Tidbits of Quinn Part II

Just a little peak into Quinn's brain these days.  He was rambling on unprompted and I decided to just start documenting what he said.  This kid is so random.  These thoughts all occurred within 5 minutes time.

*"Eric gonna build a TOY!  But he find a toy and he build it for me.  But, he find one.  Eric find one."

*"Papa gonna be Batman for Halloween.  And Grandma gonna be a princess, like Kee-ya!  But what Daddy goen be, Mom?"

*While looking at the laundry I just folded:
"Wook!  Undies and Buzz!  All the costume Buzz and undie buzz and a toy Buzz!  See, it's match mom.  My undies match!  I gonna show dad I got a match, my undies."

*"A snowman singing you, mom.  Wook.  He saying lalalalalala.  He goen be a silly snowman.  That's silly."

*"I goen be Captain A-mair-i-ca too, Mom.  I gonna tell Eric what happened.  Hmmm, what happened?"

Me: I don't know what happened, what happened?

"Kee-ya still sleeping.   Come on Kee-ya, come out, please.  Kee-ya, come out! (while talking into the monitor)  I don't hear Kee-ya wake up.  *disappointed sigh
Captain A-mair-i-CA"

*Me:  What do you want Santa to bring you?

Q:  "No, I goen tell ERIC!  Cause Santa's not here."  (Eric's not here, either).

Delaney Rae

Lora let me practice taking photos of my beautiful niece this weekend.  Delaney doesn't give out free smiles, but she sure is a beauty!  

Here are a few of my favorites:

I can't get over her eyes.  They're so dreamy!

Singing, "If You're Happy and You Know It"

We tried (rather unsuccessfully)for a cousin shot.  What is with Kira and her tongue?  Sheesh!

Quinn loves his cousin Laney

 

Alright, bring on the critiques!  Seriously.

Happy election day!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so fun for our family this year!

There's nothing like a pixelated family phone portrait!

Halloween started off with a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch!  At Quinn's preschool there is 100% parent participation on field trips.  I don't blame his teacher for not wanting to take the kids places alone and it is a nice opportunity for the families to get to meet each other.  It was a muddy mess, but was so fun seeing Quinn with his friends at school.  There's one boy in particular that he spent the majority of his time with, and it's one of the boys Quinn talks about the most at home.  They walked hand in hand through the corn maze together, jumping in all of the mud puddles.  My poor kids don't have many friends around here, and so it was really nice for me to see this peer relationship for Quinn.  It also inspires me to work harder at nurturing more relationships here for my kids.

*Also, Quinn experienced a "first" on this field trip that I have to mention.  After getting the kids out of the patch, through all of the mud, stripped out of their muddy clothes, and buckled into their carseats, he announced that he needed to go potty, really badly.  We were half an hour from home, and there was no way I was going to lug him (and Kira) back to the patch.  I took a quick look around and didn't notice anyone else in the parking lot.  So, I held him up, parallel to the ground, and let him relieve himself.  All day long he kept requesting, "Can I pee in the grass?  Can I pee in the grass?"  Had I known what I was starting...

Admiring the chickens together. 

Quinn looking adorable in the corn maze.  Notice the mud.

There's just something about watching these two walk off together that makes me smile.  Little buddies.

This photo is to document how muddy Kira got.  She didn't seem to mind.

After the field trip we came home, got cleaned up, and let Kira rest so she'd be ready for an afternoon/evening of trick-or-treating.  Pat was able to work a short day, and made it home by 2:30 for us to head out and hit up some local spots together.  I was told that it's best to arrive by 3 when the festivities begin because by the time parent's get off work it gets too crowded.  We started at the local nursery because they bring in a professional photographer to get photos of the kids in costume, for free!  That would have been great if our kids would have had some sort of expression on their faces, but they didn't.  They just stared stone cold as if they'd never seen a camera before in their lives.  At least we tried...

See what I mean?  

Then we headed over to the Country Village for some family friendly trick-or-treating.  It's so cute seeing all of the kids in costume.  For me, the cutest stage are the barely walkers toddling around in their oversized costumes.  It is so adorable!  Kira discovered that chocolate is pretty delicious, and Quinn shyly muttered, "trick-or-treat" to each of the vendors.  It's fun to see Kira able to enjoy the holiday more than Quinn did at her age, since she has him as a model.  She gladly followed him around to the vendors, accepting the treats they were willing to hand out.  A highlight there for Quinn may have been seeing Batman.  He's been obsessed with superheroes lately, so seeing him in person was a real treat.  We went to say hello and Quinn gave him a timid high five while I coerced him into getting his picture taken.  Sadly, the look on his face doesn't exactly prove his excitement.  I think he was star struck.  

I know, he looks miserable.  Don't worry, he was not.  

This chicken wanted to join in on the fun.  The kids didn't mind.

Couldn't resist the dorky photo op.

Once we finished up at the Country Village we headed home for a little more trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Apparently not everyone gets to work a half day though, because our street looked like a ghost town at 5 when we attempted to go out.  We decided to eat dinner at home first and try again.  Within minutes the streets were swarmed with all of the neighborhood kids.  Quinn was so excited to help pass out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters.  And then, after dinner, we headed out again for our turn.

The kids were clearly pros by this point.  :)

His final stop.  Our house!  I just find Pat's (fake) enthusiasm too ridiculous not to share.  

Can't forget Piglet!

They couldn't even wait to get inside to dig into their candy.  

My favorite quote from the evening was when Quinn exclaimed, "Halloween is sooo HAPPY!!" He's in such a fun stage right now, and I was just bursting with love for him yesterday.  As with any parent (I think) I have my share of frustrating moments with him, but that just helps me appreciate the fun times that much more.  And seeing him so willing to share (granted he was loaded up on sweets himself), use his manners with few reminders, and love on those around him made me gush with pride.

It was a Happy Halloween, indeed!

I should end this post now, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites that I got with the DSLR (as opposed to our phones) for those without Facebook.  You're welcome, Grandmas!  Enjoy!

Fall on the Farm

We had a lovely time visiting with family last weekend on the farm.  Some of the highlights included meeting Uncle Eric and Auntie Riah for an afternoon at OMSI, attending the local high school production of The Little Mermaid (Quinn's first musical) starring Pat's cousin, and time outside picking fruit and playing on Grandma's new tractor.  Oh, and the homemade apple-plum pie.  Delicious!

I played around with the camera for a few minutes while the kids played outside one afternoon.  Here's what I captured.

I sure do love those kids!

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Pat and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  We have yet to make it to the same pumpkin patch twice up here.  This year we checked out the Farm at Swan's Trail in Snohomish.  It was over 70 degrees and sunny.  We have been conditioned to believe that such weather conditions are ridiculous for our annual pumpkin patch outing, but we embraced it!  I am loving our extended summer in the northwest this year.  

We might just have to take one more trip if it ever gets muddy, for tradition's sake.

  The afternoon started out with Quinn sleeping in the stroller and Kira admiring the farm animals.  

Sidenote: Quinn refuses to nap at home, but the second we try and do anything, he crashes in the car.  What is up with that?

 She wanted to pet the chickens and bunnies so badly.  For the animal's sake, we did not let her.

 Gazing out into the field of pumpkins.  

 We eventually woke Quinn up so we could accomplish what we set out to do, select our pumpkins!

 The kids liked the wheel barrow, even though the expression on their faces might not make that clear.

Quinn was so cute.  He knew exactly which pumpkin he wanted and he was determined to carry it back to the wheel barrow.  Daddy helped him with the final lift, but he just about made it.  It is such a cute little pumpkin!

 Kira wasn't into the pumpkin selecting as much as she was into frolicking through the field.

 And resting in the field.

I have been spending the majority of my time behind the lens lately, but Pat snapped a couple to prove I was there.

After we picked our pumpkins we let Quinn play a bit, but Kira was quickly melting down and so we didn't take advantage of the hay rides or other festive activities that the venue had to offer.  I guess we'll save that for a muddy day.

 But before we left we had to have a little treat.

We discovered that although Kira might not like cake, she loves sticky caramel apples.  I guess she's not completely crazy.

Happy October!