Darby's Awesome Tower-Building Skillz

Darby and I have a new game we play. He builds a tower out of blocks, and after each block, he leaps up to announce, "Ta-da!" And he will not continue until I also say "Ta-da!" This can go on for quite a while. So I thought it'd be relatively easy to get on video ... but I forgot how Darby reacts to the camera.

After three or four more attempts, I got a decent "Ta-da!" on film. And (spoiler alert!) a bonus "Uh-oh."

Pumpkins at Sutter's Ridge

I love autumn for taking lots of pictures. Chris made fun of me this morning for taking the kids to a pumpkin patch solely so that I could take photos. No, that's not true! It's for the memories. And getting some pumpkins. And because the kids love it. You should have heard Darby say "pumpkin patch" over and over again this morning. He is so going to be a pumpkin for Halloween this year.

We took the kids to Sutter's Ridge for the second year in a row. They have so much for the kids to do: mazes, lawn games, a mountain of hay bales, playhouses, animals. And no admission fee, like some of the farms in the area. Can't beat that! It was also a beautiful day. A little bright for good photos, but perfect for playing.

 
We let the kids pick one of the big pumpkins this year for a jack 'o lantern. They also each got to pick a pumpkin they could carry.

 
They also were fascinated with these gourds, so we came away with three of those too. It reminded of taking Casey to the Mall of America to get a free pumpkin when he was 1, and he picked the ugliest little bumpy one they had.

Darby shows off his pumpkin, as well as his cute little belly. I don't know what I was thinking letting him carry around his own pumpkin. At some point he put it down, and I had to go hunting for it.

Here's Casey's pumpkin. We could have taken a hayride to the actual patch, but Casey decided he wanted to pick from the display out front.

Darby couldn't pedal this thing, but he gave it his best try.

Then he gave up and climbed this rock repeatedly so he could jump off. Every time he climbed up, he'd put his arms in the air and say "Ta-da!"

Casey was very good at getting through the maze this year.

 
Darby made it through with a little more help.

Inside the costume cottage, Casey tried on everything from fairy wings to superhero capes, plus these tiger ears that went well with his shirt.

Casey is king of the mountain.

Brother Darby's not far behind.

This picture was supposed to have Darby in it too, but the kid wouldn't sit still. Toddlers!

News from the Zoo

It's been 80-plus degrees all weekend, maybe the last days like that we'll see until next spring. So we wanted to get the kids outdoors and ended up at the zoo. We've been to the local zoo many times, but there always seems to be something new to see.

Like this quite ugly fellow ... I can't remember seeing his warty belly before. He's an alligator snapping turtle.

The Siberian tiger, Cyber, reliably puts on a show. It gives me the shivers when I see him get this close to my children.

There's this rock wall kids can climb up at the zoo's playground. We estimate it's about 12 feet high. Casey has gotten to the top before, but Darby really wanted to try this time. I did not touch him AT ALL. All I did was point out to him a couple times where he could move sideways to find an easier route. And he did it!

I would have liked to have gotten a photo of the whole wall with him at the top, but I had to stay right behind him spotting him. I mean, he is still 1! (For a few more weeks.) Chris was on the platform at the top and hoisted Darby over the rope.

This turtle is one of Casey's favorite things at the zoo. He will spend so much time inside poking his head out. We often have to yank him out to let other kids have a turn. But at least he made room for his brother.

Darby looks pretty cool in his Dad's sunglasses.

Casey doesn't look too shabby either.

Apple-Picking Expedition

Saturday was a beautiful fall day, cool and crisp and sunny, so we took the boys to pick some apples at Appleberry Farm. It was a little late in the season for apple picking so we struggled a bit to find edible apples, but it was such a nice day to be outdoors. And the apples we did find have been excellent. Darby picked up one runty, deformed-looking apple from the ground, and it didn't have any bruises or holes, so I let him try it. We all ended up sampling that apple, and it was just about the most glorious specimen of an apple any of us had ever tasted. Hopefully the rest of our finds will live up to that first apple. We also quite enjoyed our lunch of cider brats with apple-onion relish, apple donuts, and apple cider.

Look closely at those leaves. There's a Casey in there somewhere.

Since most of the easy-to-reach apples were gone, Chris hoisted Casey and Darby up in the air to try to get at some higher branches. They didn't have much luck, though. Height-wise, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree in this family. (Ooo, that was bad, but I couldn't help it.)

This was when I made Darby carry the bags of apples. Kid has to start pulling his own weight sometime!

Casey posed himself with these pumpkins, put on his fakest photo smile, and asked me to take his picture.

We weren't ready to pick out pumpkins this weekend, but the boys couldn't help but browse.

On our way out we found a great weeping willow tree to climb around in.

Casey's Big Month

This is old news now, but Casey turned 4 a month ago! I know there was no record of the occasion on the web site, but we really did celebrate his birthday. It has taken until now to mention it because I am a horrible mother who secretly doesn't want any of the kids' grandparents to see their cute faces. No, actually it was just a really busy month. I happened to mention to one of my former colleagues that I was between freelance projects, and I guess word got around that I was free, because a bunch of the editors suddenly started sending me work. I probably took on more than I should have, but it's hard to say no to people when they want to pay you money for doing something you enjoy. Chris had a busy month at work too, and on top of that there was a flurry of doctor and dentist appointments, so a few things like the web site fell temporarily to the wayside.

So, back on Casey's birthday, our plan was to have a picnic at the beach and enjoy one of the last gorgeous hot days of summer. But there was some sort of massive bicycling event that was closing off roads all over downtown Madison, and we could not for the life of us get to the beach. So we settled for a park on a different part of Lake Monona that didn't have a beach. It had a playground, and the kids had fun poking around the shoreline.

Later that day Casey was super excited to open his presents. This was his reaction when he came down the stairs and turned the corner.

He's going through a big pirate phase lately, so Darby gave him a pirate hat. Aunt Susan sent a pirate costume, and he wears that a lot these days, but I'll wait to post a photo of the whole getup until Halloween.

The basketball hoop is new too, from Great Grandma and Pap. We'll probably put it outside next spring, but for now it's in the family room and the boys have been having a lot of fun with it. We can adjust the height as they get taller, but for now it's short enough that Darby can practically dunk.

This is the new aircraft carrier. Casey and Darby were playing so sweetly together here until Darby started a squabble by trying to run off with the mast. That's been a recurring conflict ever since.

Great Grandma and Pap made sure Darby a new toy too so that he didn't feel left out. He loves scribbling on his new aquadoodle, and I love it because he can be artistic without any mess.

Casey's getting more wind power as he gets older. He blew out all four candles by himself this year.

This pirate ship took hours to put together, but it's crazy awesome fun now that it's finished. It's one of Casey's favorite toys now.

Starting Preschool
Casey turned 4 just in the nick of time for the school year, so two days after his birthday, he started the pre-k program at St. Francis Xavier School in Cross Plains. Back-to-school night was actually on his birthday. He goes three afternoons a week, and he loves it. He was pretty nervous the first day, but now he looks forward to it and doesn't even look back when I drop him off. I barely have time to say goodbye before he's disappeared through the door. Forget my chances of getting a goodbye hug! He has already brought home some cute art projects. I'll try to scan a few and post them soon.

Here he is on his first day of school, looking all grown-up with his backpack:

Summer soccer

Casey had his first experience in an "organized" sport over the summer. It was a four-week soccer camp through the Cross Plains Parks and Rec department--a very casual introduction to soccer. They practiced some kicking drills and played some scrimmages, but basically it was just a chance to spend some time running around outside and meet some kids his own age.

Here he is before his first practice ... that must be his game face.

And here he's showing off his spiffy new jersey. The kids were divided into four small teams, and Casey's team was called the Lizards.

Kicking drills ... aka a lesson in standing in line and taking turns

A new friend? Casey seemed to spend a lot of time wrestling and laughing with this kid.

More kicking drills ...

And still more kicking ... is that all they do in soccer?

Chris and I alternated being able to watch Casey and playing with Darby at the adjacent playground. Casey enjoyed the soccer and says he wants to play again next summer, but honestly Darby is the one who seemed to come away with a passion for the sport. It was all we could do to keep the little guy off the field with the big kids, and now whenever we're outside one of his favorite things to do is kick the little soccer ball around. He's actually a pretty good dribbler, but he hasn't learned the no-hands rule yet.

Also, he looks cute in his dad's hat.