Halloween

I grew up in the country.  We lived in a subdivision, but the lots were large making your neighbors far away.  If we went trick or treating we would usually receive about half a bag of candy at each house because they knew you would be one of the only kids to come around and didn't want to get stuck with all the candy.  Trick or treating involved planning my costume around my winter coat because more often than not there would be snow on the ground.  It also required the use of a vehicle to get from house to house.  There were a few years where I would go into town and go trick or treating with my friends.  I remember being shocked the first time I only received one piece of candy at a house until I looked around and saw the streets flooded with ghosts, witches, goblins, super hero's and princesses.  Mike's first experience of trick or treating was a lot different than mine.  We headed over to a friend's house to take him with her kids.  Her neighborhood goes a bit crazy for Halloween with lots of decorations, candy and fun.  Mike absolutely loved it...until he didn't (toward the end of the night he sadly sat down in a driveway and declared that he was done).  The kids did great even with a few minor setbacks (Mike falling into a hole, declaring himself "stuck" and losing a boot; the Conductor having to wear my sweater because he was cold and looking more like a grandma than a conductor, and me possibly being temporarily blinded by crazy kids with flash lights), and collected WAY more candy than anyone really needs.

The cast of characters:

A trusty train conductor:

The every lovely fairy Silvermist:

And of course, our own little cowboy (who was being a bit of a stinker so he posed with mom):

You mean if I hold this pumpkin up they will put "can-eee" in it?!?!?

Apparently even toddler sized cowboys can saunter

Look, they even let Brad out of the hospital!

 

Because even cowboys get cold



 Thanks so much to the Lyons family for letting us come play!

Monday Picture

Touchdown!

This is how Mike situated himself (and his truck) which watching football yesterday.  Oh boys.

Any given evening

As daylight savings time gets closer I can feel our outside time being snatched away.  The precious hour of light we have when we get home will soon be gone and then Mike's expeditions through the bushes in front of our house will become less frequent.  For the next week and a half we will explore away and see what we can find in our own landscaping (endless treasures for an almost two year old).

Things to remember: First Crush

This is a picture of Mike and a lovely little girl named Sydney.  Sydney is 6.  I think she is officially Mike's first crush.  Her mom and dad came into town a week and a half ago to run the Warrior Dash with Brad.  While the adults were off playing, Mike was falling hard for this cute little blond.  She fondly calls him "Little Mike" and takes care of him like a little mother.  She holds his hand (which he never tries to pull away), she makes sure to modify her games so he can participate and she fawns all over him.  They have been gone over a week and he still brings her up daily asking "Sydney?" and "Sydney all gone?"  It might just be the cutest thing ever.

Monday Picture



"World's cutest Cowboy" - as described by Brad Warlick



The Greatest Show on Earth

I love the circus.  My parents use to take my sister and I when we were little and I always loved it.  Until last Sunday Brad had NEVER been to a circus before.  When I found out The Barnum and Bailey Circus, AKA the "Greatest Show On Earth" was coming to town I got excited...real excited.  Brad didn't get it.  He was skeptical of the whole thing, but as many of you know, I'm persuasive and I usually get what I want (what...it's true), so off to the circus we went.  I assured him over and over that he would like it and Mike would LOVE it.  They were not disappointed.  The look on Mike's face as soon as the eight (yes eight) elephants paraded out was worth the ticket price alone.  He was mesmerized during the entire 2 hour show.  He excitedly clapped, he cheered, he danced, he LOVED it.  Brad has been educated and finally understands why I love the circus.  His only complaint was "at times there was so much going on I couldn't watch it all."  Within minutes of it starting he was smiling, laughing and cheering right along with the rest of us.  We saw elephants and horses, zebras and acrobats, tight rope walkers and clowns, tigers and tumblers, and so so much more.  Oh and what was even better, we were in the second row, so the elephants were mere yards away, we could hear the tigers growling and count the stripes on the zebra. 

Mike and mommy eating the most expensive popcorn ever - $8/box - ouch!

Waving at all the performers

That my friends is what eight elephants in a row look like

Horses, zebras and...more horses, oh my!

Tight rope walkers...almost directly above us

In case you ever wondered, this is what 14 tigers in a cage looks like

And yet another elephant (I think the elephants were Mike's favorite part)

Things to Remember: Sit

As I have said over and over in the past few months, Mike's vocabulary is expanding like crazy.  He is putting words together and forming short sentences.  It is so fun to watch his language skills develop.  He (like most boys) is fascinated with different modes of transportation, and wants to "sit" in each of them.  Buses, trucks, tractors, unmarked white panel vans (don't ask), trains, airplanes, helicopters, etc.  The other night while pushing around his Tonka truck he urge to "sit" was strong...so he did...on the truck, and then proceeded to scoot himself around the play room.