Fall Fun

We went to Exploration Acres yesterday (which has a huge corn maze in addition to this pumpkin patch). Here is our pumpkin among the pumpkins.

A couple of shots from a lookout/bridge in the corn maze.


It's hard to really appreciate the intricacy of the corn maze but here is a link to the aerial view (http://www.explorationacres.com/Corn_Maze_files/Modified1295maze-2.pdf)
Sydney enjoyed the hay tunnel but did seem glad I was trailing her at one point when it got a little dark.

These pictures are in our front yard when the leaves started to fall.


Joshua was putting away the outdoor hose and Sydney climbed right in.

You can tell from the way Sydney is dressed in all of these pictures that we have had some ups and downs with weather in the last couple of weeks.

Race Day

Joshua ran his second half marathon this year in Indianapolis. He beat his previous time by over 7 minutes (which is a lot) and was under 2 hours. Sydney and I cheered him on right before the finish line. Here is Sydney watching the runners.

Joshua in the last 1/4 mile.

Hooray, Joshua/Daddy!

Visitor from NY and Fall Break in Nashville

Joshua's friend from high school, Joe, visited us here in Indiana. He gave Sydney this red outfit which she loves. Thanks for the visit and the phone, Sydney loves it!

For fall break we went to Nashville to visit Tommy, Mindy, Lucy Claire, and James Henry. Sydney loved Lucy Claire's box of dress up clothes...especially the tutu.

James Henry is getting so big!

Sydney liked their kid-sized recliner.

We went to the Nashville zoo which has this amazing, padded play area for little kids.

Mindy and James Henry watching the mayhem.

Mindy giving Sydney and James Henry a squeeze.

Joshua and James Henry.

We got to show Sydney some real giraffes as a precursor to her Halloween costume for this year.

She liked the giraffe on the carousel.

But she opted for the large spotted feline (leopard?) for the actual ride since it went up and down but the giraffe did not.

The other big hit was the gibbons.

They make this amazing noise by using their throats (see photo and video below).

Someday, Sydney will understand the difference between gibbons and monkeys but for now, she and Joshua had fun showing us what the monkey does.

Here's a nice shot of Sydney with her Godparents and Lucy Claire.

Story time.

James Henry caught in the act...of looking really cute.

Rock On

We decided Sydney needed a new water bottle to cater to her hydration needs. We were going to order one online but saw the same model during a recent trip to Dick's Sporting goods. We asked the salesperson if they had any other versions and he returned with two choices: a pink bottle with pink and purple butterflies and a blue bottle with drums and the phrase "Rock On." We looked at each other and decided to let Sydney choose. She chose wisely.

Rocking on...

One other funny tidbit about the bottle. It says it is for ages 3 and up. Our friend Catherine who was shopping with us asked us "Why?" We explained that with Camelbak water bottles, there are two steps to drinking, you have to bite down before you can drink the water. Sydney figured it out after a few practice rounds (it probably helps that she bites some of her other straws even though that isn't a requirement for any other drinking container we own).

Fall Clean Up

Our trusty Duke Energy workers came to lop off some of our trees. They took the tree tops but left a fair amount of debris. Joshua decided to clean it up and offered Sydney a Sydney-sized rake to lend a hand. She was ecstatic.

Of course, it did not escape her that daddy's rake was bigger.

She followed him around but she definitely preferred dragging the rake with the teeth facing up so it didn't catch on anything. On the surface, that may seem to negate the purpose of raking but since our actual goal was to have her be part of the action - mission accomplished!

Labor Day

We went to visit Kristi and Greg in Wisconsin Labor Day weekend. Here are some of the highlights. Sydney enjoyed her first carousel ride. She was a little unsure at first but was signing "more" by the end of it. I think she chose the blue horse because it reminded her of the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear (which features a blue horse).

Sydney also enjoyed her first boat ride.

For the record, we did not kick Greg out of this picture - Kristi did.

Our destination was a set of islands to see heaps and heaps of cranes.

Along for the ride...
We did a short hike in a park by them.

We even picked up a football for Kristi and Greg's new dog, Duke (prominently displayed by Kristi in the photo).

Thanks for a great weekend!

Monkey in the Making

Sydney really likes sitting in her chair at her table. Sadly, she is a little small to be able to do it. She has figured out how to get up into it. The good news is that she can do it and she loves sitting up there and looking at her books. The other good news is that she has no trouble getting down from it once she's sitting. The bad news is that she is just one neuron connection away from realizing that while she is standing on her chair to sit on it...she is one small step from standing up on the table. Fun times.