Is it really already mid-November?

I guess the old adage is correct... Time flies when you are having fun. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to lately.

Here's Elliott at the apple festival (which was lame!) but wow, they had really big tractors! Elliott on Daddy's slightly smaller tractor.

"Helping" Dad rake the leaves, a childhood rite of passage, right?

Another picture, in case the first one wasn't adorable enough for you.

After doing some hard work, we all deserve a little downtime.

Elliott pushes Mr. Frog in his "manly" stroller - "manly" as in less girly. It is almost impossible to find a stroller that is not babydoll pink... not that Elliott would mind. Pink is his favorite color.

Making alphabet cut-out cookies during the Nor'easter. Elliott really liked the sprinkles part.

And yes, the "Z" is backwards. Elliott did that one all by himself.

And the best part about making cookies is eating them! Well, not really. Elliott apparently thought they were too pretty to eat. Bizarre little child.

And that pretty much sums it up.

Gymnastics!!!

Elliott has been doing gymnastics since September - just a playgroup, no actual organized instruction is involved. As anyone can imagine, he loves it! So, I finally got around to getting some pictures (it's kind of hard to get pictures of Elliott while I'm supposed to be keeping him safe around all kinds of dangerous (read: enticing) apparatus, but Bret was able to come with us when these pictures were taken.) These pcitures are actually a couple of weeks old... with Halloween and stuff, it has taken me a while to post them!

On the trampoline... it is very hard to get pictures "mid-air."

You can't really tell, but he is in the air!

Bret joined in on the fun. (He's just a big kid himself.)

Little monkey man!

Bock, Bock, Hooray for Halloween!

Despite having a fever of 101.5 on the 30th, Elliott rallied and managed to have a very full Halloween, with just a couple of minor changes to our original plans. Our Halloween actually started on Thursday with a party at music class. To his dismay (and our delight!), Elliott wore his chicken costume. For the first time in Kindermusik history, Elliott sat on my lap and looked pretty much miserable until we plucked him of his feathers.

Ok, in this picture he doesn't look so miserable, but shortly after this photo was taken, he remembered he was supposed to be acting miserable and came back and sat on my lap. "Doggone ball, distracting me from my misery!!"

We were very excited that Bret was off work and could join us at music class!! (Still miserable.)

Unfortunately, on Saturday, Bret did have to work, so pumpkin carving duties were passed on to the Momma. I think we did ok. Not surprisingly, Elliott refused to touch the pumpkin (1. Ewww, slimy and messy (clearly my child), and 2. pumpkin looks a lot like a vegetable.) But I did manage to get him to pose with the finished product.

The weather here was like 80 degrees on Halloween, making the chicken costume even less appetizing to Elliott. However, he tolerated the costume yet again for our costume playdate at Caleb's house.

By the time night came, I was feeling pretty sorry for Elliott (it was still 74 degrees at 6:00). So, I quickly whipped Elliott up a new Halloween costume - a basketball player!! He (happily) ran around the neighborhood with a small basketball and was still adorable.

Please note: Chicken costume - $20. Basketball jersey - approx. $1.25 and a Sharpie marker. Sigh.

VIDEO! Elliott counts to 10!

Elliott's first video blog... enjoy!

Other Fall Shenanigans

We have been embracing the fun of fall with Elliott. We've been pretty much shoving fall down his throat. If we point out one more pumpkin or scarecrow, I think he might disown us. But fall is so much fun! Here's some non-pumpkin related fun.

Bret has been trying to discourage our "pet" groundhog (Wally) from digging a burrow underneath the garage with some major fortifications. But one fall morning, we had a different animal surprise back there - a turtle!
Elliott thought that "turr-tle" was pretty swell. And he wanted one of us to touch it really badly, although he did not want to touch it himself. The picture above is the closest he got to actually touching it.
Same morning... throwing gravel in the driveway. That's almost as much fun as a turtle, right?

Elliott says, "Mess!" and brushes his hands off. My sentiments exactly.

Running around at the playground/ ball field. He thought it was pretty fun to run away and then run back to us.

Elliott, Master Slide Climber.

"Mom, do you mind if Mr. Frog and I take the car (and your shoes) for a spin around the block?"

Elliott in his Halloween finery with an oatmeal raisin cookie. Now, that's a happy toddler!

Elliott concentrates on breaking the cookie into smaller pieces, just like Mommy. Mommy frowns as she thinks that she is going to have to vacuum. Again.

Happy Elliott!

One last thing! We took Elliott to see Monster Stomp Revamped at Busch Gardens. Its rated "4 pumpkins" scary, so we were a little skeptical about its appropriateness for Elliott. He LOVED it (and it was soooo not scary. It was campy. It was perfect!) He sat in my lap for the half hour show and clapped and laughed and cheered. Well worth the long line... if you live in the area, I totally recommend it!

Pumpkin Picking!!

All right, all right! I hear ya... you want more pictures! My apologizes for a being a little slack in the blogging department. Well, here you go.

The family recently went to Pumpkinville!! Elliott had his first hayride (actually, it was my first hayride too!) He thought this was pretty cool, especially the ghosts that were hanging from the trees above us.
Then we went to the pumpkin patch to find ourselves the perfect pumpkin (well, other than the "pumpkin" in a T-shirt and jeans.)
Bret poses with the perfect pumpkin.

Bret is trying to show Elliott just how heavy a pumpkin really is. Elliott just wants Daddy to let him carry it by himself.

Two pumpkins... sweet success!

If you ask Elliott, "Where's Elliott's pumpkin?," he'll run and find the small pie pumpkin we got for him that we keep on the coffee table. But if you ask him, "Where's Mommy's pumpkin?," he pats his own head. He did that all on his own!

Overall, lots of fun. Next year we'll try the corn maze!

Weekend Adventures

Wow! We had a jammed packed weekend. Here are some of the highlights.

We got a balloon at Trader Joe's. As you can see, Elliott fell asleep in the car on the way home from the store... still holding on to the balloon. In all the balloon excitement, we lost Mr. Frog, and Mommy had to return to the store shortly after this picture was taken to retrieve him before real naptime. Don't worry... Mr. Frog was returned unharmed.

Elliott has discovered the joys of blocks. In this picture, Elliott holds up his "camera" and says "Cheese!" just like Mommy.

Elliott has also become quite independent at the playground! Here he is climbing UP the slide (with a very determined face.)

Here is Elliott going down the slide. He wanted no help from Mom and Dad.

More pictures of the playground. Elliott climbs up, and then slides back down, ignoring my protests that it is not a slide. "Well, Mom, if I can slide down it, it's a slide."

Elliott thought these musical chimes were pretty cool.

Prince Elmo's Spire at Busch Gardens. Look closely... do you see anyone you recognize?

Yep, that would be Elliott and Bret. Well, Elliott's feet, at least.

And what would a weekend be without a little Sunny Days Celebration? A great weekend all the way around - great weather, great fun, great time with the fam.