This and that

Haven't updated in a while. We've been busy doing a whole lot of nothing - just business as usual!

One recent highlight was when Jon and I took Natalie to the Renaissance Festival. Oliver had a fun day with Mitz and Pops! Natalie thoroughly enjoyed herself! They had lots of rides and kid's activities - one of her favorites was a three story tunnel slide. I went down it a couple of times too - not so fun for adults! She also went on a ride, I forget what it was called, but she was in a harness with bungee ropes, and got to jump on a trampoline. She actually got quite high! Bigger kids/adults got so high in the air, they could do flips! She also ate a ton of food! One of my favorite items there is the Steak on a Stake - 6-8 oz. sirloin on a stake. Natalie ate FOUR of them. And 3/4 of an enormous sausage, a huge ear of corn and about a quarter of the biggest turkey drumstick you've ever seen! She rode a camel, we rode an elephant together, and her favorite was the Vegetable Justice booth. They have a couple of guys who get in the booth and hurl insults, while people throw tomatoes at them - I was happy to see the same guy in the booth who was there when I used to go in the late 90s - he's hilarious! They let Natalie get up close, and the guy tried to mildly get her riled up, but told me "She's too cute. I have nothing to work with". The last tomato Natalie threw got him right in the forehead! Fun day!

Oliver is walking all the time now! He walks more than he crawls. Still has the funny baby stagger going on - I love that stage! He's fearless, loves to climb and is into everything! One of his new favorites foods is blueberries - he scarfs them down! He also loves Reddi-Whip. If you spray a little in his mouth, he laughs. Then he sprays it all over.

We went to the evening Ash Wednesday service this past week. We won't talk about Natalie's behavior. But, we got there pretty early, because we weren't sure how crowded it was going to be. We've been encouraged (with Fr. Nicholas's blessing) to let Oliver roam during services (I wouldn't allow it during the sermon, don't worry!), or towards the end at Eucharist. Anyway, before the service started, we let Oliver kind of roam around. He went right to the altar so he could check things out. Naturally he went right for the Host, and I grabbed him just before disaster could strike! A couple of weeks ago, the Verger came and got Oliver after the Peace, and held him at the altar through the entire Eucharist - so Oliver could see what was going on! He really seemed to enjoy it.

We got to see Aunt Jamie this weekend! She came home from college to visit, and we all went out to dinner to celebrate Mitz's birthday a little early. Had a nice time! Then Jamie came over this afternoon to babysit the kids, so Jon and I could go out to lunch with our friends Nicholas and Rex. Natalie was SO excited! At church and Sunday School, she'd tell anyone who'd listen that "Aunt Jamie is coming! She's going to babysit me!". They played Sorry (Natalie "won", thanks Aunt Jamie!), and watched movies, had popcorn. Oliver cut his nap short, so he could spend some time with his auntie too. :-)

That's about all on this end. Hard to believe Skeezers is turning one in six weeks! Gotta get cracking on party planning!

Pictures will be updated this evening.