Pumpkin Fun

We had a great fall play date this morning with several of Alec's buddies. We started at a pumpkin patch for some running around and a photo-op and then headed to Katy and James' house for some pumpkin painting. It was pretty chilly and overcast early, so we weren't at the patch long, but the kids had fun nonetheless. Sadly, Alec was much more interested in running around than posing for any pics. He was actually walking away from the camera saying "no cheese mama" to me as I tried to take his pic. So here are a few of the salvageable shots.

Our pathetic attempt at getting a pic of all the kids.

Riley and Alec pre-painting.

The little artists - James, Riley, Alec and Addi.

After seeing the paint on Riley's leg, Alec starting to paint his own leg.

Showing off his finished pumpkins!! Alec is loving all of these fun fall activities.

Baseball

Some footage of James and Alec playing baseball with kitchen spoons. James is a baseball genius and taught Alec a little bit about hitting and running the bases last night.

Cookies

Katy and James had Alec and I over last night for dinner and some Halloween cookie baking. Katy had an adorable halloween cookie sheet and the boys helped make sugar cookies and then frost them. As you can see, the evening was a big success.

Best part of the night - this is Jax, Katy's dog. We went to check out James' halloween costume in his room and came back to find Jax helping himself to the cookie dough.

Showing off their work.

They are adorbale together

The Zoo

We took advantage of the beautiful 75 degree weather yesterday and went to a free day at the zoo with Renae and Reid. It was actually Alec's first trip to the zoo!! It was a fabulous day and Alec really enjoyed checking out all the animals. His favorite were the peacocks that were roaming around freely. He was in heaven chasing them and saying "peacock" over and over. He also loved riding on the little train - he spent the whole morning, post train-ride, pupming his arm up and down and saying "choo-choo." Sadly, we also experienced a bit of his all too common as of late 2-year old behavior. We got a wagon for he and Reid to ride in, which lasted only about 10 minutes, before Alec decided he wanted nothing to do with riding in the wagon and instead wanted to push it. He had no control over the wagon, so obviously Reid could no longer ride in it, and he wouldn't let me help him push it. He would actually throw my hands off the wagon and say "mine." Anyway - a maniac toddler with a giant wagon running wild at the zoo on a free-day when there are tons of people everywhere is a little less than desirable. He and I definitely went to battle over the wagon a few times. There is no doubt about Alec's strong willed nature, that is for sure. I had to ask Matt last night if it was possible for my 2-year old to be more in charge than I am? Aside from the drama, we had a great time and loved being out in the beautiful weather. Plus, we now know that there will be no wagon rentals on our next visit.

Sitting in the wagon only b/c he was bribed with food.

Riding the train

Cousins

Papa Ross stopped by to say hi on his way to work.

The Fat Lip

I can't believe I am posting these, but I thought I should give some visual proof of Alec's latest injury. Luckily, this is last Friday and as of today (Thursday) he looks 100% better!

The super sad face makes it look even worse.

Anderson Farm

On Friday we went to a great farm in Erie that has a fall festival going on. Alec had a great time checking everything out and running around with his buddies. It was perfect fall weather and a great day to spend with our friends. Thanks for organizing Katy - or as Alec would say, Taty.

This is Alec in his train car pre-ride. The ride ended up being fairly bumpy and long, and I think he got a bit freaked out being in the car all alone b/c he was crying when he got off. However, he did continue to talk about the train ride enthusiastically for the rest of the day, so it couldn't have been too traumatic.

The kids - Audrina, Alec, Taylor and James

Trying to love up on Audrina - she was not so into it.

Exploring an old wooden train

Say "cheese"

Feeding the animals - Alec was very enthusiastic about this.

On a hay-ride out to see the animals and pumpkins

James and Alec checking out the tractor.

John Deer tricycles

Semi-matching outfits, and trikes.

Milking the wooden cow

This was at the end of the morning and sadly Alec fell while stepping off of this sign. I was in front taking his picture, so I didn't see exactly what happened, but he fell on the gravel and didn't catch himself with his hands. He scraped up his face pretty bad and got a GIANT fat lip. He bled a lot, and we had a fairly dramatic exit from the farm. It was definitely his worst injury to date, but he is a trooper and is recovering quickly. Although he now looks like he has been in a fist fight, his spirits are high and he still had a great time at the farm. Plus, Matt assures me that this is only the beginning of the injuries that we will experience with our little maniac.