VIDEO! Elliott counts to 10!

Elliott's first video blog... enjoy!

Other Fall Shenanigans

We have been embracing the fun of fall with Elliott. We've been pretty much shoving fall down his throat. If we point out one more pumpkin or scarecrow, I think he might disown us. But fall is so much fun! Here's some non-pumpkin related fun.

Bret has been trying to discourage our "pet" groundhog (Wally) from digging a burrow underneath the garage with some major fortifications. But one fall morning, we had a different animal surprise back there - a turtle!
Elliott thought that "turr-tle" was pretty swell. And he wanted one of us to touch it really badly, although he did not want to touch it himself. The picture above is the closest he got to actually touching it.
Same morning... throwing gravel in the driveway. That's almost as much fun as a turtle, right?

Elliott says, "Mess!" and brushes his hands off. My sentiments exactly.

Running around at the playground/ ball field. He thought it was pretty fun to run away and then run back to us.

Elliott, Master Slide Climber.

"Mom, do you mind if Mr. Frog and I take the car (and your shoes) for a spin around the block?"

Elliott in his Halloween finery with an oatmeal raisin cookie. Now, that's a happy toddler!

Elliott concentrates on breaking the cookie into smaller pieces, just like Mommy. Mommy frowns as she thinks that she is going to have to vacuum. Again.

Happy Elliott!

One last thing! We took Elliott to see Monster Stomp Revamped at Busch Gardens. Its rated "4 pumpkins" scary, so we were a little skeptical about its appropriateness for Elliott. He LOVED it (and it was soooo not scary. It was campy. It was perfect!) He sat in my lap for the half hour show and clapped and laughed and cheered. Well worth the long line... if you live in the area, I totally recommend it!

Pumpkin Picking!!

All right, all right! I hear ya... you want more pictures! My apologizes for a being a little slack in the blogging department. Well, here you go.

The family recently went to Pumpkinville!! Elliott had his first hayride (actually, it was my first hayride too!) He thought this was pretty cool, especially the ghosts that were hanging from the trees above us.
Then we went to the pumpkin patch to find ourselves the perfect pumpkin (well, other than the "pumpkin" in a T-shirt and jeans.)
Bret poses with the perfect pumpkin.

Bret is trying to show Elliott just how heavy a pumpkin really is. Elliott just wants Daddy to let him carry it by himself.

Two pumpkins... sweet success!

If you ask Elliott, "Where's Elliott's pumpkin?," he'll run and find the small pie pumpkin we got for him that we keep on the coffee table. But if you ask him, "Where's Mommy's pumpkin?," he pats his own head. He did that all on his own!

Overall, lots of fun. Next year we'll try the corn maze!

Weekend Adventures

Wow! We had a jammed packed weekend. Here are some of the highlights.

We got a balloon at Trader Joe's. As you can see, Elliott fell asleep in the car on the way home from the store... still holding on to the balloon. In all the balloon excitement, we lost Mr. Frog, and Mommy had to return to the store shortly after this picture was taken to retrieve him before real naptime. Don't worry... Mr. Frog was returned unharmed.

Elliott has discovered the joys of blocks. In this picture, Elliott holds up his "camera" and says "Cheese!" just like Mommy.

Elliott has also become quite independent at the playground! Here he is climbing UP the slide (with a very determined face.)

Here is Elliott going down the slide. He wanted no help from Mom and Dad.

More pictures of the playground. Elliott climbs up, and then slides back down, ignoring my protests that it is not a slide. "Well, Mom, if I can slide down it, it's a slide."

Elliott thought these musical chimes were pretty cool.

Prince Elmo's Spire at Busch Gardens. Look closely... do you see anyone you recognize?

Yep, that would be Elliott and Bret. Well, Elliott's feet, at least.

And what would a weekend be without a little Sunny Days Celebration? A great weekend all the way around - great weather, great fun, great time with the fam.

Just pictures

Here's a few pictures for your daily dose of cute.

Mommy's Birthday

For Mommy's birthday, the whole family went to Busch Gardens! It was HOT HOT HOT, and we were all quite sweaty, but we had a lot of fun. Recently, Elliott has been really into airplanes (and cars and trucks and buses and...), so we thought he might enjoy riding the airplanes. He never made it off the ground, but he was amazed by the experience, all the same.

First, a ride in the white one.

Then, another ride, this time in the red one.

Elliott also rode on the carousel. He usually wants to get off this as soon as he gets on, but he's getting better.

We had some lunch in Germany, and Elliott had fun participating in the show. Elliott REALLY likes polka music.

Doing a little chicken dance... well, kind of. Ok, not really at all, but we have the clapping thing down pat.

Later, there was birthday cake. If you ask Elliott if he wants cake, he says a very definite, "Yessss." He really likes to look at the pretty icing too, and got upset when it inevitably got messed up. But then he ate it... and it was good.

Oh, and here's a picture for the grandparents. Elliott uses a big boy cup at dinner. No problem!

Va Beach Vacay!

We had a great time at Va Beach! By the time we checked into the hotel on Friday, it was, of course, pouring rain... but we made the most of it! Elliott was a little intimidated by the ocean (I think he felt a little vertigo when the water came up), so he didn't want to stand in the water on his own. But he would sit in my lap at the water's edge as the surf came up over our legs, and he seemed to like that. We sat there for a long time and Elliott was very quiet and peaceful.

On Saturday, the day started out overcast, but the sun peeked through by lunch. It was kind of nice that the sun was hiding behind the clouds as it was not as hot and I was not as worried about Elliott getting sunburned.

After a long day outside, Elliott thinks Mommy needs to rehydrate. Have some apple juice!

On the way there, we stopped for lunch at the Cheese Shop and Elliott enjoyed running around a little downtown. We hoped to wear him out for a more peaceful car ride, and (for the most part), it worked.

Rock Star Elliott!

Elliott had fun digging in the sand. Daddy helped him find baby crabs. and the sand was perfect for building sand castles (aka knocking down sand castles).

Elliott snacks on cookies and relaxes with Dad on the lounge chair.

We spent lots of time walking the boardwalk. Elliott was FULL of ENERGY... well, until he ran out. He stopped in the middle of the boardwalk and laid on his back in what I like to call "the dead bug." You could almost hear him say, "Stick a fork in me.... I'm done!"

Before leaving the beach, we stopped at the Virginia Aquarium. Elliott looks a little wary of being in the mouth of a shark!

The drive home.