Weekend Family Fun

The weekend before Halloween was a packed schedule. Dan's Aunt was in town visiting from New York, which in retrospect she picked a great time to get out of town before Hurricane Sandy hit. Evan was happy that he found a cuddle buddy, but not happy about mom taking pictures. This was post-nap grumpiness.



We also celebrated my nephew's 9th birthday. In my head, he's still the energetic 4 year old he was when Evan was born. This time just goes by so fast.



Telling us what he's going to use his birthday money to buy.



Patiently waiting for cake.



And pre-wish suspense. Tried my hand at using just the candles for lighting. Like the glow, but it's definitely more grainy.



Next up is more Halloween excitement.

Halloween at the Zoo

I've taken Evan to the Zoo for Halloween since his first Halloween four years ago. He couldn't eat the candy then, but he had fun checking out the sights and kids in costumes. Now he's leery of the characters, but LOVES the candy. There are other non-candy treats too, but the dentist that handed out toothbrushes at the end was curiously absent this year. Perhaps it was better for business that he NOT hand out toothbrushes?

Evan was feeling a little puny this year, despite the unseasonably warm 85 degree weather that had us breaking out some Batman pajamas just for the short sleeves. But he was a trooper and posed for a few shots as long as it didn't involve any of the costumed actors.











Why is Pinocchio handing out hearts that look like actual hearts? Can we say creepy? Mmm-hmm.



Happy Halloween, Everyone, be it scary or sweet!

Simon is Two!

I've taken photos of Simon since he was a wee baby. He's a pretty awesome little dude and so calm and quiet comparative to my wild child that it's kinda' hard to believe he's two. Where are the fits and tantrums and "terrible-ness" everyone speaks of? Not here, I tell you. He was a little irritated when I asked to hold Cookie Monster in exchange for a few pics, but even that he took in stride.







As long as Mommy was near for snuggles, he was content.

Football...Rain or Shine

I drove up to Cincinnati a couple of weekends ago to see my niece and nephew play flag football at Bengals Stadium. The forecast called for rain but it seemed like we'd gotten lucky and the skies were clear when Evan and I arrived. It lasted about five minutes before it started pouring intermittently for the next couple of hours. So unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures, and none of my niece playing since it was raining and my camera is not weather sealed. I managed to get a few shots of my nephew (in the Ghost jersey) and my brother-in-law coaching.

It's Fall, Y'all

I'm kind of ashamed of myself for even using that as the post title. I took a day off last week to spend with Evan after having to leave over the weekend for a work trip. We went up to a local orchard to do some apple and pumpkin picking. I must have heard "it's fall, y'all" over the intercom system at least 30 times. Chinese water torture has nothing on an overdose of quaint americana cliches.

Evan was really excited to pick out a pumpkin. Going on a less hectic weekday actually made it fun for me too. Didn't mean he was more cooperative for photos though.

Got a lot of shots like this.



Evan narrowed his choices to the ones he could pick up, which was fine by me since I ended up with the task of carrying it.



We took the pumpkin back to the car then rode the wagon out to pick some apples. Evan first tried this last year and I got one of my favorite photos of 2011:



Photo note: I've found myself going back to my 35 more often than not but I think this is one instance where the mid-range zoom is more handy for compression and composition (what I used last year). I just need to remember that next year.

This year Evan was a kid on a mission to pick apples.



And less intent on smiling.



Oh yay, there's one sorta-not-fake smile.



And, we're done.



He's been begging to carve the pumpkin. The last time I carved a pumpkin - in college - I carved my hand instead. ::shudder:: Think I'll let Dan help and I'll stay behind the camera instead.

Football and Flags

My nephew started playing football this summer and Evan and I have gone to a couple of his games.



It's amazing how much more coordinated this age is as opposed to Evan's age, which is more like (dis)organized chaos. But it still kills me when one of them gets hurt. I will need sedatives if Evan takes up a contact sport.

Aaron's prepping him now.



Landon's little brother, Liam, is learning the stink eye. Also, in BIG news, Liam started talking!! Three words, so far - Mommy, Daddy, Bye Bye. So, so proud of this darling boy.



After one of the games, my Dad wanted to take the boys to a traveling Vietnam Veterans memorial that was in town. It's basically a smaller scale replica of the one in D.C.



What looks like contemplation is really just exhaustion.





Evan was obsessed with wearing this pilot's hat everywhere for about a week. He makes it work.

Flash(way)back Friday: Riverside

I bought a Living Social deal a few months ago to Riverside, a local historic spot. As luck would have it, they were having a big event last month that involved a baseball game in period garb AND one of the teams was the Cincinnati Reds. Perfect for Dan. There's actually a league of these teams that travel around and play these games. I'm a little surprised Dan didn't try to sign up.

I have to admit, that's just about the best background for a game I've ever seen.



Evan and I walked around to see some of the exhibitors, including a beekeeper. Evan didn't want to get near the bees, but he was pretty excited about the blanket of books and toys the keeper had for kids.



This kinda' stuff just calls for some black and white edits.









I can't decide - color or b/w?



Kids could participate in one of the archaeological excavations under way. My big kid enjoyed it too. I was the former archaeology student and ended up having to drag these two away.



This isn't really a flashback in our story, but it works for the theme I think.

Surprise!

A couple of weeks ago I got the crazy idea to throw my Mom a surprise party for her birthday. I've never had a party for her and considering how much she does for us (Super Mom/Grandma!) she was overdue. So I emailed some family members, told everyone to park on the closest cross street, and confirmed Dad as my accomplice.

I love her surprised face.


Photo by Andie Zimmerman

Several people thought I made these cupcakes. Ha ha ha. Yes. I also invented the internet.



When you're the grandma to three energetic grandsons, energy is key.



The boys love their Grandma.


Photo by Andie Zimmerman





Happy Birthday, Mom!