2012 Pumpkin Picking!

As Halloween approaches, we decided it was time to head out to Homestead Farms to get some pumpkins for our home.
Mom asked me how big our pumpkin was going to be, and I showed her!

I also showed her how my big muscles would be able to carry it easily!

Just like we did last year, we hopped a fun little hay ride to take us out to the fields...we had a rollicking good time!

I buried Monkey in the hay, and he had a good time, too!

The real work began when we got out to the field...I made sure to tell Mom and Dad all about the very specific nature of getting just the right pumpkin. I had chosen a green one, just to mix stuff up, but it turned out to have a bad spot on it, so I skipped it..

I continued my quest, scrutinizing even the finest details...skin color, readiness for Jack-O-Lantern face, stem length and color, etc....always checking for soft spots...

I finally decreed that not only had I found a suitable pumpkin (with Mom's expert help) I would also be living out in the pumpkin patch indefinitely...I found the scenery beautiful, the weather agreeable, and the numerous pumpkins a difficult to beat decorative flourish.

Mom and Dad convinced me that my plan had a few holes in it, so I agreed to get back on the hayride, and simply visit the pumpkin patch, rather than live here...

I felt pretty good about our choice of pumpkin...I made sure to hold onto it nice and tight as we rode the hayride!

I was not feeling particularly generous with my smiles, so Mom made the decision to join me in my sullenness....

We also found another smaller pumpkin for Dad to bring to work (Tragically, right after this photo was taken, we found a bad spot on the pumpkin, and swapped it out for another, equally awesome pumpkin)

I finally acquiesced to having my picture taken in the little apple display (That's Dad trying to get out of frame after helping to convince me to take the photo)

We grabbed some cider and apple butter, and were on our way...we skipped the animals this year, since they kind of freak me out, and headed home with our Autumnal Haul....I do so love doing this every year! Can't WAIT for Halloween...Dad got the gloves for my costume (The rest of it will be here in a few days) and I have been playing with them in their package ever since...I am SO excited about Halloween!

Fire Department Open House!

The fire department near our apartment (The one that sends many a fire truck screaming past our apartment at all hours of the night) had an open house recently! They had all their fire trucks on display, they had snacks, and were offering tours of the fire house...

Inside, I met this little fella...a fire hydrant painted up to look like a dog! They do their best to make the fire station a welcoming home away from home, since they spend so much time there...there was a gym, and TV, and lots of stuff to do!

In the main bay, we got to see all the supplies and the lockers that the fire fighters keep them in!

There were balloons (My first one popped, devastating me, but I learned a valuable lesson about not running the balloon into the bushes as I walked, and since we were only across the street when it happened, Dad was nice enough to bring me back to get a new one)

I thought it was pretty cool to get an up close look at all the buttons, and lights on the sides of the trucks...it was a lot of fun...I was feeling a bit tired and grumpy, so we didn't stay long, but I really enjoyed the time we had...

Dad even convince me to get a quick picture in front of the old timey fire truck they had on display...it was really cool, but he didn't manage to get me to sit on it and turn the hand crank for the alarm...I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe next year. :-)

2012 Trike-A-Thon!

Once again, my school took part in the Trike-A-Thon...I did it last year and you can see that I now have a bigger bike, and look a lot older...I do, however, have the same helmet....Mom and Dad plan on remedying that for next season...

In case you don't remember, the Trike-A-Thon is to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. We ride around the course as many times as we can, and people pledge money to me so that I can donate it to the hospital! It's a great cause, and a lot of fun!

As in years past, there were a few collisions, but luckily we made it out unscathed!

I rode pretty hard for a long time! I take these things pretty seriously!!

I traded bikes a few times (as did most of my friends) but since I was feeling a little tired, I decided to sit out the last few laps, so I could watch my friends with my Dad and cheer them on from the sidelines.

We did a good thing, while having fun...can't get much better than that!!

My First Homework Assignment

At preschool, they sent us home with our first "At-Home" assignment (I guess the bigger kids call it "Homework", but they left out "work" in our version to maybe make it more appealing....I don't know...)

The project involved all three of us working together on a leaf that would go onto a big tree in my classroom. We got a leaf to trace in our assignment packet, and I got to choose the color. We went to the craft store and I chose pink. I also chose a bunch of other stuff to go on the leaf. Since I love animals so much, and we used to live near the zoo, I got a lot of stickers that represented that!

We centered our project around a family photo, and each added a little something to it...then Dad cut it out (making sure not to chop off any animals) and we brought it in to add to the tree at school! It was a fun assignment, and I loved getting to do some arts and crafts with Mom and Dad!!

My First Mini-Golf Excursion...

So...finishing my summer recap, there was a very cool setup over at The National Building Museum in DC....they had a bunch of artists/architects create a Mini Golf course with a series of unique Mini Golf holes...now, I had no idea what a golf course was, let alone a mini golf course.....

So...Mom and Dad took me over there, and we had to wait in a loooooong line...for awhile, Mom held our place while Dad and I played around the museum, but then we had to join her in the final part of the line...Dad was kind enough to let me watch some videos on his phone while we waited in the enormous line...

I guess this mini-golf stuff is pretty popular. Especially when it's inside on a hot summer day...

So we finally got to the front, and I got to pick out my own ball from the baskets at the front.

I also got to pick something called a "putter" The object of the game is to tap the ball through the little course (Which was sometimes littered with obstacles for some ungodly reason...it's like they don't want you getting the ball in the hole or something!)

Mom did a great job showing me how to play on the first hole...since there were so many people, and things were moving so slow, we basically got to play each hole as long as the people in front of us played theirs....I loved being able to take my time!

Some of the holes were really cool...this one I had to help the ball through the bumpy course...

All of the holes were unique, but some were easier than others.

I learned this lesson early on. Mom and Dad made it clear in no uncertain terms that the first time the putter went above my waist, the game was over...I heeded their warnings right from the top of the game.

Here I am getting my ball into the hole! How exciting! I really was getting the hang of this game!

Until, of course, we ended up on a hole that was REALLY crazy like this one...I figured, heck, I'll just go on up into the hole itself and help the ball along...that's legal, right?

Mom did a pretty good job, too...I would sometimes help her and Dad (Much to their chagrin...I don't know why they tried to stop me from picking up their balls and helping it into the hole...isn't that where they want it to go?)

This one was really neat...it was a bunch of little cars in a neighborhood, and you had to hit the ball down the street...very cool....

...very cool, that is, until I lost my ball in the bus. :-/

This one took the longest...it was like a half-pipe except that instead of skateboarding, you had to get the ball to roll up and down until it landed in the hole...it was apparently the one that was holding everyone up (Especially the slow-pokes in front of us)

This one lit up, and was really fun to not only hit your ball through, but to run around on as well...

In the midst of one of the holes, there was a little pretend dinner set up on some tables and chairs. It looked like real food, and I thought it added a nice ambiance to the whole affair.

The fake food didn't distract me from sinking another ball into another hole...I am REALLY getting the hang of this!!

And finally we came upon the last hole which were some balloon-looking things that you had to get your ball through...

It was a challenge, but all three of us finished with solid scores!

I was sad to be leaving, but we all had a really great time at the mini-golf course! Any chance you get to play mini-golf, you totally should.

A Labor Day Gramma Mindy Visit!!

It's that time of year again....we have moved into Fall, and I am wrapping up the last few posts to recap the Summer...Once again, we were lucky enough that Gramma Mindy's schedule allowed for her to join us for Labor Day weekend! Between Dad's schedule change, and the lovely weather, we decided to venture out into the city for some fun! We drove down to the National Mall, and got to run around the big awesome buildings for a little bit, while trying to find something to eat....

Since nothing was open, we just headed over to the Natural History Museum for awhile, and figured we'd just eat there later...

While we saw lots of cool stuff at the museum (Lots of gems, rocks, something enormous and shiny called "The Hope Diamond", etc) I was pretty terrified as there were a lot of skeletons there...don't ask me to explain it...they just bugged me out...ugh, even writing about it now makes me a little nervous.....

Here we are entering one of the gems exhibits, and it was tripping me out that they had a 3-D display of the molecules inside of it....wild, right?

We also took some time to go see a 3-D IMAX movie about Polar Bears...it was a little big, loud, and overwhelming...it was mainly about how we are destroying the Earth, and the ice is melting, and what-not....not the world's most feel-good movie of the year, but there was some pretty cool shots of the arctic, and some adorable shots of Polar Bears...

That, and I got to wear THESE:

A newish exhibit that they had at the museum was the Butterfly Pavillion. It was basically a large room that housed TONS of butterflies that you could visit with, and observe them while they flew around you...it was SO NEAT...

The butterflies were all around us, and you could feel them as they fluttered by you...

Mom showed me a few that I could get right up close to...so beautiful...

 They had a little case where the butterflies were sleeping turning into butterflies...shhhhhh!

 I tried my best to read the information on the plaques in front of the exhibit so I could share the knowledge with Mom, Dad, and Gramma Mindy, but since I'm not quite there yet with the reading, I just figured I'd tell them what I already knew about butterflies from stories I'd had read to me, or TV that I'd seen...m

This is how close we got to get....I mean, C'mon....you're rushing right down here to see these things, right?

It took pretty much every ounce of self-control that I possess to not touch the butterflies...they were so close and so pretty....I did reach out towards a few, and they flew away towards me, which was exciting enough on its own...I don't know that I could possibly have handled actually touching one... 

One thing I desperately wanted was for one to land on me...there were a few people that had them land on them at various points, and there was one kid that had one on him practically the entire time he was in there...I was really wishing and hoping for one to land on me, and I kept holding out my arm in hopes that they would, but alas, it was not meant to be...I was told that the kid with butterflies all over him had possibly spilled some kind of juice on his pants, and the butterflies were attracted to that...

Hm...that should be easy to replicate for our next trip...

We finally managed to get some lunch at the cafeteria in the museum, and I pretended my hands were butterflies, and they kept flying on Gramma Mindy...look how fast my butterflies move around...

I also got to buy a souvenir from our trip to the museum...I chose this totally cool dinosaur head puppet....it goes rarrrrrr!!!!!!!!

As usual, Gramma Mindy watched me for an evening while Mom and Dad had a date night, and the two of us spent some time playing Sudoku together...well, I just traced the numbers while she played with the actual rules, but still it was nice of her to share her book with me.

This was probably one of our fullest weekend visits with Gramma Mindy in awhile regards to everything actually working out in a way that we did a lot of cool activities....we had a lot of fun!