My Boys

They just love to look out the window!

Tyler wears my belt whenever I'm not. lol

Tyler likes to pet Dexter. ♥

Barbecue Sauce

I learned something new today. Something very obvious, actually.

Never leave a toddler unattended when there is barbecue sauce on his tray. Trust me.

He thought it was the funniest thing!

"Bath? I don't need a bath!"

I won, and he did get a bath. But I didn't mention that barbecue sauce happens to stain his skin. Yep, this picture is after I scrubbed his little face. Oops!!

Poor guy looks like he's having an allergic reaction or something. :(  He's not, it really does stain him! Every time. Which is why I don't give it to him and then leave the room. Ever...

Just your average straw...

...gets a reaction like this!

He was playing with this red straw while in the car. Something about it made him laugh!

Wouldn't you just love to know what a kid is thinking when doing those big belly laughs??

(He also loves sticks! Anytime we go outside, even if it's just walking to the house/car, he picks up a stick)

How a Toddler Keeps Entertained in the Car

We went to visit Tory's store the other day, which is 90 minutes away... ONE WAY. (What was I thinking??)

Luckily I brought along a giant bag of toys and books to help him out.

He read a book... which I have memorized and therefore "read" to him as he turned the pages.

He scowled at toys that are really for babies.

He is not a baby anymore, ya know?

He played with a soccer ball. 

He read another book. (Same thing. I "read" it to him while he turned pages and opened flaps. ♥)

And my personal favorite:

I would love to know what he was thinking...

Cox Farms

Today Tyler and I went to Cox Farms with my siblings- Kels, Abs, and Nick- Nick's girlfriend, Chelsea, and Tory's dad. (Referred to as Grandpa)

Tyler seemed almost overwhelmed with all the activity! There were people everywhere, more animals, lots of pumpkins, and so so much to do.

The group of us as we were walking in. (Minus Abby- the photographer)
Cows are actually very neat animals. (neat-cool... not neat-clean. lol) This one was my friend. :)
Slidin' with Mama Kels! Apparently he liked this. ♥
We went on a looong hay ride. Grandpa bought some kettle corn for Tyler, which he enjoyed during the hay ride. As you can see, this was lots of fun for him!
Chillin' on Nick's shoulders... That's HIGH!
Walkin' with his Grandpa.
Me and my brother and sisters. (Missing Zach)
L-R Abs, Nick, Me, Kels
It's been a very Fall-ish couple of days. ;) We've had so much fun enjoying the
weather and our families! ♥

Pumpkin Carvin'

Today I carved my very first pumpkin! (Tyler's first too!!)

Getting started

Yummmmmmm

Yummmmmmm again
Cleaning it out

Creating my masterpiece

Almost done!

Voila! It's Jack!!

Tyler thought it was pretty funny...

...and then he tried to hold it.

Wilson's Wild Animal Park

Today is Tory's only day off this week, so we wanted to do something fun! This morning I got online to see what I could find...

I discovered Wilson's Wild Animal Park, less than ten miles from home! The website said it has lions, bears, leopards, emus, and dozens of other wild animals, plus a bunch of deer, goats, and sheep that we could feed... PLUS it has a pumpkin patch! What more could we ask for?

Here we are with one of the camels. First, I had no idea they were so huge! I guess I knew it since I've seen people riding them, but I'd never been so close to one before! This girl was staring us down, I was scared she would spit at me (one of my silly irrational fears), and Tyler just wanted to get faaaar away from her. lol
Tyler would only look at the emus from behind Tory's legs. See his head poking through to take a peek? So freakin' cute! ♥
We got to feed quite a few goats, sheep, and deer. Tyler actually fed this guy.
He was pretty nervous whenever we got close enough to feed most of the animals... which makes no sense to me, since our own dog is bigger than every animal we fed and Tyler will feed hi with no problem! ;)
Check out that happy face!
Drummin' on the giant pumpkin!
He fell forward when he first picked one up! (He thought it was funny)
"This doesn't taste like pumpkin pie Mom!"

Same Day, Different Park

Yesterday was just too beautiful to let it go to waste, so after Tyler's nap I gathered him and Dex up and we headed out to another park.

When we first got there, Dexter started growling and doing his low "something's wrong" bark. There was not a person in sight, so I had no idea what the crazy dog thought was wrong...
I figured it out when we walked over to this:
He thought it was the most terrifying thing ever!! Aaaahhhh I love my dog!


Tyler thought it was pretty funny to pet Dex through
the jungle gym. ♥

Dex spent most of the time eating acorns. (Again, I love my dog) He only looked up when I asked if he wanted to outside... not the brightest crayon in the box! ;)
What a beautiful dog!!

We also went on a walk through the woods and by the water. I didn't take any pictures, because walking an excited Great Dane and making sure a 16 month old keeps up/stays with me (out of the water!) took all my attention. :) But trust me, they enjoyed themselves!

This seems to be a theme after the park. I have a few pictures that look just like this!

Beautiful day!

We took advantage of this break from the cold and rain by heading to the playground. (Where we spent more than an hour!! Which is a lot with a little kid who doesn't play like big kids yet. lol)

I cannot believe how fast my little baby has grown. Just a few short months ago he wasn't even walking, and now here he is climbing things that are up to his waist! (He did make it up with now help.)

Here he is driving the... playground? I never understood why they put steering wheels on these things. Way to confuse kids! ;)

Time to go down the slide...

We found some drums! We like drums.

The closest he got to a smile. Not close at all. He was so serious the whole time!

Why yes...

I am carrying on a perfectly normal conversation with my son while my
Great Dane is chewing on my arm...

Japanese Steakhouse

Last night we decided (very spontaneously I might add) to go out to dinner! Rather than do a "normal" dinner, we went all out and headed to Sansui Japanese Steakhouse. It was Tyler's first trip to a place like that, so of course, we took pictures...

I'm aware that this is a horrible picture, but it's documentation of Tyler's first fire at a Japanese steakhouse. ;)

He wanted a better view of the show.

Dipping his chicken in the steak sauce. Who am I to tell him that's the wrong stuff??

Me and my kiddo. ♥ (Who is truly his father's son... he loved loved loved scallops!)

I have to say, it was worth the small fortune it cost us. ;)