WEEK OF OCTOBER 25TH

The week that included, Thursday, Oct.25th, turned out to be a pretty fun week even though it included a huge snowfall that left our city looking more like mid December than October.

October 25th was Dad's birthday. Ofcorse we celebrated with some good friends at a Burger joint down town. We all enjoyed our burgers and fries, though I am pretty sure, Ryder ate only fries..only yummy, salty, sweet potatoe fries!!

 Ryder sucking on Dad's EMPTY beer bottle.  Some people don't think it's funny when parents let their kids suck on beer bottles, but I know my Dad would have found this moment as humorous as we did. :)

The lil ones enjoying the booth! Thanks, Straile family for joining us on our tradition.

 I used Nic's home made apple pie filling to make an apple pie (store bought crust, I confess) for us to enjoy once we returned home.

Friday, Marty had to go away for the night, for work, so Ryder and I were on our own.  We woke up, Saturday morning and though it was snowy, we decided we should take, Scout for a walk.  Well, I figured, I'd walk, Scout would walk and, Ryder would ride in the chariot...Ryder had other plans!!

 

I did manage to get Ryder into the chariot and we had a great walk, until we were the farthest away from home as possible, and Ryder began to declare that he wanted, "out! out! out! out!out!" This went on and on with him hollering, "out! out! out!" It was gonna be a long walk back home, if I didn't think of something fast.  To actually let him out this far from home would make the walk WAY to long and slow for both Scout and I.  Instead, I began to sing. I sang, "The Wheels on the Bus," "Old MacDonald had a Farm," "ABC" and "5 Little Monkeys." I learned then and there, that Ryder has the verbal ability to make requests. He will, say, "Bus, bus, bus" until I sing the Wheels on the Bus song, he'll ask for, "baby, baby" until I sing the verse about the babies on the bus. During Old MacDonald, he will call out, "horsey," "moo" and "baaa" until all of his favorites have been included.  I was sooo excited, Ryder was really, truly, interacting with me during a sing song and he was happy to be IN the chariot!  Later, after his nap, I took Ryder to the soccer field by our house for some tobagganing!! He loved it!!

 I could actually send him down the small hill all by himself in this sled.

The sled is a little small (more of a baby sled than a toddler one,) 

but sooo much fun!

All decked out for winter!

Saturday night, Marty and I went to a Halloween House Party. Some friends and I dressed up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles...I left my camera at the party, but there will be more pics to come....you gotta see Marty's costume too....

Sunday morning, after another sing song, dog walk, Ryder and I hopped into Marty's van and headed for a family trip to Rona.  Until I had a toddler, I had no idea, there was such a thing as shopping carts that look like cars with steering wheels, but there are and Ryder is drawn to them, like a magnet.  Holy cow, this was the longest cart, I ever pushed!!

 Sooo fun though!!

Ryder fell asleep on the way home from Rona, for I swear, 60 seconds, but apparently that was enough for him to declare a sleep strike.  He refused to go down for his afternoon nap, and after some good solid effort, by both, Marty and I, we decided to skip afternoon nap. We loaded up in the van again, Scout joining us this time and headed for the farm, for some quality, Dirt Face time!!  Here's how the majority of our time there was spent, me brushing, Dirt, Ryder eating horse treats, Scout refusing to bring the ball we threw ONCE for her back and Marty building the season's first snowman!!

 Ryder may or may not have shared a treat or two with Dirt...

 Fun snowman, Marty!!

 Marty not only introduced Ryder to his first snowman, but also to his first yummy icicle!

I taught him to dip his icicle in the snow.  Yummmy!!

Saturday, as I faught to get Ryder's awkard, winter boots on, sweating in my own winter gear as I struggled to get his adorable, chubby little feet into the incredibly unflexible boots, I envied my cousins who live in warm states.  I bet they never spend more energy pulling boots on their kid's feet than they do, pulling them uphill in the toboggan.  However, today, as we sucked on icicles, rolled snowballs and caught snowflakes on our tongues,  I was sooo happy to be living in a place where we can enjoy the snow and all it brings with it, even heavy, cumbersome, winter boots!!!  Vive l'hiver!!!