Just Like Him

My little girl has a favorite person:

Let's talk about how proud she is that she can finally say him name!  She says it a lot.  The other day he was having quiet time in his room after school and she had already napped.  She stood outside his door calling, "Saaam.  Saaam.  Saaaam."  Until I moved her away so that Sam's time could be, ya know, quiet!

She is perfectly content to play with toddler toys when he isn't around, but as soon as he makes an appearance, she wants to do exactly what he is doing.  She tries to play basketball.  She pushes cars around the house.  She swings from railings outside of school and tries to keep up with the 4-year-olds as they race.  A few days ago she brought me Sam's helmet, indicated that I was to put in on her, and then did this:

She didn't get very far, but I can tell she really wants to learn.

Anyone who has ever spent the night in the same dwelling as Sam will know that he calls for a parent to get him out of bed in the morning.  "Mommy, I'm awaaake!"  Every day the same call, with the same intonation. The only change is if he calls for Mommy or Daddy.

Last week Sam and I were playing and we heard Annabelle wake up from her nap.  "Mama, Waaake!"  Sam and I both burst out laughing.  The exact same intonation as Sam.  He declared, "Hey, those are my words!"  The tone is so similar that when Chris heard it the next morning through the monitor he had to ask me which kid was awake.

Not all of her mimicry has been so cute.  There are some table manners of Sam's that I wish I weren't seeing duplicated, for example.  But for the most part, it is fun to watch her watch him and grow.

Autumn-Palooza

Fall seems to be bringing all sorts of fun things for our family to do this year, and this past weekend was no exception. 

Friday we visited our annual family favorite, Zoo Boo.  Once again we attended with Sam's best bud, Leo, and this year his baby brother Eli was along, too.  Big step for us - no stroller at the zoo.  We have graduated to the wagon! 

On the way home Sam asked why we didn't really see any animals at the zoo - umm, I guess we were too busy doing other things?  Like games:

 And don you think for one second that Annabelle was going to just stand around and watch:

Pieces of junk given out as prized to forever clutter my house as prized possessions?  Check!  Un-needed candy from several trick-or-treat stations?  Check!

Of course we stopped to decorate the little pumpkins.  Sam would want you to know that he wrote his name and one of his sight words on his pumpkin, even if you can no longer read them through all of the extra decoration.  (The sight word was "to."  But he spelled it "ot."  But I am still proud because he remembered how to spell it, and wrote it on a pumpkin with a paint marker and it was totally legible.)

 

Annabelle was in her "dot phase."  Cap off, dot, cap on, repeat.  Freak out when Mommy tried to take the cap.  Cap off, dot, cap on, repeat.  For 10 minutes.

Lunch on the giraffe platform, and the carousel.  AnnieBananie like it much better this time, she even petted her animal a few times.  Sam rode a log with two owls on it, because the owl is their class theme.  I think he likes school this year!

After some playing in various tunnels around the zoo and one very quick mis-placement of my boy around the playground, I took two tired and sweaty kids home with me.

 

Saturday we went to the first annual Fall Festival in our neighborhood.  I volunteered to help (I thought it would be a good way to meet people, and I was right!), so Sam had anticipated it and was telling everyone about the Park Party we were going to.  Playground time (with friends - we have neighborhood friends now!), Hay Ride, Face painting, Candy hunt, pumpkin decorating and treats.  What more could you want?  Pictures?  Oh, this is the only one I took:

Sunday we went down the block a bit to a block party!  Some neighbors around the corner put it together and it was awesome!  We met so many people that we hadn't yet, I got 2 numbers for new babysitters, we ate good potluck food and the kids played in the street with other kids until the sun was gone.  An excellent end to the weekend.

I think I like fall in Texas!

The Pumpkin Patch

The "Pumpkin Patch."  My yearly reminder that I no longer live in the Midwest - as if August wasn't reminder enough.  There is no such thing as a pumpkin farm in Houston.  There are farms that sell pumpkins in October, but they are shipped in and placed in cute little piles for all of us to pretend.  I know this, yet I research each October in hopes of finding a better re-creation of my childhood memories.  New year, new "farm." 

 This Year: Frogerg's Farms.

We've been to this one before, but not for pumpkins!  This was their first year to attempt the fall re-creation, and they did a pretty good job!  It was actually completely age appropriate for our little crew, but a group of elementary schoolers would have been bored.

We started off in the "pumpkin patch."  Cute photo ops, and two kids excited to be around hey and pumpkins!

Next up, the games.  Without question, Sam's favorite was the Duck Race.  A water pump, a trough and a plastic ducky he got to bring home.  One ticket got him the duck, and he raced that thing over and over and over again.  And, in case you haven't noticed, Sam sticks his tongue out to the side when he's working hard on something.  Just like me.

He quickly figured out that the bottom pumpkin mouth was the easiest to get the bag through.  I actually saw him get more in then most other kids!  And he brought home two tiny dinosaurs, a star ring and an elephant bracelet.

Both kiddos wanted glitter tattoos.  36 hours later and they're still hanging on there.  They both sat very still, paying close attention to the work being done.

And because its really a strawberry farm, we came home heavy one strawberry plant.  Anyone want to place bets on our ability to keep it alive?

Finally it was time to board the hay ride.  Annabelle's face when the tractor started to move was perfectly priceless! 

At the end of the ride was the corn maze.  Believe it or not, Sam was pretty good at picking his way through it.  It was a bit muddy, but Sam could look through the stalks and find paths that we could fit through without destroying our shoes. 

A grabbed a few pumpkins, picked up some treats in the store and were headed on our way.  Not a perfect farm, but a fun family day.  Sam is already asking to go back! 

Big City Adventure

We've been planning it for almost a year, and it finally happened.  Our whole family on a big city adventure to Chicago!  Why?  Well, why not – Chicago is awesome!  But why now?  Chris has an annual conference for work and it is often held in Chicago.  And since Uncle Matt and Aunt Kate live there, we were all in. 

We stayed in a hotel on Michigan Avenue, which was awesomely convenient.  But get this- I didn’t shop at all.  Really, the only store I even stepped into was a chocolate factory.  Boo!  But we could walk or take a bus to Matt’s condo in River North, get a bus straight to union station or the museum campus from across the street.  Nice!  Of course when Chris and I went, just the two of us 5 years ago, we were upgraded to a fancy suite.  This time no deal.  Oh well.

A big city is like a wonderland to small children.  Especially boys.  Riding on planes, L trains, commuter trains, cabs, buses, and watching everything out the windows of these vehicles, is fascinating.  And then there were all the “things” to do.

Sam woke early on our first morning, so he and Chris did a little sightseeing before heading to the condo.  That day we found a really awesome playground around the corner from their place that they barely knew was there – different perspective on life, for sure!  The kids christened Matt and Kate’s place with matchbox cars and doll strollers; we walked to lunch, and settled in for the OSU/Notre Dame game.

Day 2 we visited Matt and Kate’s church and rewarded Sam’s attempts at sitting quietly through the whole service with a trip to Dunkin Donuts.  Mmm.  We walked off our calories at the Lincoln Park zoo, where the adults awed at the baby monkeys and the kids were awed by the giant tractor in the farm exhibit.

 Day 3, my dad’s last day there, my parents and I drove the kids out to Glenview to visit a children’s museum.  It was a cool place!  Annabelle had a fabulous time, and if you ask Sam he will say the same.  In reality the boy melted down and made a scene numerous times.  Deep breath.  Papa was heading back to Ohio from there, so the rest of us rode the Metra train back into Union Station. 

 

Day 4 was a long time coming.  Last Christmas some friends of ours finally got the opportunity to move closer to family, a new job in Chicago.  I mentioned in passing that this conference would be there this year, and both Sam and my friend Sarah grasped onto the idea of a visit.  And we made it happen!  I was actually a little proud of the three of us – we got up, got dressed and ate in the hotel room, walked across the street and onto our bus, where Sam stood with me most of the way to the train station (seriously, and woman alone with two small children and not ONE commuter even offered Sam or me a seat!).  We bought our tickets, found our platform, boarded our train and settle in for the journey.  And then we had a lovely day in Naperville.  Sarah showed us around and we lunched at Chick-fil-a, the “big” kids played and the little ones napped.  The mommies chatted.  And then too soon it was time to go.  Sam fell asleep on the 10 minute car ride to the train, and then sobbed when it was time to say goodbye.  Dinner at the Rainforest Café made everyone feel better.

Day 5 my mom and I took the kids to the Field Museum.  The grownups found it fascinating, the kids not so much.  Even the dinosaur bones, the primary reason we went, were only minimally exciting.  Oh well.  We checked out of the hotel, said good-bye to Gommy, and settled in for a night with Matt and Kate.  Chris finished up a little early, so he and I actually enjoyed some time in the beautiful 73 degree sun on the balcony while the kids rested.

We didn’t see Chris much while we were there, they kept him pretty busy!  It was great that Gommy and Papa were able to drive over to spend time with us, and Matt was even able to take an afternoon off of work.  We hadn’t seen their place yet and it felt good to see how they live there.  I just hope my kids didn’t leave any scuffs or scrapes on their walls!  I left thinking that I really could live in Chicago, even downtown, with the kiddos.  But I also left thankful for my suburban-sized home!

As I prepared mentally for this trip, I asked my bible study group to pray for smooth logistics.  They must have prayed hard, because so many aspects that I was worried about went off without a hitch. 

-Airplanes: No delays.  Reasonably behaved children.  Snacks.  Friendly, helpful flight attendants.  And on the return flight, the bulkhead seats.  That's right, leg room, space for Annabelle to play on the floor, and "cool trays" to entertain Sam.

-Hotel Sleep: Everyone slept through the night every night.  Sam woke up early, but he always does.  What's amazing is that Annabelle continued to sleep - for some days up to an hour - after Sam woke.  We all know that silence is not a skill that Sam possesses, even in his sleep.  She must have been exhausted!  I even left the trip rested, maybe because I fell asleep with the kids 2 nights.

-Public Transit: The kids were so fascinated with it all that they paid attention, followed directions, moved quickly

-Trip to the suburbs: After several back and forths on the best way to get us there with the complications of traffic, car seats, preschool schedules, etc, Sarah bought a minivan.  Long story short, our commute was seamless.