Fall Fun in the Leaves!

Raking leaves (or rather, blowing leaves) hasn't been a ton of fun in the past.  It's still a lot of work, but having EH around to enjoy the leaves has made the work much more enjoyable.

We had beautiful weather this past weekend, and he had a blast playing in the leaves!

He loved picking the leaves up and throwing them in the air.  There was a nice breeze that allowed them to catch a little and blow and he thought that was greatest. 

He spent some time jumping in the leaf pile with his dada (who acquired a tick in the process, but thankfully they left EH alone) and obviously had a blast.

If that's not a look of pure toddler joy, I'm not sure what is!!!

And at the end of the day we let him try on the leaf blower, and I'm not sure that he could have looked prouder than he did walking around holding onto that leaf blowing tube.  It may have resulted in a huge tantrum when we finally forced him to go inside, but it was worth the cutest and the smile at the time.

After 2+ years of wanting him to have fun in the leaves we were so glad that this was finally the year!

Providence

Last week I was in Providence, Rhode Island for a conference for work.  Although I didn't get to see a whole lot of the city other than a quick driving tour from my sister-in-law, I did have an amazing view out of my hotel window.

19th floor of the Omni hotel, overlooking downtown Providence

DH played single-daddy that week and it is an understatement to say that things did not go well for him.  I think both daddy and son were glad to have mommy back.  It also didn't help that it was a crazy busy week for DH, with travel on both weekends surrounding the week I was gone.

I like traveling for work, mostly since I only have to do it once or twice a year, and I enjoy having a chance to visit new places in the country including San Diego, Forth Worth, and now Providence.  But having a toddler definitely makes it more challenging, and I did miss the little guy.  However, I'm hopeful that I can continue to go away whenever the opportunity to presents itself since I do think it's always a good experience!  After all, I'm probably never going to stay at a fancy Omni hotel on my own dime!

Same view, but at night

Providence is a cute little town, and it had a city feel while also seeming really clean and friendly.  Perhaps some day I'll have a chance to go back and visit with more free time.  But all in all, I enjoyed my time in Providence!

Halloween 2013 - Still no candy!

For the third Halloween of his existence, EH did not go trick or treating.  We were all ready to take him this year, but it was raining like crazy and since he didn't know what he would be missing - and since it would still be more for us than for him - we decided to stay home.

We practiced carrying around his pumpkin the weeks before

But his Halloween costume didn't totally go to waste!  This past weekend we had our annual "Fakesgiving," when DH's side of the family gets together to celebrate Thanksgiving prior to the event itself, allowing us to celebrate Thanksgiving with both sides of the family without any conflict.  The morning after Fakesgiving we put all of the cousins in their costumes and set out on a hayride in the back of a truck - except that EH refused to get into the back, and insisted on sitting up front.

Have I mentioned that we are deep in the middle of the terrible twos?

Have you ever seen a serious monkey driving a four wheeler? I have.

EH's penchant for throwing tantrums means that we are often those parents who have to remove their screaming toddler from the restaurant or wherever we may be.  It also means that all of the other children nearby walk away looking like saints compared to the devilish child that EH becomes when he's in full blown tantrum mode.

But when he's dressed like a monkey, it's hard to stay mad at him for long.... especially when he's a monkey driving a tonka truck.  Too cute. 

On this particular day, EH's tantrum resulted from him wanting to be the ONLY one driving the little tonka truck, and our insistence that he takes turn.  Have I also mentioned that he's not very good at sharing?

So, I promise you that he was a cute little monkey, even though I couldn't get him to stand still to pose for a photo.  His little cousins were an owl and a bunny this year.

One of these years I'm sure that EH will go trick-or-treating, and I figure from that point on, there is no going back, so I'm glad that we were able to avoid the rain but still get to enjoy our little monkey!