wordless Wednesday

because we haven't had one in awhile:

pumpkin carving

The past couple of years I haven't bothered carving a pumpkin because I figured Ethan was too young to appreciate it.  Plus, let's face it, it's kind of a pain in the rear.  It seems like it's going to be all fun and games until you're about halfway into scooping out the pumpkin innards and you realize it's never going to be completely cleaned out, and you'd rather just start carving already, but then your hand starts cramping and two hours later you're still not done.  Or maybe that's just for the overly anal people like me?

Anyway, on Sunday night Ethan was getting bored and antsy, so I looked up at the clock to discover it was still a couple of hours until bedtime.  Then the pumpkin we had picked up at HEB a week ago caught my eye, and despite all the pains I mentioned in the first paragraph, I decided to give it a go.

I cut out the top of the pumpkin and began to scrape when Cory came in to help us.  He was actually enjoying the scooping out, so I let him at it and Ethan helped too.  This is when I noticed that BOTH of them were super excited about this whole thing, so I had to ask Cory, "When's the last time you carved a pumpkin?"  Silence. 

Yep, it's true, NEITHER of my guys had ever before carved a pumpkin. Cory tried to think long and hard back to his childhood, but he really couldn't remember ever doing it.  Boggles my mind.  He actually said he really didn't even know how carving was done.  So, I let him pick the design and started the carving part, but then I decided since Cory was a rookie and all, maybe he should get in on some of the pain, I mean fun.

The whole experience definitely renewed my love of carving pumpkins.  They were both so excited to do it and to see what it looked like all finished and lit up.  Definitely a winning night.

scooping with Daddy

helping Mommy

the finished product

Pumpkin Patch

(Can it be true?  Am I actually blogging about something that happened less that a week ago?  That has to be the first time that's happened this year).

So yes, the pumpkin patch.  We visited Evergreen Farms in Elgin last year around this time, and we had a pretty good time so we headed back this year with a couple friends.  I thought Ethan would enjoy the activities a little more now that he's older, and I think he did.  We did the hay ride/pumpkin hunt where they take you out to the Christmas trees and you hunt for baby pumpkins.  We also ponied up the big bucks so we could all ride the vintage fire truck.  They gave all the kiddos fire hats and even used the siren and hose.  Ethan thought it was pretty cool and talked about it for a couple of days, so I'm glad we did it.

the first pretty good "pumpkin patch" photo we managed to get

showing Daddy how good he is at the balance beam, just like in dance class

Ethan and his buddy Dax cracking up in the patch

another cute pumpkin patch picture

getting ready for the hay ride (with no hay, obvi)

hunting for pumpkins

on the fire truck

checking out the fire truck one last time before we leave

I really love fall and all the fun activities that come along with it.  We've already attended one Halloween party and we have another tomorrow, so I'll hopefully be sharing pictures soon.

The rest of the San Antonio Trip

I'm really trying to get back on top of this blog thing, but I'm pretty miserable at it.  I'm working on it, I promise.

Anyway, we did do more in San Antonio than just go to the zoo. I was able to spend a couple evenings out with some friends from college and Cory and I had a night out for a wedding.  Our days were jam-packed as well, as we hit all the typical San Antonio spots.

We stayed right on the riverwalk, so we spent time shopping and eating along the river.
  We also decided to take the boat tour (even though my mom and I had been on it about a bajillion times), but Cory hadn't and Ethan enjoyed it.

Me and E on the Riverwalk

listening to the music near the mall

Ethan doing his "I'm excited" face and hands as we waited for the boat ride to begin

 The next day we decided to head across the street to the Alamo and explore some Texas history.  Since we'd all been there before (minus Ethan), we just took a quick walk around and looked at a handful of exhibits which we appreciated much more as adults versus when we were elementary school students on a boring field trip.

the Alamo

 The last day we were there, we went over to The Market.  This was basically an excuse for Nana to spoil Ethan some more, and he ended up with a super cute dog marionette and an awesome kid sized guitar.  He loves both, and he made Daddy open the guitar right away so he could play with it.

learning to play his guitar

a family picture at The Market

It was a pretty nice little getaway and I'm glad we decided to make a long weekend out of the wedding.

Trip to the Zoo

About a month ago, we had a wedding to go to in San Antonio.  We decided to make a little vacation out of it, and of course, we HAD to go to the zoo for our little animal lover.  We talked about it for weeks, and E was super excited to finally go, he even picked out a zebra shirt for the occasion.

Arriving at the zoo

Just inside the entrance, there is a statue of lions, and Ethan was pretty impressed with it.  I don't think he was aware that there were actual animals in the zoo.

"Hewo wion" That's Ethan-speak for "hello lion," who needs L's anyway.

The first animals we saw were flamingos.  He enjoyed watching this group, however, later on there was another display of flamingos that scared him, so now he claims he's scared of flamingos and their noise.

Checking out the flamingos with Nana

The animal Ethan wanted to see the most was a macaw.  Every time you asked him which animal he was going to see at the zoo, that was his answer.  There were supposedly macaws in this area, but we failed to spot a single one.  Thankfully, he was happy feeding the fish, and the picture of the macaw sufficed.

feeding the fish

We then watched the hippos from a gloriously air conditioned area (it was late August so were trying not to die).  I think these were my favorite.

Observing the hippos

We finally got to the African area with all the big attractions we knew Ethan would love.  The elephants were a highlight.  If it wasn't so hot, we probably would have let him watch them a little longer.

Elephants!

He liked watching the elephants

Okay, maybe I take back my favorite and give it to the zebras instead.  They are pretty cool animals, and of course Ethan was thrilled to see them outside of a book.

E in his zebra shirt, with Daddy, in front of the zebras

 We also saw lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), and then there were a TON of birds.  Birds get old quick, especially when they start freaking Ethan out.  We also checked out the reptiles and lots of fish, but he wasn't as impressed.

Up close and personal with the bird (some sort of eagle maybe?)

 There was a small petting zoo that grabbed his attention for awhile, but all they really had was goats.

Checking out the goats in the petting zoo

 Toward the end of our day, we discovered a toddler area with scheduled animal meetings, but by then we were all hungry and hot, so we visited a gift shop and decided to call it a day.

On our way out following the snake

 We left the zoo already wanting to take Ethan back, hopefully when it's cooler so more of the animals are active.  He had a great time though, and next time we'll be pros.  

One last kiss for the lion

Summertime

Summertime around here is fun-filled, a little bit lazy, and very hot.  We started out this summer very excited and eager to visit the splash parks and pools Ethan enjoyed so much last year.  However, the heat eventually caught up with us, and the past few weeks, we haven't been out as much as Ethan would like.  I'm sure we still have several weeks of heat left, so I'll have to get us back out there again soon.

Since I've slacked about posting all the fun things we've been up to, I thought I'd share a few pictures to sum it all up.

First up, we have splash pads.  There are several around town, and I think we've visited about three so far this summer.  I found one that is my favorite so far because it's close, shady, and never crowded.  Ethan loves to run around filling up buckets of water.

Having fun at our first splash pad adventure of the season.

 We've also been visiting my mom's pool often.  Sometimes we'll head over on a weeknight just to get out of the house.  Ethan has a new love of fearlessly jumping in the pool.  Also, his swim jacket makes him very independent in the pool so we can be close to him, but not have him hang all over us constantly.  We also visit one of the city pools nearby every once in a while, and it's always a nice way to stay cool.

Lounging at Nana's

 Lastly, there's the backyard.  I decided at the beginning of the summer that we needed some sort of pool back there and that it had to be big enough to fit me too (why should he be the only one who gets to have fun?).  So we found a nice one with a cover and it has been a staple in our backyard fun all season.  It's the perfect depth for E to sit, splash, and play in, and it's been quite lovely for me as well.

Swimming in the backyard

Handsome man

Splashing fun

Also in the backyard, a water table, which Ethan makes use of in ways it's not quite intended for, but oh well.

All this has made me want to take him out to all these fun things again before summer's over.  I'm going to have to get on that.

well, hello there...

Dear blog, you have yet again been neglected.  I was on top of things, I promise.  I have made an effort to bring out the camera whenever we do something, and I have been pretty successful.  I was actually really proud of my efforts, and a few weeks ago I excitedly plugged in the camera to upload my pictures to my computer.  And then there was an error message:  Your computer is full.  I am not a hardware person, so the thought of getting out the old external hard drive was not appealing.  I procrastinated and put it off for a long time, but now there is room, and I once again be sharing with you.  Hopefully.

We begin with another rainy day a few weeks back.  I am nostalgic for rain, can you tell?  So, E woke up from his nap right as it started to pour outside.  I rushed up to grab him and told him it was raining and would he like to go outside and see.  He has obviously picked up on how exciting and rare rain is, because he smiled and did his excited hands and said, "Yeah!" (remind me to get a video of the excited hands, it's awesome)

Anyway, to sum up, we put on his rain boots and played happily in the rain for a good half an hour.  We listened to the thunder, got ourselves soaked, and enjoyed every second of the summer storm.

looking to see where it was all coming from

running in the rain

He stopped and told me he needed his hat at one point, maybe to keep the rain out of his eyes

and then he was off again

Ah, rain.  Is it fall yet?

Surprise! Nana turns 50

For this most important milestone, Cory and I decided we should throw my mom a party. It was a little tricky, seeing as we wanted to have it at her apartment clubhouse and pool, which is visible from her front room. We pulled it off though, and a good time was had by all.

We told her we were picking her up for a birthday brunch, so when she came out of her apartment we were all standing down at the pool.

Her "surprised" look.  Too bad I don't have a zoom so you could see it.

The decorations

The cake made by my fabulously talented aunt Paula.  I hear it tasted just as good as it looked.

Ethan helped out with the candles.  He probably thought it was all for him again.

Then, we all hit the pool.

And there were some wonderfully entertaining pool "games" that the boys made up.

And of course Ethan bear enjoyed some pool time too.

And yes, I know this is terribly belated, but what can you do.