Happy Halloween

Pumpkins

I've been a bad blogger.  Just so I don't fall ridiculously behind, here are some pics from our trip to buy a pumpkin. Oh, 2 or more weeks ago.

We visited Harmon's Tree Farm to attempt to get some fall-ish pics of the kids. Easier said than done nowadays.

The petting zoo was a lot of fun.  Kate got to see peacocks and feed this nice deer.  "Pop likes Deer!" she kept telling us.

Learning about acorns.

I only included this photo...

To point out that I don't really appreciate an old Donkey Kong machine being considered something that belongs in a "museum."  I spent a lot of time on machines like this back in the 80s.

Mason? Along for the ride, again.

There was a playground with an odd selection of toys and... a Tee Pee?

A see saw...

And then there were my multiple attempts to get both children to look at the camera at the same time. We could have been there all day waiting on this one folks. Never did capture that perfect shot.  But we got these:

Holding hands. Mason trying to eat Kate's.

 Everyone look here and say cheese!

No, seriously guys.  Look at me. ME!  Ok, nevermind.

Ok, here we go. Mason is kind of looking at me.

Lots and lots of beautifully overpriced pumpkins.

I did not tell Kate that we couldn't afford any of these pumpkins and then drive down the road to pay $7.30 for what would have cost us at least $20. Seriously.

Bargain road-side stand.

And Kate picks? The painted pumpkins of course.

Sometimes we play Hookey

Maybe it isn't hookey when you schedule to take the day off. Either way. It was a Monday morning!

We haven't been to the state fair in several years, but this year we decided it was time to take Kate.  She's finally old enough to enjoy the animals, ride a few rides, and enjoy some cotton candy.

First up? The petting zoo.  We met this great Llama.

And rode an elephant. Rode an elephant? Our child who was afraid to get on any rides at Carowinds was ready to hop on this elephant at the drop of a hat!

We rode the bumble bees, which were always my favorite when I was a kid. I explained to her how to make it go up and down.  "Just stay down, Mommy." And we did ride down low the entire time.

There was a really tall cowboy. She liked him a lot. Corndog Carl or something like that. Funny. By my estimation, this guy might be 5 feet tall under all that corndog.

We rode the vomit Dizzy Dragons. I tried pretty hard to convince her that Daddy should ride with her. No luck. "Mommy, why he holding his belly?" I thought to myself: Because he's about to hurl, kid. All that spinning! I was shocked that she liked this one. It was a Tilt-O-Whirl for little kids. That was my favorite ride when I was a kid.  I have new respect for my Dad, who rode with me. Bleagh!

We played some games.  Kate won a Smurfette. 

Then we played my favorite game - the one where you put 50 cents on a color and throw the little ball.  Kate won on.. of course... polka dot! (in case you didn't know, she has a polka dot blanket that goes everywhere with her). We've spent many dollars trying to win at this game before. It only took Kate 3 tries = $1.50.

She won a dolphin that was bigger than her (and probably not worth $1.50).

 Merry-go-round with Daddy. Yep. She's riding a horse.  Yes. She initially chose the bench (again). The guy running the ride came by and said: "Don't you want to ride a horse? I have a great pink one here." She hopped right on! Then she cried to sit on the bench. Don obliged. Then she cried to sit on the horse. Yeah, two year olds. They go through a bi-polar phase.

And did you think Don and I let Kate have all the fun.  Here's Don rocking the Euroslide. Hey, don't laugh. That thing is high and kinda scary.

Our other option was this swing. Yikes!

It was a fun day.

Funnel Cakes, Corn Dogs, Fiske fries, Cotton Candy, Candy Apples!! It was a fun time for all!

 And then on Tuesday, it was back to reality.  But reality's not so bad either.

Potty Blitz 2011

Potty training. It's not for the faint of heart.  I like to think that we're very close to losing the pull-ups. So Friday we let Kate pick out some big girl panties for Potty Blitz weekend.  What is Potty Blitz you may ask? Well, pull-ups go out the door and we are left to wear actual big girl panties. And this is the time when you're thankful if you have mostly hardwood floors.

We went to Target. Kate picked out princess panties. I know, you're shocked, aren't you? And cupcake ones, because she couldn't decide.  Then we walked through the toy isles looking at all of the cool toys and pushing the buttons of all of the ones that make noise.  We headed home and talked about how tomorrow (Sat) she would be a big girl and there would be no more pull-ups! She seemed at least marginally interested and clutched the panties like someone might mug us in the parking lot to get them.  We got home and she picked out the pink ones to wear on Saturday morning.

So.... there were highs and lows.  At one point she pooped in the potty by herself. No prompting from me at all, just went by herself.  Hooray! Shortly after that feat, I found her wearing all 7 pairs of princess panties. Eh? Turns out they act like diaper if used together.

Here she is sporting all 7:

Mason thought it was all fun.  Of course, Mason thinks almost everything is all fun.

After a couple of accidents, she capped off the night by telling me she had to go in an attempt to avoid bedtime. She did, in fact, use the potty, so she was rewarded appropriately.... More to come on the potty saga. It is really building character in our house. Mostly for me!

Came home to find Kate and Daddy playing in the living room. Don loves having all of the toys piled on top of him.

And then there's Mason. He's just bouncing along.

Lots of Love

Don and the kiddos joined me on my weekly run at the Dam.  On the way home Mason started to scream. Kate looks over and yells: "I love you Mason!" What can I say? There's lots of love in this house.

"Mommy? Can we hold hands?"

She loves to hold his hand.

 He loves to practice sitting up.

I love post-bath Mason.

Everybody loves Daddy time!

And I love my mini-me!

C-L-E-M-S-O-N

The Tigers keep winning and we were there to cheer them on! It was a beautiful homecoming day.

I finally got a foam finger.

It was quickly confiscated by Kate.

                    

We enjoyed the floats (can you see us in the eye of the tiger?)

The game weather was actually perfect, but our seats were in the sun and it got hot fast.  Luckily Kate was just as happy to dance on the ampitheater stage.

And by the end of the day she told me to take off her tiger tail because she was a "cheerleader princess."

Let's Eat!

 I think we've got an eater, folks!  Kate made a lot of strange faces when she first had rice cereal. Not Mason. He doesn't quite know how to keep it from coming back out, but he's a fan. He also tried to snag some of my Southwestern Chicken Salad this evening. Sneaky boy.

Of course everything tastes better with hands. Remember I said that he'd eat them if he could?

And the princess? Oh, she lives on air. And cheese. And cookies and ice cream if I'd let her.  I gave her some cooked carrots for dinner. 

Kate: "Mom! You put carrots on my plate again." 

Me: "Yes, I did. I thought maybe some time you'd try them." 

Kate (with a huge grin on her face): "No, I don't like carrots."

It was picture day. Kate wore pumpkins. We sure do love this girl.