Beach

Its hard to believe it on a day like today, but we were at the beach just last week. I picked Katie up from school on friday and we drove to Avon. She loves to run and dig in the sand. Thankfully she didn't even attempt to go into the water.
They were some machines there. They had dug a few big holes into the sand - great for climbing in and around.

CHEESE

She has told us she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. At times she can be very graceful.

A good find.

Well I am pretty sure this will be our last visit until next season.

Katie the artist

Katie is finally drawing pictures that we can recognize. Usually she just draws "roller coasters" which are just very squiggly lines on paper.
She called this one a bird - I was very impressed. I guess if you look at it closely you can see either a full bird with body/beak/legs and tail feathers or just a head with beak and waddle (like a turkeys head). I believe she was going for the full body bird.
Here is a family portrait she drew in school. Katie is in yellow ( her favorite color) and for some reason I am in red with a huge frown - not sure what that's all about. But all the same -very proud of this one too.

Reunion

Well it is hard to believe, but I have been out of school for 10 years. A few weeks ago I flew out to Indiana for my 10 year reunion. It was great to see everybody again. There was a good 1/3rd of the class that showed up. Unfortunately I was only able to stay for a day, so I am sure I missed some people, but it was worth it.
Had lunch with some friends, then actually attended some lectures. The school had an informal get together, where we annoyed the photographer.

Then off to Jake's for some old time catching up.

Fall

Katie and I went PA to visit Nana and Papa over the weekend. The leaves were changing - it was beautiful. We went to a huge pumpkin picking place - you had to pay admissions to get in but they had animals to feed, corn mazes, some kid rides and play areas. It was fun but cold.
We only did the Mini Maze - they sent you in the Mega maze was a flag so you can't get lost. We were in this one about 20 minutes - was starting to get a little concerned but we made it out ok.

One of the play areas - basically a castle of hay bails. The kids loved climbing on it.

Look at her go - that's my girl !

The had this bounce bed - a little weird but a lot of fun. I jumped for about 5 minutes and when I finished and walked back on the ground I felt all weird - like I was still bouncing. Took a few minutes to feel normal again.

The Kow Kattle Ride.

The leaves were changing - most of the pics were from a moving car so a little blurry. Katie liked all the colors.

Helmet on

Helmet on for safety. We only stayed in the house for these few shots. She normally seems to have an excellent sense of balance - until on skates. She was all over the place but had a lot of fun.

The scooter was an impulse buy. We have to rethink purchases like this in the future. She has had it for a few months and hasn't touched it.

Here she is talking on the phone on her scooter - is this a glimpse into her future ( I hope not)

Crayola Factory

Katie and I stopped at the Crayola Factory on our last return home from my parents new place in PA. We had been there before and had a good time, so I figured why not go again. It is fun but way too crowded - I really must remember to go on a weekday. Katie with the crayon

She is really starting to love these picture cut-outs. Now she will run to them, stick her head ( and usually her hands ) through and say "cheese" - just waiting for me to take her picture.

A little side walk chalk.

Molding some clay

Add a little color

There is the canal museum on the third floor. They have a model canal system for the kids to bring there boats through.

She just loves water

Some more hands on fun up stairs - not much about crayons but still lots of fun

Some more canal boats

Had to stop in the store to buy some toys. It was cute that they had little carts for the kids

Soccer

We had the soccer goals set up the other day in the backyard. Katie loves to put the ball down, slowly walk backwards as far as she can from the ball then run to the ball as fast as she can, stop and kick it.
She gets real serious as she prepares for her kick

She means business

And her she comes - running in

The kick

SCORE !!!!!!