One Last Trip

We took the kids to Tanner's Orchard this past weekend. The day was warm and sunny, so everyone was out, but the kids seemed to manage the crowds well. Ollie was cranky at first, but he got into the groove of things. He spent much of the day sliding down the pole in the boat and even fed the goats. He also talked his dad into burying a sack of apples, an apple pie and a couple of cookies. He ate his cookie and had a slice of pie the moment he got home.



The parent of the week is me. Ollie went with me on all of my walks and asked me to give him his bath. He filled me with stories and recounted the Grinch cartoon to me as he watched it. He said that I am his for a couple of days and then it's Dad's turn to be his buddy.

Visit Put On Hold

Everyone is so busy that the trip to Kansas City was put on hold until December. Ollie and Tori didn't seem to want to go, and Grandma Marie has a million things on her plate. She is hoping that Ollie and Tori will be willing to come down for a week in December. Ollie still says he is not going anywhere, so we will see. He can be very stubborn when he wants to be, just like his parents.

Last night, the fun was sitting in toy buckets with a blanket and pillow watching TV. Ollie begged me to let him sleep in the bucket last night, but fortunately by the time bedtime rolled around, he had forgotten all about his request. Huts and I will try to post pictures this weekend.

Keeping the Babysitters Straight

Tonight Ollie and Tori will play with the kids in the toy room while Laura watches them; Huts and I will attend Bible study in the next room. This weekend, Ollie and Tori will play at home while Kelsi watches them; Huts and I are going over to a friend's for dinner. Ollie doesn't remember Kelsi, who once watched Tori. He is getting Laura mixed up with Kelsi, and the confusion is ticking him off. By this weekend, he should have the two sitters all straightened out.

Sad Ollie

Well, we finally got around to putting up the Halloween decorations last night. Ollie and Tori had a great time with the eyeballs and pumpkins. Huts put up the large pumpkin on the light post last. Ollie told me that when the light turned on, it would be Halloween and he could go trick-or-treating. I tried to explain to him that Halloween was a few weeks away, but he wouldn't hear of it. He stomped downstairs and told his dad he was ready to put on his costume and go out. Huts explained that wasn't going to happen and that's when the tears started to flow. Apparently, Santa Claus got thrown into the mix somehow and more tears flowed.

All is fine today. Ollie put on his costume last night anyway and played around, while Tori put on her blue and white polka dotted sundress for the first time ever and danced with me.

Spongebob Olliepants

One of Ollie's favorite cartoons happens to be SpongeBob Squarepants. This is a very silly show with a very silly and naive main character Spongebob. So it is of no surprise that Ollie likes to imitate him.

While working outside this weekend Ollie was playing on the chairs we have under our deck. He started marching in place. Then he started singing out "I'm Ready, I'm Ready, I'm Ready!" I knew I had heard the phrase before, but I couldn't place it. I asked him who said that in the shows he watches. He replied that Spongebob did, with a hint of "Geez you old geezer don't you know that", thrown in. I asked him to do it again for me and his Mama to see. He gladly obliged and I have it for embarrassment purposes later in his teenage life.

Two Peas In A Pod

I know I have described Ollie and Tori in this way before, but I can't help it. I just marvel at the way the two connect and take care of each other. Ollie makes sure Tori gets a bite of everything, wears her coat and so forth. She hollers at him up the stairs and makes sure she knows where he is at and what he is doing. They play on the swing set together, eat together and fake sleep together. They just seem to genuinely like each other.

Well Actually

That's Ollie's new phrase for the week. Every sentence almost begins with that phrase. Don't know where he picked it up, but it's favorite this week. Another favorite? Optimus Prime. Huts now has hooked on Transformers. He has new underwear with Transformers and has requested them for Christmas.

Baby Sister

Last night Ollie went on and on about Maya, a baby at the sitter's like Abby. Apparently, he now wants a baby sister like Abby. He really likes baby girls, I guess. On another note, his imagination has gone wild and he has been making up stories left and right about rocket ships, monsters and so forth. Maybe he is preparing for Halloween and the legends and lore of that holiday.

Weekend at Grandma Vickie's

Ollie had a good time, I think, but came home with a runny nose. We weren't sure if it was the air conditioning, smoke or a cold. He seems much better this morning, so maybe it was a culmination of everything. He also stayed up late one night, so that probably didn't help.

He spent most of last night watching TV and slept all night without a peep. He got up this morning and took his remaining Starbursts with him to the sitter's. Tonight Mom and Dad are hosting the Bible study group, so he will have most of the evening to himself to watch TV and play. He should be back normal tomorrow.

As for the weekend, Ollie seemed to have a great time playing with all of the cousins. He was shy at first, but eventually, he took off and had some fun. He looked at the new twins a couple of times, but was too busy with the big kids to do anything else. Thankfully, he didn't ask to hold the babies who were much too small for that.

Ollie's Weekend

Ollie was playing in his room when his Grandparents arrived. He came down to see them and quickly went back up stairs to play with his Power Rangers. He came down to check out the stuff they brought for him and couldn't wait to get the plastic growling dragons on his hands. After playing on the swings, everyone but Ollie and his parents took a nap. Grandpa Steve slept through cartoons and Ollie playing Power Rangers loudly.

Ollie wanted a hot dog for dinner, but after he ordered he wanted macaroni. So, he got a bit of macaroni from his protesting sister and then ate his hot dog. He behaved really well at the restaurant and loved pointing out all the stuffed deer and bull skulls on the walls. As long as the deer weren't singing, he was fine with them. After his bath, Ollie played Power Rangers until bed time. He then got to camp out on a mattress in Tori's room, which he loves doing. He only woke up once during the night, but that was long after Tori's crying was over. Luckily he went back to sleep or his dad would've been camping out on the floor.

Sunday at the reunion, Ollie ate a good lunch. He's even started to like chicken drumsticks and other meats. He ran into a few issues on the play ground with older kids. They scared him off a bit when they told him he couldn't play with them. He also had a hard time climbing the 1/2 circle structure past the first level. He attempted it, but got scared every time he tried to go up to the second level. He kept trying, though he never made it past the first level. Eventually it was time to go and Ollie was hot, tired and ready to leave. He ate a little bit of pizza for dinner and played the rest of the night.

He was sent to bed early because he was crabby and snotty. However, he didn't go to sleep and was allowed to get up and stay up. He watched Wild Hogs with us and asked to watch it again on Monday. Ollie mostly chilled out that day and ran a few errands. He seems ready to head out of town this weekend to see his other Grandma, Aunts and Uncles and the twins. Hopefully he'll be as good this weekend as he was last weekend.