The Ledges

  Sunday afternoon Tate and I traveled to the Ledges State Park with my parents while Aaron had to stay home to grade 70 seventh grade papers about their favorite authors.  I felt so bad for him, but couldn't resist getting outside for one of the last warm days of fall.  So we packed a lunch and headed towards Boone.  

   When we first arrived Tate was really intimidated by a large log in the middle of a grassy area, and he kept calling it a fish and wouldn't go near it until I walked on it and helped him do a little balance beam routine.  After we overcame our "fish " fears, the fun began. We started by hiking up, up, up to the top of an overlook.  Sad to admit, but shortly after doing the up and down of the trail, I was having a little shaking leg problem, realizing: crap- I'm out of shape.

   So we hiked, walked, threw rocks and "waded" in the water.  Since the water was pretty cool, Tate didn't care to wade very much, so his feet got dipped into the water a few times and then they proceeded to throw more rocks.  An A+ day in Tate's eyes.

Hiking with Grandpa

22 wks profile.  I feel way larger than this photo depicts.

Way cuter semi-profile :)

At this point, Tate was telling me not to take anymore pictures.

On your mark . . . get set . . . GO!

Throwing rocks in the water

This will be one of the only times you'll see my Dad's teeth when he smiles for pictures, cause he didn't know I was taking a photo.

Tate was in 7th heaven, throwing rocks, outside, and got to "wade" in the water.

Prepping for Halloween

A few weeks ago we started preparing for Halloween and the fall season.  We got a few pumpkins, got the mini hay bales out, the mum is was in full bloom and got out some other autumn decor indoors.  Tate has loved seeing the pumpkins on everyone's doorsteps, loves the glowing skeleton heads at our daycare provider's home and really really loves watching the "itch" on youtube with Daddy.  

A couple weeks ago Aaron, Tate and I got home after dark and had parked in the driveway.  As I got Tate out of the truck he looked out across the dark yard and he said to me, "ooh look at that "itch" Mommy!"  At that time I had heard him say "itch" a few times, but hadn't yet figured out what the meant.  Oddly, I thought maybe he had an actual itch or scratch.  By the time I picked him up from daycare the next day, I figured out "itch" meant witch to Tate, or at the point, anything Halloween related.  So we showed him some videos of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz and he's been so obsessed with witches ever since.  Since then Tate has also learned some other Halloween characters: witches, ghosts, skeletons and monsters.  It's so fun hearing him say these new words and what his imagination can conjure up.  

Next battle: actually wearing his Halloween costume. To be continued...

There they are Mom, I'm not smiling about these pumpkins again.

Helping me decorated and rearrange with outdoor decor

The "itch"

Happy Birthday #2 to Tate!  Last month we celebrated Tate's birthday with a Thomas the Train party.  We had a gorgeous day, great guests and yummy pizza.  Tate received a lot of great Thomas toys, a trike, a new table and chairs for activities, a tractor, a helicopter, clothes and cars.  So many new big boy toys to keep him busy.  We heard a lot of "Oooh, Thomas!" and "Oooh, look at that!"  from Tate.    

Aunt Cami and Tate had fun throwing the ball onto the roof, then having it bounce off Tate's head.  Don't worry, it was very soft and didn't actually hit the mark too often.  But fun stuff!

On Tate's actually birthday he learned how to blow out the candle and has been obsessed since.  At first the aim was difficult but we got it nailed down.

 

The entire day was so fun, but finding this picture on the camera was a bonus.  Aunt Cami was in charge of some photo taking.  Apparently our neighbor was needing to move the dog house. :)