony ride

Train ride (the bigger one was broken)

We were trying to get a family selfie, but Mason kept complaining that the sun was in his eyes!

Our pumpkin

He insisted on driving the pink tractor

Happy 4th Birthday Mason!

I can't believe my baby is 4! He is turning into such a smart (sometimes too smart) little guy who is very opinionated. He is very into pretty much all things boy! Legos are his newest obsession and his collection is growing fast. He does a very good job building with them and really puts his imagination to use. He loves playing "pretend" and is still enjoying playing cars and dinosaurs. He really loves playing outside which is becoming problematic now that the weather is starting to cool down. He is very independent and loves having his own things scheduled (school, swim class, etc). He is making lots of new friends this year in school and has helped some of the kids who are new to school to adapt. He is developing quite the personality and we couldn't be more proud.

He is currently measuring 42.5 inches tall and weighs 40.5 lbs. 

On his actual birthday after dinner at Sweet Tomatoes (his choice). He requested an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, but chose this ice cream parfait instead.

 A few of his 4 year old photos