Happy Birthday, Opa!

Happy Birthday, Opa!  We celebrated his birthday a day early with church and lunch at their house.  The carmel cake was to die for!  Great choice, Granna!

 The boys are ready to wish Opa a very happy birthday!

 That many candles?  Are you sure he can blow them all out?

 Three generations: Opa, Mommy, and the boys

Need a helper?  Trenton is ready to blow those candles out!

Movie Night

It's movie night!  This is better than those drive-ins our parents used to take us to.  Pull out lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy the movie in the fresh autumn air.  The Lorax was a hit!

 Some of the kids lined up for the show. 

As soon as the parents started taking pictures, Trenton began shouting, "Get baby!  Get baby!  I can't hold him!" and slowly leaning backward.  All the while, his arms never let go of his precious little brother.  We managed to snap a few quickily.  Trenton is used to sitting on a sofa or chair where there is something behind him propping him up.  That baby brother is a load!  It was hilarious!

 Light up balloons, glue sticks, and flashlights were big hits among the kids.

 Trenton was so into the movie!  He didn't move for the first hour. 

 Watching the show on the big screen really caught his attention.  He tends to like all animated shows at this age, I guess.

 When the music came on at the end, he ran for the screen.

Other kids soon joined him dancing up front. 

Errands and Yogli Mogli

Trenton was in need of new tennis shoes and fuzzy pjs now that the cooler weather is here.  The Keens aren't cutting it in the morning chill and they look a little ridiculous with socks underneath.  We just bought him pjs, too, but he has just been waking up really cold in the mornings so it's on to the winter ones.  His reward for running the errands with me?  No other than yogli mogli!!!

 He was so excited about his new tennis shoes!  He says he's just like Daddy in his New Balances, and he looks so grown up in them! 

He ran all over the house from the moment we got home!

Zoo....Take 10

I literally think we have been to the zoo at least 10 times, or more!  We are going on our 2nd year of a membership (which we love!) and somehow, it never gets boring.  We love it there.  I actually told Trenton tonight (it is Sunday as I upload and post this blog from last week) when I tucked him into bed that it was going to be a rainy day tomorrow so Bennett, Mommy and him were going to play around the house.  He responded, "Ok, then can we go to the zoo?"  Another day, honey, I promise! 

 Trenton always reads the map for us no matter where we explore.

 He is allowed to sit on the end of the stroller to hop on and off at the zoo.  He loves this!  Smart, huh?

 The lemurs were extremely active this trip and tons of fun to watch. 

Bennett might not see the animals quite yet, but he loves watching the leaves above him.  He gazes happily up on the stroller ride.

Our zoo has a wonderful gorilla exhibit with gorillas of all ages.  This is the mommy/baby and one silver back one.  The other grouping is called the bachelors and it's with younger males, and then there are some separated silver backs around the corner, too.

This 1 1/2 year old girl was cracking us up as she climbed wildly around.  (Notice the mother in the background who won't let her 2 year old boy out of reach!)  Different parenting styles, no?

Then after swinging, the baby girl gorillas hop on her Mama's leg for a little ride.  I got an ear full from a bystander, who I later found out was an out of uniform volunteer, that it is odd to carry babies like this.  Usually they are on the mom's back, but this baby has always travel via the leg. She was the one that also filled me in on the various caretaking styles of the mothers. 

Granna and Bennett watch Trenton crawl through the Naked Mole Rat playground. 

 Cho-Cho....all aboard!

 Oh, another new found love was the seesaw.  He joined right in the fun with the APS field trip kids. 

And he loved it!!!!

Hitchin' A Ride

 Trenton waits on the sidewalk for Granna to pick him up for his weekly slumber party!

Miller, Puppy and Sam

 Meet Miller, our neighbor's adorable 11 week old yellow lab.

 Meet Trenton's dog Puppy and Madeleine's dog Sam.  Yes, my son named his dog Puppy.  (His old dog name was Pet--we are very original!)

All 3 together.  Trenton loves going to the park to play with Miller, but he is getting slightly apprehensive since Miller jumps on them in excitement while playing and gnaws on them with his sharp teeth.  

Pregame

Bennett may not be able to make the 7:30 kickoff, but he is happy about the pregame activities!  Go Dawgs!  Sic 'em!

U-Pick Apples

Fall is officially here.  To kick off the season, we drove to the Blue Ridge Mountins for u-pick apples at Mercier.  Gilmer County is know for the best apples in the state, and we agree!  From Ambrosia to Jonagold to Mutzu, there were so many favorites.  We enjoyed sampling them and bringing home numerous variations to fill house.  They were delicious snacks to have around the house all week long.   

Being the big boy Trenton is, he announced in the middle nowhere on 575 that he had to pee.  Great, we rushed to the nearest exit and prayed he wouldn't have an accident.  We were pleasantly surprise to find this pig at the gas station.  Trenton sure got a kick out of it! 

Trenton pretends on the indoor tractor before we head out to the orchards.

The tractor pulls us through the grounds out to the apple trees.  Bennett was a little more content on this ride.  Trenton was ready to run around after standing in line to get on.

Picking apples as a family.

Granna gives Trenton a boost to get a good one high up.  We kept having to tell Trenton that the ground apples were yucky and not to get those for the bag.

He eventually got the hang of it and would pick one off the tree and ask us if it was a good one. 

He had a great time participating in the u-pick, as did the rest of us.

Bennett was awake for a stretch of the picking, then slept the rest of the time in the bjorn.

The apples were so plentiful.  It was a gorgeous sight!

Soon the sampling began......

and continued......

 and continued........

 We had to make sure we were getting only the best!  And with all the different types of apples, the sampling helped us know the flavors we enjoyed the best! 

 Our legs were tired.  Our bags were full.

It was time to go home.