Go west!

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur because they have been jam packed full of fun times. I'll get right to the pictures and stories...
Grandma came down to visit us the first week of November. She played cars with me every spare minute we had because, well, I love playing with cars! We drove all over the place and made up all kinds of fun destinations, like ice cream shops and stuff. We also took the weekend to clean up all the leaves from our back yard. There were tons of them...and it took a long time to rake them all up. We had great weather for our final outside work day of the year!

We started to get the Christmas spirit last week. Mom got all of our decor out of the attic and we hung up our stockings, got out a few stuffed animals and books, and set up our little people nativity set. We watched Buck Denver's "Why Do We Call It Christmas?" movie and talked about trees, St. Nick, and of course baby Jesus. Then we made popcorn and hot chocolate. Yummy! I helped Dad turn crank on the whirly pop and sipped down my cocoa with marshmallows.

I've had a lot of fun with my friends over the last couple of weeks. I've spent time with Jalen, Jameson, Jacey, Brayden, and my buddies the Kernodles. One Saturday, I hung out with my little lady Lainie and her parents. They came over for some football and tickle fun. I showed off my batting skills. I think she may have been impressed by this slugger. We had such a good time just running around the bases.

One of my favorite things from the past two weeks is my road trip to visit Emerson. I've been asking nearly everyday if we can play together. I don't think I grasp that he is so far away and daily playdates are a thing of the past. Last week we packed up the car and headed west to Peoria. It took about 4 hours to get there, and my brother and I were so good on the trip. We listened to Frosty the Snowman over 30 times en route to E's house. We also marveled at all the giant windmills that we got to see.
The Spillmans have an awesome new house. I loved their big basement where Emerson and I could run around, play trains, and have hours of fun. I also liked that I could look down and wave to people from their upstairs. It was good for Mom to see how happy they were in their new home and get to spend some time with her buddy too. There was no shortage of excitement on our visit. It was my very first sleepover! I took me a night to get adjusted, but the second one we only stayed up and chatted for 20 minutes or so before we both dozed off.
We went to an orchard and had a great time playing on the great playground. We wolfed down apple cider donuts that were tasty, too. Emerson and I played our instruments and had little concerts throughout our three days there. Click here or here for videos if you'd like to see for yourself!

It was so much fun visiting Emerson. It was really hard to leave. By the time we made it to the end of their edition I had already told Mom that I missed him. Mom agreed. The good news is that we'll get to see them again this week for Thanksgiving when they come back to Indy.
That wraps up my adventures for the last couple of weeks. This boy is so blessed! With this week being Thanksgiving, I hope you take the time to count your blessings, too. See you soon!

Happy birthday, Harvest Party, and Halloween

I'm three! I had a great birthday followed the next week by a great birthday party. I asked for a Cars birthday party and Mom & Dad delivered. We had a race car cake, cars cookies, and even red (my favorite...like Lightning McQueen) kool-aid to wash it all down. My favorite part was that my family and friends came over to celebrate with me. We raced lap after lap around the house. I wasted no time diving into my presents. Once I got to a spiral cars race set (the one I was asking for) though, I wanted to quit and start playing. I played until after midnight. Yes, my parents were awfully sweet to let me break all the rules the night of my party.
My crazy weekend was just starting with the party. Grammy & Pappy stayed the night and they hung out with us on Saturday. Mom and Dad went to Bloomington to watch IU get pounded by Northwestern. They said they had fun, but I doubt it was anything close to our fun. Grammy & Papaw took us to McDonald's. I downed my first happy meal. Then we got ready for the Harvest Party at church. My brother and I were Thing 1 & Thing 2 from the Cat in the Hat. We got to spray our hair blue and go to the party to get lots of candy. Yum! Afterwards, we came back home and Grammy played play-doh with us, took us for piggy back rides, and played cars. Papaw raced cars with me, too. What a great day!

The next morning we went to church and had a going away party for my best buddy Emerson (and his family). I already miss them and it has only been a couple of weeks and I've seen him both weekends since they left. We sent him out with a bang (and a dozen or so cookies in only an hour's time) by running wild around The Point together. I can't wait to get together with him again soon.

You'd think all this would be enough for one weekend, but Halloween was Monday. I started it with a drive up to see my Grammy. We picked her up and she went with us for my very first dentist appointment. I sat on Mommy's lap and was the best behaved patient for Dr. Melody. She said my teeth were great! She cleaned them with a special toothbrush that tickled. Then she stuck this thing in my mouth that sucked it all out. It was fun! After she was done, she gave me a Transformers toothbrush and I told her I would see her in 6 months. Then we celebrated my great behavior by having ice cream. Aunt Owi even came to share in the fun. It was a great time, but we had to hurry home so that we could get ready for trick-or-treating. We got all dressed up in our Thing outfits, got our hair all crazy blue and headed out for some candy. Our first stop was at the Kernodles. They thought we were funny looking. They got us some cool flashlights that make noises. We stopped by some other houses in the neighborhood. It seemed that with each one I gained a little confidence, being able to strut up to the door by myself and ring the doorbell and say "Happy Halloween." By the end I didn't even need Mom & Dad to walk up on the porch with me. To wrap up a fun night and two giant bags full of candy, we went to the McLarrens. I liked Vance's glow in the dark fingers but the ring pops in my bucket were even better.

That wraps up my awesome birthday party weekend. See you soon!