Fall afternoons at the park

What beautiful fall weather we have been having of late - and the colors on the trees seem to be at their peak. This is a great time to live in B-town. And a great time of year to enjoy the afternoon sunshine at the park.

"Mommy do it!" she commanded.

This "ladder" on the playground is a bit tricky, and I have so far explained to Gemma that it is for older kids, it's a bit steep, she can do it when she gets bigger, etc. Well - last week she approached it, carefully inspected it, and pronounced: "I'm older. I two years old." And then proceeded to climb up it, totally unassisted and safely, until she arrived at the top, holding her hands in the air and shouting, "Hurray! Hurray! I did it! I did it! I big!"

And repeat. And repeat.

"Let's go this way, Daddy."

And they are off!

Exodus (church) Fall Cook-out

Last Sunday night our church community gathered together (on a cold afternoon and early evening) for a cook-out and hayride at a family farm: 82 acres just south of town, with fields and pond and barn and horses. It was a great way to enjoy the changing of the seasons and relax with folk who we usually only have the chance to talk to for a few minutes after church services. 

It took us about 10-15 minutes to drive down to the farm, and on the way - of course - we drove by several large quarries. Limestone is what made this area of Indiana flourish (and what supplied a lot of buildings in D.C. and NYC), and there is still activity going on. At the crest of one winding hill, we were able to get a view down into one corner of a quarry, so Jim pulled over and jumped out with the camera. It's hard to capture the details and the immensity on camera though! But it was a very cool scene!

Now - on to the cook-out. Here we are getting bundled up. Hmm...where are our winter hats & gloves? Up in the attic space somewhere. (And this Sunday is 75 degrees again...)

Matt and Dan, the two pastors at Exodus. Nice sweatshirts, men.

Senna (Dan's daughter) gets the hot dogs on to the fire.

Two of my "mom friends": Anna with Ellis, and Laura with Kate.

Dan's wife Pam found this huge stick for roasting marshmallows

Gemma tries a roasted marshmallow. She wasn't quite sure about it.

Gemma's friend Pierce holding one of the barn kittens. Naturally all the kids (oh wait, and the adults) couldn't help but going ga-ga when the kittens made an appearance. "This one still needs a home!" said Senna. Oh. Tempting.

Some of the folks off on the hay ride!

Under a month to go!

Gemma - our happy little girl - has recently taken to playing all sorts of pretend-games with her "blankie" in her crib. When she wakes up in the morning and after nap, we usually leave her for 20-30 minutes while she happily talks and plays with her blanket and stuffed animals. 

Out in the hallway we can hear her talking and saying things like, "Let's go, guys! Let's go to the Wonderlab! Come on, guys." (pretending that she is taking her animals to the science museum) 

Or: "I painting on the wall!" or "I jumping rope!" or "I putting on seat-belt." (as she uses the blanket to pretend those games)

And then a couple of days ago my heart absolutely melted when I went in to get her from naptime, and she had wrapped up one of her animals (Possum) in a bundle. She looked up at me and said, "I holding baby brother."

So - yes! - we are ALL getting excited & ready for the arrival of baby brother in a few weeks, due Nov 1st. (Short or long weeks, still to be determined...) The bassinet/crib is ready; clothes are washed and in the dresser; diapers and wipes are on hand; the "call list" (for folks who can help out with Gemma while we are in the hospital) is being prepared; and weekly appointments to the OB are on the calendar.

at 36 weeks

A family Saturday morning trip to Nashville (Brown County)

Now that October has arrived - marking one month until "baby brother" - we have made a little list of fun things to do together as a family. Naturally, an excursion to the nearby village/town of Nashville for breakfast and a stroll around the shops was a must. Brown County tourism peaks during fall, with thousands of visitors to the state park, village, and antique malls flooding in on weekends. Fortunately it is still early enough in the fall (and we were up early in the morning) that we avoided too much traffic and still got to enjoy the beautiful, winding 30 min. drive from Bloomington to Nashville, admiring the hills and the changing trees. 

Many of the "downtown" Nashville shops are located in houses, like the one below.

our breakfast spot was a restaurant with gobs of Indiana sports memorabilia

hmm, do they smell? Must stop and see.

this shop was a bit scary...please pray that this baby boy will not be born on Halloween!

We spent some time in a few of the shops along Antique Alley, including the leather shop (cool stuff) and a shop selling all stuffed animals. Gemma threw a little tantrum when we had to leave that store...

We'd been walking around the shops for a while and were back on the sidewalk when Gemma suddenly looked behind us, pointed at an older couple, and said, "Man and lady finished eating breakfast." Sure enough, it was the couple who had been sitting near us at breakfast - ! They smiled and waved.

pit stop for Cheerios (Gemma) and water (Jul)

Hmmm, somehow the father figure and photographer didn't make it into any photos on this trip. Must remedy that next time.

Park fun

A fun Saturday afternoon at the park! How to capture Gemma smiling and making other goofy faces on camera? Get her running around and having a good time!

"Run up the ramp! Mommy, too!" she said (and the 35-week belly slowly lumbered along after her)