Fall Fun, October 3rd and October 4th

To all,

Mom and Dad decided I needed to attend a couple of Fall Festivals this past weekend. Mom wanted to decorate our front steps and our new rain barrel....and the fall festival was the perfect place to start. Dad entered the GPS coordinates and we were off to north Cook County. After one iteration of the video Max and Ruby Find the Perfect Pumpkin, we had arrived at the farm. Mom and Dad started out looking at potted mums....but we soon were looking for our own perfect pumpkin. The oversized red wagons were fun to pull and our pumpkins were able to fit.

Mom decided we had found the perfect pumpkins and we were off to ride the ponies. Dad was the official photographer and mom was the official equestrian coach. I was hesitant at first until Mom pointed out the fact that I was not the youngest cowboy in the roundup.....and before I knew it we were circling the herd. I held on to the saddle horn and I could not help but smile and shout to Dad...."I am riding a pony"....."I am riding a pony"......I was glad Mom encouraged me to try it.

Then Mom and Dad showed me the goats, sheep and pigs. I said hello to each pen and then ran off to drive the emergency vehicles.

I got to drive and Dad rode in the car seat. Mom said that I was a better driver than Dad and she could tell that I truly enjoyed driving.

Next we were off to the petting zoo. Mom and I fed the animals. I told Dad the names of the animals and that they were real animals. Mom made me laugh when we asked one of the animals ... Is your Mama a Llama? That still cracks me up.

Mom and Dad gathered a couple more things for the front porch and then we were on our way back home. I think Mom did a good job with the decorating.

Rain Barrel

Friendly Scarecrow and the Happy Jack O' Lantern.

Day Two: The apple orchard in Wisconsin.

Just two videos worth of driving and we arrived at the apple orchard in Wisconsin. I loved teh orchard even though they did not have ponies. They did have the Golden Goat Bridge but the goats were too cold to cross the elevated bridge in high winds. We gathered some apples and went to get our taffy apples from the gift shop.

Jackson Family Visit, Sept 23 - Sept 28

To all

Aunt Janet Hooper, Mee Mee and Paw Paw visited me in Chicago. We had great weather and my Aunt Janet worked everday helping my Mom and Dad with their home improvement list. In the course of 5 days Aunt Janet helped (1) hang the curtains, (2) clean the interior of the car, (3) extreme landscaping, (4) disconnect the downspouts and install a rain barrel and (5) prepare all meals. I hope my Aunt Janet will return when Mom and Dad have a shorter list of home improvement projects.

Mee Mee and Paw Paw brought me miniature books in a box, a tractor trailer rig and lots of fun pretend games like bumble bee and magic circle. Bumble bee was my favorite to play with Paw Paw. My Paw Paw would fall asleep on the couch and I would wake him with Bumble Bee. When I played magic circle, I would always guess it was Mommy.

Aunt Janet brought me a toy adventure camping van with a detachable kayak mounted on the roof, an ATV trailer and a three wheeler. Dad taught me that it was not only a boat it was a kayak. The action figures included are named Aunt Janet and Patrick. Oh yeah...Mom and Dad did not have to worry because it was made in England not China.

Thank you Aunt Janet, Mee Mee and Paw Paw for all your hard work and attention.

Love,
Patrick

St. Charles Weekend, Sept 18th

Patrick and his cousins Keegan and Mackenzie were having fun on this beautiful September weekend in St. Charles, Illinois. We watched Keegan play football and we went to the park in the Three Lakes subdivision.

Chicago and Uma's Botanic Gardens

I took today off to meet the guys installing our "flood control system". Hopefully this will do the trick and Patrick will have his playroom for the winter. Anyway, I think the blog is caught up through the summer. We did make it over to see the Botannical Gardens finally. Our neighbor let us borrow their pass. I just have to say how much we love our new neighborhood (flooding and all). There are five other kids just on our block within 6 months age of Patrick and plenty others just a block on either side of us. Everyone is so friendly (and a bit nosey), but we are having a great time meeting everyone. It is a big change from downtown, and I do miss the convenience a little, but it is fun to finally be in a real neighborhood and the commute isn't too bad. Here are a few pictures of the train garden at the Botanic Garden and just a few cute ones of Patrick at my parent's house from earlier this summer.

The Theme for the Summer is Camping

We took a few camping trips this summer and now when Patrick gets into the car he asks "are we going camping". Really he says "camping" and nods his head like he is convincing us to go. Pretty cute.

Our first was to southwest Michigan where the highlight of the trip was blueberry picking. Patrick couldn't believe all of the "bo-balls" his favorite fruit. We had a lot of fun playing on the beach and in the waves.

Our next trip was to Travese City, sort of a mini-family reunion. Patrick had a great time with his cousins. Can't wait to do it again next summer.

A couple of weekends ago we decided to take a last minute camping trip with the Wells family. Who knew Illinois had such great state parks? Although I didn't get any pictures, we will surely return to White Pines State Park, the best thing about it was the short 2 hour drive! We have one more camping trip planned for the summer. We're headed to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan over Labor Day. I can't wait to show Patrick and Charlie the U.P. in warm weather!

Patrick is 2!

Yes, I know we have been slacking on the blog. I guess that means we have had a fun and exciting summer...It all started out with moving into our "new" house, our basement flooding (with sewer water), and Patrick's 2nd birthday.

Although things were a little crazy that week/weekend, it didn't keep us from having a little Elmo birthday party for Patrick. Patrick invited his new neighbor Maggie and her Mom and his cousins Keegan, Mackenzie, and Mark to the party. We had a lot of fun.

Lacrosse Day May 9, 2009