Pumpkin Days at Butler's Orchard

We had a fun family trip to Butler's Orchard to usher in the Fall Season....even though it still feels like Summer. There were so many fun activities there for kids and we only captured a few of them on camera. For me, the main attraction was the hayride to the pumpkin patch.



We selected our pumpkin and when we got on the wagon to ride back to the festivities, The Nogster insisted on holding the pumpkin the whole way.



The next best thing was the petting zoo with farm animals, which I knew the boys would love. Only the goats seemed interested in us at the time, but they were very friendly and even-tempered. Nogster completely loved them. I never thought I'd say this but I think he needs a dog.



Stone liked the slides. You have to sit on a burlap sack to go down.




The Blond Guy's favorite was the hayloft with big bales of hay for jumping off...




Nogster liked driving the mini John Deere tractors and climbing around the wooden train. On the whole it was a great day. The boys fell asleep in the car on the way home.

The Blond Guy's First Violin Performance

We have a little violin made of felt and other crafty items that The Blond Guy finally realized that he could pretend to play on today. I gave him a pencil for a bow and he was set. Now for my disclaimer: Even though playing the violin, and even asking me to accompany him on the piano was completely his idea, this video makes it look like it was my idea....and that's only because Stone and I were working so hard at trying to capture this moment on film. We had to take a lot of footage to get anything remotely worth writing home about.



Jesus said love everyone,
Treat them kindly, too.
When your heart is filled with love,
Others will love you.

Nothin' like a good pair of underpants

This morning Nogster found a pair of The Blond Guy's underpants and insisted that I put them on him. Yeah, despite being nonverbal he can definitely be insistent. I think these underpants have some superhero powers....at least, they make him look like a superhero.

Grandma, This One's For You

This has become part of our bedtime routine. Fortunately he still sees it as a game. I hope I can keep it fun long enough to have an impact. Watch his face when he's trying to hit the really low notes. It makes me laugh.

ABC's

The last couple of days The Blond Guy has started singing the alphabet in bits and pieces. Yesterday I got some good footage of his singing, although the first take which you see here ended up being the best. Later on we were running a bunch of errands and one was at a strip mall with CVS. From the back seat of the car he said to me, “Mommy, lots of ABC’s!” and he also said “Big ABC’s!” in reference to the signs above the stores. I was glad that he took notice. I wouldn’t have even thought to point them out.

Got Goslings?

On our way to the park there is a nursing home with a pond, home to several geese and a few turtles. This year two families of geese had 5 goslings each. We've had the distinct pleasure of watching the baby geese grow up. We stop by and watch them and if we have crackers on hand we share. The parents are always nearby and they hiss if we get too close so we have to be careful. But they are also always eager to get in on the action if there is food in the mix...and each family seems to like to boss the other one around. At first we would watch the parents bullying each other for territory and lately we've seen the same behavior duplicated in the offspring. I guess it's just one of nature's obvious lessons which makes me even more self-conscious of my own foibles in parenting.

Our Most Recent Talent Exhibition

The Blond Guy's act is called Not My Era.

Nogster performs 60 seconds to don your fire-fighting gear.