Urgent Message

"Mama!"

"Mama!"

"Mama!"

"Mama!"

"What, Matthew? For goodness sake, WHAT?"

"I got DIRT!"

Busti Apple Festival

Is it wrong to drink grape juice at an apple festival?

One of the things I love about living in the Great Lakes region is the frequency of "festivals" throughout the summer and fall months. The local offering this weekend was the Busti Apple Festival, so we packed up the kids and headed out to buy some cider, fudge, and a Christmas present or two.

There were, of course, loads and loads of apples for sale. We didn't end up buying any, mostly because we didn't want to drag around 20 pounds of apples AND 20 pounds of Nolan (yes, we forgot to bring the stroller)! Since my friend volunteers for the festival, the boys did get to check out all of the apple offerings (free samples, too)!

Matthew checking out the apples with our friend Kim!

There were also lots of demonstrations of historical arts: log hewing, yarn spinning, and wheat grinding included. We did stop to watch a blacksmith, since that greatly intrigued Matthew. Banging on things AND fire- wow!



The season of festivals is almost over, but we will definitely be visiting Pumpkinville in a few weeks!

Entymology

I have never been a big fan of anything sporting fewer than two legs or more than four legs. In a great sense of cosmic humor, I was given boys who love to dig in the dirt and find all sorts of unidentifiable creatures and show them to me. Take the conversation last Friday:

"Mama! I lost him!"

"Lost who, Matthew?"

"My worm! I lost him!"

"Oh, did you lose your worm outside?"

"Noooo! In here!"

Great... I still haven't found said worm.

Today a caterpillar*, grasshopper, ant, and inchworm were all brought inside for my consideration. Most were rather squished from the enthusiasm of a small boy, though the ant appears to have survived. I can only hope this fascination either begins to fade, or that my dear boy will begin to keep them outside!

*Matthew called it a caterpillar, but it was the larval form of some hideous insect. Presumably, a biting one. That one was relocated outside in a hurry!

A Visit From Ike

Hurricane Ike made a visit to our region on Sunday afternoon, surprising us with rather high winds and knocking out our phone and internet for a couple of days. As the storm rolled in, the kids had a great time running in the wind and watching their balloons whip around. Until, that is, Ike stole Nolan's balloon and sent it flying into the atmosphere!

Hey, Ike - give my balloon back!

The wind really started to pick up and we had to go inside. Matthew was rather upset and wanted to stay outdoors with the exciting weather, but Nolan was definitely ready to get indoors!





The next morning brought a lot of downed trees and limbs. Along with those limbs came a giant windfall of acorns, also known as "little boy treasure." While we raked and sawed and cleaned up Ike's aftermath, Matthew spent a good deal of time gathering acorns into a bucket. I have NO idea what to do with so many acorns! Perhaps we'll have a sale: future oak trees, going cheap!

First Day of "School"

Matthew started a preschool program called "Two By Twos" today at First Covenant Preschool. It is a great program, allowing two year olds to become accustomed to behaving in a group dynamic. Today was just orientation, so we played for 45 minutes and explored the preschool room to get used to the environment.

Next week will be the first day of the full program. For 30 minutes or so we'll sing songs in a parent/child type setting, then the parents will slowly leave and the children will remain with the teachers. They'll do arts and crafts and various activities geared to their age, and the parents get to have some coffee and listen to guest speakers. Anything that has coffee included has me hooked!

Matthew loved the classroom toys so much that he didn't want to leave. He would really love to move in with the teachers and have all those wonderful toys to play with full time!

How NOT To Take a Two Year Old's Picture

I told Matt to smile for the camera, and this is what I got:

The weather has taken on a different "feel" and we have had chilly mornings and blustery afternoons. I have a feeling this will be one of the last outdoor popsicles of the year. Nolan doesn't get his own popsicle yet (I have to hold it for him), but he definitely wanted some of Matthew's!

Dirt Magnet

I had to take this picture, because few children can obtain Matt's level of filth in such a short period of time. This was after 15 minutes of outdoor play.

I'm taking out stock in Johnson and Johnson's baby bath!

Summer's Last Hurrah

Hey, kid- your horse is funny lookin'!

Warm days won't last much longer, so we took advantage of our clear, sunny Labor Day weekend and headed out to the Cleveland Zoo. This zoo is a bit of a drive (about 2 1/2 hours), but is definitely worth it for the exhibits!

We enjoyed walking around the African Savannah section of the zoo, and the Aquatics and Primates building was top-notch (though the walk up gave us quite a bit of exercise)! Nolan LOVED the Guenon monkeys and Matt was fascinated by the very large fish.

The favorite section of the zoo had to be the Australian section. Matthew rode a camel, which was talked about for the rest of the day: "I ride him! Do again. I get that camel!" There was a giant treehouse with a snake-shaped slide and animatronic crocodile, a train, a petting zoo with mean goats, and a kangaroo walkabout exhibit. We could have spent all day in this area alone!

What do you mean, I'm not tall enough to ride!

They had a tunnel for toddlers. Nolan fell into the dirt and didn't want to play anymore.

Break Time!

The zoo is so big that we had to take frequent drink and rest breaks. It was 88 degrees, so the shade from the large oak trees was well appreciated.

Note: 2 year olds never actually "rest."

We managed to make it until 3:00pm before the little ones started to flag. We left while the going was good (i.e. prior to meltdown). We never made it to some of the exhibits (the indoor rainforest, the stingray touch pool, the butterfly garden), but we'll certainly be heading back when summer 2009 rolls around!