Saturday, November 5, 2011

A Few at the Zoo

We have been loving the beautiful weekends that we have been having. We have been so busy doing things that I didn't think that we were going to make it to the Columbus Zoo as we had hoped to do again this Fall. When I saw that Saturday was going to be sunny with a high of 56, we decided to go. Trent, Reed, Riley and I got an early start and were out of the house by 8:30 a.m. The morning was chilly so we bundled up, but it turned out to be another beautiful day. In the Fall, the crowd at the zoo tends to be half of what it is during the busy Summer months. We had a great time. As always, the monkeys and gorillas were a highlight for us. They are so funny to watch. Riley still says the flamingo is her favorite animal. (I wonder why.) She even posed for a picture on one foot like the flamingos stand. Ha!









Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Fright Night











The Great Pumpkin

The kids and I carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon. That isn't quite right. This is how it really went:

Riley was eager to help. Once she saw what was inside of the pumpkin, she didn't want anything more to do with it. She did pose for a nice picture though.

Trent helped until his hands got too cold. (The pumpkins had been setting outside for a couple of weeks so they were pretty cold inside.)

Reed helped longer than the other two. He managed to get quite a bit of his pumpkin guts cleaned out. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to get much of it in the trash can.

I guess it would just be easier to say this. I carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon.

Riley wanted a Rapunzel pumpkin since she was dressing up as Rapunzel for trick or treat. I searched around on the Internet and found a pattern to use. Trent and Reed picked Phineaus and Ferb (one of their favorite cartoons). Riley's Rapunzel pumpkin took about an hour to carve. It was a lot of detailed cutting. After that, Phineaus and Ferb went pretty quickly. The patterns were more simple, and my carving skills had improved. We were all happy with the way they turned out.

I told the kids we will have a pumpkin carving contest one day. I have a feeling I may be the only one with pumpkins to enter in the contest. Theirs pumpkins may be at various stages of being done. Ha!









Happy Trails

Over the past month, we have been mountain biking three times. Steve, Cole, Trent and I went to MoMBA trails at Huffman Metro Park twice. Last Sunday, Steve, Trent, Reed, Riley and I went to John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs. The trails at MoMBA are too difficult for Reed, and he really wanted to try it out. He did great at John Bryan.

Cole started mountain biking earlier this summer with his drum teacher. Steve went out a couple of times and enjoyed it too. Now, we are all hooked. I love being outdoors. Being in the woods in the Fall is even better. It is great way to get exercise and for everyone to have fun at the same time. I have a feeling it will become an activity our family will now enjoy for years to come.

















Of course, Riley is too little to even try mountain biking. She and I walked the trails at John Bryan on Sunday. It was a mile into the woods to get to one of the trails, a 2 mile trail and a mile back out. I didn't realize the length of the trail before we started so I was getting a little worried that Riley wouldn't make it. She never complained once about being tired. What a trooper!







Riley and I saw a couple of deer while we were walking. The deer started to run when they saw us. Riley said, "Catch it Mom.". I told her deer were too fast for me. She said, "Too bad Cory isn't here, he knows how to catch deer." I told her Cory shot his deer. She said, "No, he didn't. I saw the picture and the deer was smiling. He wouldn't have been smiling if he got shot." I couldn't help but laugh and let her keep her innocence a little longer.