the baileys

today was a sad day .... we had to say goodbye to amber & airivai :( the bailey family is moving to maryland tomorrow and we will miss them greatly. we managed to squeeze in one more play-date, while enjoying some tastas pizza and good conversation for the mamas. hoping our paths will cross again, that or a roadtrip can happen in the near future :)

slippity slide

had to bring the great outdoors inside. nonetheless, von still loves his jungle gym.

it's gonna be a long winter

end of october means we're spending a lot more time indoors than we're used to. here are some candid pictures of von being von around the house ...

pumpkinville

our first trip to pumpkinville was a success! how could it not be though, with a little boy who loves tractors as much as von does? :)

we checked out the animals, hung out in the tipi, snagged a few indian-chief-photo-ops, played on the train, took a hayride, picked out a pumpkin, and then sat on a really huge pumpkin. we had a little boy who didnt want to leave, but mama and dada thought that von's little fingers and nose could use a break from the cooler weather.

glad we went though, it was an adorable afternoon!

mcintosh

~ although these pictures could fall under the 'pumpkinville' post, i felt this experience warranted it's own spotlight ....

VON RODE THE COW TRAIN ALL BY HIMSELF!!

oh geeze, only a mother would be this excited about it, but sorry, i have to gush/share ...

of course von loved the tractor from the start. we watched a few trips and decided to walk around a bit, seeing if von would remember/still be intrigued with all of the other commotion. um, he did. so i purchased him a ticket and we headed back over to the cow train. we gave the nice lady our ticket and picked out a sturdy cow to sit in. her name was mcintosh. we buckled our big boy in and he was ecstatic. (this is also where i started going picture crazy). von waved and said bye, stared ahead at the tractor and just waited for that engine to start. and when it did, he squealed with delight! first loop around the track went pretty well (i cried, not him). there were a few screams on the second loop, but he calmed right back down and enjoyed his ride. when they pulled into the 'depot', big boy von was all smiles.

thank you, mcintosh! we will for sure see you again next autumn!!

gardener

we've hired a new gardener, he's excellent at plant watering. also negotiated a fine deal - free room & board for the next 17 years in return for his yard maintenance skills.

hi

here's our guy. perfect as ever.

our weekend consisted of a visit from the PA crew. ma, pa, auntie j, ug, haydn & emry braved the rain to spend some time with us. nice to have all here :)