Happy Halloween

 . . . from our (not so little) pumpkin!

Halloween 2008, Halloween 2009

This year Braden was very excited about his costume (he didn't pick it out - as I've done in the past, I bought it for next to nothing, post Halloween) - but none the less, he loved it.  A few weeks ago we tried it on him to be sure that it fit, and he loved it and kept running to check it out in the mirror, pointing to his belly and exclaiming, "pun-kin!"

So it was no surprise that he was thrilled to wear his pun-kin for trick or treating on Thursday (remember, we live in Kalona, where regardless of when the 31st falls, we trick or treat on Thursday). When were getting ready to go, we gave him his treat pail . . .

  . . . which B promptly decided made a better hat.

 That he refused to take off.

We did eventually get him to take off the hat, by showing him that candy goes into the pail.  After greeting trick-or-treaters at our house for a while (all of them sent off with a hearty "bye!" from B), we headed out to a few houses so that B could get some goods.  Here's our stop at Auntie Allie' house.

Unfortunately, B has already figured out that candy is good stuff, and he knew exactly what he was getting - and wanted to eat it right away.  So we took our little sugar filled pumpkin home pretty early.

Carving a "pun-kin"

Braden experienced his first pun-kin (in B speak) carving last night.  At first he was eager to be in on the action . . .

 . . . but clearly was not as excited about the cleaning out of the pun-kin "guts" (and, judging by his expression in the photo, neither was Daddy!).

But after the initial exposure to the "guts" (and reassurance that he didn't have to touch it), B was back into the action.

Guts removed, pumpkin wiped off - time to carve!

Funny faces!

We had to take our pun-kin outside to test out the candle and see how it looked (really bright and kinda blurry according to this pic  - looks like we need to adjust the night setting on the camera!).

date day

On Saturday Billy and I got to have a "date day," and we spent it at the Iowa game.  We usually only go to a game or two a year, and were excited when our friend Scott offered us tickets to the Wisconsin game for Billy's birthday.  Whoo hoo!

The day started out nice and sunny - great game day weather . . .

and it was fun to see M-P alum, Tanner Miller, as a Hawkeye (49)!

It's always fun to be part of the crowd and the energy and excitement at Kinnick . . .

 . . . even if the weather does turn a little icky.  Iowa fans are a lot of fun!

 The 2nd half of the game got exciting.  However, when we thought we'd won it, the Badgers had other plans.  And suddenly the weather wasn't the only icky part of the game.

Bummer.  Big. fat. Bummer.
And for the record, when we missed that first field goal, I said to Billy - just watch, we'll lose it by one point.  Maybe next time I should keep my mouth shut!


Oh well, there's always next week!  Go Hawkeyes!

2 year photographs

Sigh.

  When did you get so big?

leaf looking

The Miller family has a tradition of going "leaf looking" every fall.  As kids, Allie and I loved this trip - we got to skip church (we rarely did that), and spent the day as a family traveling around Iowa to parks, enjoying the outdoors, hiking, and dining on a picnic lunch.  

Though we've pared down the excursion over the years, we typically still picnic and walk the beach to dam trail at Lake MacBride in Solon.  This year Mom and Dad took a mini road trip/weekend away to check out the leaves near Dubuque, but Allie and I decided we still wanted to do the Lake MacBride outing.  So, after lunch at Subway (we simplified!), we headed to the lake to check out the fall colors.

I can't recall going last year, so I think this was Braden's first "leaf looking" trip.  He fell asleep on the way to the lake, and slept all the way out to the dam in the jogger.

It was a beautiful fall day - bright and sunny, and full of color.  Here's Allie and I on the swing along the trail (wonder how many pics we have on that swing from years past?).

 At the dam B woke up, and had a great time checking out the "waaa-der," spotting boats on the lake, and climbing on the rocks.

This year we added to the tradition, and stopped in at Wilson's Orchard to grab some apple cider slushies for the car ride home - yum!  I forgot to take any pictures of that part of our day, but the slushies probably didn't last long enough for a photo anyway.

Tractor!

Grandpa Jim arranged for a fun surprise for Braden yesterday . . .
 a ride in a real tractor

Party on!

It's been a week since the big day,  and I guess it's taken that long for me to recover and post birthday party pictures. ;)  Braden wasn't feeling the greatest on his birthday weekend, and by Monday Billy and I caught the "bug" too - and it was a lonnng week.

Thankfully we're all feeling much better and enjoyed the gorgeous 80+ degree weather we've had the last couple of days.  Sadly, I didn't take any pics this weekend, but click here to see pictures from a year ago today (scroll to the bottom of the post) - it snowed!

Back to B's big day . . .

Since we knew B was under the weather, and weren't planning to go to church b/c we didn't want to take a sick kiddo to the nursery, we let him sleep in.  When he woke up and came downstairs, his face was priceless!

Sunday evening B's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins helped celebrate with a pizza party at Godfathers.

 After pizza, it was time for cake.  Tractor cake! And ice cream!

Blowing out the candles . . .

  . . . and diggin in!

Time for presents!  He was suprised by this card that sang, and kept opening and closing it . . .

  . . . and really got into opening gifts, with the help of cousin Aidan!

 He got so many great things, including a great fall/winter wardrobe, a new book,  . . .

  . . . and a bat and ball (which had to be used in the restaurant)!

Ball + party hat = ice cream cone?

Obviously Braden had a great time at his party, and it was fun to see him perk up and enjoy it after feeling icky all weekend.  Thanks to our families for helping us celebrate B's special day!