Come Walk With Us...

I love Autumn afternoons when the weather is cool, but still warm enough for a walk around the neighborhood.

We take these walks almost daily this time of year. I love the little moments of learning that happen on a simple afternoon walk. This is what we learned today:

First lesson: It's really annoying when you want to tell your mother something and she keeps taking photos with her cell phone.

Second lesson: If you are looking for kitty cats, you have to look in all kinds of places.

Keep your eyes peeled, you'll find one when you least expect it. (Yes, my son does point at things with his middle finger. Why do you ask?)

Third lesson: The neighbors have some really awesome decorations up this time of year.  My kids were left wondering: What is up with our parents and their sad excuse for porch decor?

Fourth lesson: Bouncy balls bounce really well on the side walk, but they don't bounce on grass (for some undecipherable reason). Jellybean found it best to experiment on this lesson multiple times.

Fifth lesson: If you are letter obsessed, like Buddy, you will find many a crack in the side walk to contemplate and assign a likeness to.

Sixth lesson: Dandelions are fun to pick and are "soft like a kitty." It's also fun to blow their fluff, but not so fun to lick them. (Last part not pictured, as I was too busy digging dandelion fluff out of Jellybean's mouth. By the way, it's not the first time she has learned this lesson.)

Yep, we are looking forward to more walks and more lessons in the coming days before the weather gets too cold.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

We don't get out much

We're what you would call homebodies.  We don't socialize very often, but sometimes we have to leave the house just so our neighbors don't think that we're weirdos (at least I don't think they've figured that out yet, or maybe they have...).

Anyway, our local ward hosted a neighborhood luau party on Saturday.  Buddy and Jellybean were very excited about it, so D and I begrudgingly decided to attend.
The weather had been rainy all day, but turned surprisingly beautiful.  We decided to walk.

This picture is deceptive. It looks like Jellybean has only one doll with her.

Guess again. 

Oh man, now she wants me to carry her and her three dolls.

Finally, we caught up to D and Buddy.

An aside: So, the house you can see behind D is supposedly the most beautiful house in the neighborhood. I haven't been able to verify this myself. The thing that worries me is the dry grass hill that is behind it.  Not a good thing during fire season. Just saying.

We arrived and received our requisite plastic leis. The kids really enjoyed their hawaiian haystacks.

Can't you tell?

You see that face Buddy is making?  The people sitting across from us thought that it was cute.  I didn't think so.  This was his, "No, I won't do a real smile for you, Mama" face. I wasn't amused.

After dinner, the kids thought they'd try out the face painting. 

Jellybean chose an angel design, which turned out surprisingly recognizable. Buddy decided to go with that rad skull and cross bones tattoo.  Later that night, he decided that he was frightened of it and requested that D put a bandaid over it.

We're kind of party-poopers. So, we skipped out on the limbo and other planned party games. After a cookie we were on our way home.

It was fun while it lasted. Despite that, I imagine we'll stay firmly at home for any further social activities until maybe trick or treating. Like I said, we don't get out much.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Neighborhood Parade

Nice shades.

We had a nice July 4th yesterday.  One of the first events of the morning was a small neighborhood parade.  We decided that instead of participating in it this year that we'd go out and cheer.  It was good that we did. That small troupe needed some encouragement. 

Waiting patiently for the parade to begin

More waiting

Here they come! Buddy and Jellybean were ridiculously excited to see the parade coming. Buddy wondered if it would be as loud as the parade on Caillou.

This small neighborhood parade even had some royalty. Buddy and Jellybean even cheered on the last of the bicycles.

Even though the parade was small, my children were not disappointed.  They loved it.  I look forward to them participating next year.

I purchased the last 2 stars in the city.

On the way in, I had to take a picture of my sad attempt at patriotic porch decor. I had envisioned a really awesome star theme, but shopping on July 3rd turned up a pretty sad number of stars. Also, the large, red star keeps being blown away by the wind... We'll do something better next year.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ