September Roundup

September went by in a blur . . . here's a quick recap of the month's excitement:

Owen's adventures with food . . .






At Sam's birthday bowling party




Happy Birthday, Grandma!


Snuggled up with Great-Grandpa


Miracle Wrestlemania

Two First Days

Charlie sort-of started kindergarten on August 30th. Our school system does staggered entry, during which small groups of kindergarteners come in on just one day for assessment.



Shunning the parental paparazzi


He had a great day, though getting information out of him was like squeezing blood from a stone. I finally learned the following:

A: Did you do letters?
C: Yeah, the teacher asked me what sounds the letters make. Then she did it again with lower-case to make it harder, but I still knew the answer.

A: How about numbers? Did you do any counting?
C: I wanted to count to 200, but they told me I could stop at 93.

He went back to school, like, for real, on the 1st. We marked the occasion with a traditional Schultüte, schlepped over from Germany by my aunt. [This makes her sound like a mule for German handicrafts, which is partially true.] The Schultüte was filled with some school supplies, books, and of course, Legos.





We had an unfortunate memory card issue with our camera and the first day front porch picture has disappeared. Charlie was wearing the same dinosaur shirt again yesterday, and I convinced him to do a re-take. He kindly obliged, and thankfully, he hadn't changed much in a week. :)

Singin' in the Rain

A few weeks ago we had a torrential downpour, and Charlie started singing "Singin' in the Rain" - it seemed the perfect opportunity to watch one of our favorite movies.




Owen was decidedly more interested in dancin' in the rain . . .

Bond, James Bond

Last week's camp theme was Undercover Camp. For dress-up day, Charlie wanted to be a spy - who better than 007?



The back of his shirt says, "Shaken, Not Stirred" - C asked us what this meant and we told him it's how James Bond likes his juice prepared.

Spoon Mastery

Owen has been hell bent on feeding himself - his willfulness is both adorable and maddening. After a particularly messy dinner the other night, Charlie announced, "Maybe I don't want a baby." Thankfully his technique is improving, but eating yogurt topless is the MO in our house (at least if you're under 3).

Just Like Bruddah

Owen was so excited to put on Charlie's backpack and carry his lunch bag around the house. He calls Charlie "bruddah," and kept saying this as he walked around in Charlie's gear:

4th in the Heartland

We made our usual trek up to Ohio for the 4th. After a day in Columbus, we headed to Cleveland via the Akron Zoo.

Charlie & Grandpa check out the touch tank


Oceanic climbing wall


Charlie & Owen ride a faux carousel lion


Thank god Charlie is old enough to ride the carousel by himself now. Carousels make me feel like I'm going to toss my cookies, which might permanently scar the child riders.


Owen airborne


Everyone airborne!


Owen is obsessed with beer bottles, so we oblige him with empties


Reading bedtime stories with Great-grandma




Owen & Olivia check out the beverage selection at Uncle Tim & Aunt Colleen's annual 4th of July party


Hanging out in the pool with Grandpa


Not sure what's happening here, but I think it involves Evan's arm hair getting pulled out


Diaper break


All cleaned up and ready for stories


Lounging with Uncle Russell


The annual great-grands photo


#1 and #7


This kid is all about style . . .


. . . and eating watermelon


Even though you can't really see our faces, I love this picture


Peek-a-boo Owen


Hanging out in the pool




And then out of the pool




Cousin bath


Mastering the upside-down saxophone