Laura Having Fun in the Fall

Now that Laura is a little older this fall, we have been able to take her to some fun "big kid" fall activities (although I do find that most kid activities are not really kid-friendly yet for 1.5 year olds).

The first thing we tried was a little fall celebration here in PL at Lakefront Park. Right away we saw balloon animals (nope) and jumpers (nope), but settled on checking out the pony rides if Laura was cool with it. She saw the horses and was excited to ride up until I put her on "Rocket." She quickly got over her fear and seemed to enjoy her little ride. After that we hit the playground until Daddy got fed up with the behavior of certain unsupervised kiddos there, and we had to leave.

We also made a trip out to Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine for some B family time with Mike's parents as well as Laura's cousins, aunt and uncle. Laura loved cruising around out there in Lilly & Andrew's wagon. She also rode the little train with her Daddy [insert Laura's "Thomas the Tank Engine" whistle sound here] and suspiciously eyed the goats at the petting zoo. There was a little track with some covered bridges where (bigger) kids could ride some John Deere trikes around. Laura acted as sort of the "billy goat gruff" of the bridge, planting herself in the middle yelling "NO!" at the big kids while they barreled toward her on the trikes. Mom had to intervene, pulling her off the bridge in time. We went on a hayride, too. A good time was had by all!

Last weekend, just the girls went out to a pumpkin patch to meet up with another teacher and her daughter. Laura proved to be sort of hostile/unfriendly, therefore decreasing our potential for future playdates...no smiling, chatting, etc. although the younger baby was clearly enamored with Laura. Also, she insisted on wanting the largest pumpkins that Mom couldn't even pick up. Of course immediately after we left, she resumed smiles and friendly chatting (we were headed to Target, after all).

In general, she's been super fun right now and trying out all sorts of new words. Thankfully, one of them is "Yeah." It is good to have a positive alternative to "No," which she was using even when she meant yes. Also, she is further proving she shares my genes by her love of all writing utensils, but in particular washable Crayola markers. She can scribble with the best of 'em!