Ohio Pictures

We have been having plenty of seasonal fun in Ohio. We went to Krohn's Conservatory to see a Japanese garden (or "fishes!" as Joah recalls it). There have been dog walks and park picnics at dusk and romps through a backyard full of leaves. Joash rejected the fundamentals of Halloween (costume wearing), upon which we successfully bribed him with the promise of candy. I'm so glad he's finally bribable! I've already used this advantageous milestone to make him take bites of bananas and finish eating lunch proteins. Vegetables are not even about to know what hit them.

The second best part of Cincinnati (the first being family) is friends. My very truest friend is here visiting while Dan's away, and it is filling me with so much hope. Ammi has drooled on many arms and shoulders by now. Joash has been able to find kinship among fellow Chick-Fil-A players and a particularly smiley 8 month old. That Chick-Fil-A playpen is not without its share of thugs, though. Yesterday, when I went to collect my dearest boy, I saw and heard him in one of the tubes with three older boys, likely nearing or having arrived at double digits. Joash was screaming excitedly when one of them told him to, "SHUT UP!" and then, "Get out of the way or I'll push you out of the way!" as he shoved my two year old into a plastic window. Oh, the rage and ache that can at once fill each side of your heart.

Well, I need to go to bed, and I've needed to for at least an hour, so let me get on with the Halloween pictures, and I'll be done with this.

Here is Joash making friends at the conservatory and then later at lunch.


Grandma Jean and Ammi babe.


Ammi loves this little bouncy seat as much as she can love anything that is not a set of human arms. I like to dribble her in it by tapping her belly and setting her to bouncing.


Me and my girl.


Kids and pumpkin.


Bonnie prepped the pumpkin and set to roasting the seeds, while Joash and I carved out our chosen face.


Kids and cat-o-lantern. Joash loves cats. Instead of questioning his pedigree, I have decided to embrace it in the ways that do not impair my lifestyle.


Ammi was the duck that Joash has been for the last two years. This is an exact comparison of my children.


Joash was Mike from Monsters University. We even found him a little varsity jacket. He actually really loves monsters and even has Monsters University flip flops, but wearing the fuzzy shirt threw him off.


The weather was miserable and even made national, sensationalistic Halloween news, so we went to Kroger for tricks and treats. I think it was a fine introduction for him into the art of begging candy off strangers. His timidity gave way to opportunism by the third bucket.



Crawl race between the kids.


Ammi practices holding up her head.