No Sunday nap again. Nana Aalberts got Owen right down for his nap on Saturday, but there was nothing doing today. I don't know if Nana just has the touch, or if Owen knows that resisting sleep when it's just Mom and Dad means he'll have some extra fun ...
Case in point, today when Owen didn't nap we drove the 65 miles to the Tanner Orchard, a wonderful place we'll be glad to take any of you to when you visit. There were horsey rides, goats in a treehouse, a tractor ride, miniature wooden trains, and pumpkins pumpkins everywhere! This one (see below) Owen thought was a "Very big carrot." We had an excellent afternoon. Amy went through their store and bought us some fresh apple cider, a cherry pie, two varieties of squash, some honeycrisp apples ... and some fresh apple cider donuts so good I might be the next to be tried.
And it would be worth it.
We had a great weekend otherwise. My folks came down on Friday afternoon to hang out with Owen, celebrate Amy's birthday with her, and do a little sitting so we could go to opening night at the BCPA on Friday and to the I-Club viewing of the Iowa vs. Iowa State game on Saturday. We also had great fun at the parks and finding Owen some new pants.
Which brings up a funny story. We were at the store and the old jeans he was wearing (ones with snaps on the inseam for easy diaper changing) kept coming undone and revealing his legs and diaper. It's exactly the kind of nusiance we were trying to solve on this shopping trip. This gets to the funny part ... No doubt a testament to how much he reads, I went over to snap up the crotch of the jeans and said to him, "Do you want Dad to snap up your pants?" to which he said "Yes, Daddy, snap up my pants, whispered Owen."
Happy birthday to Owen's mommy! More pictures from the week follow of Owen and Amy after the first horsey ride, Owen on his tractor ride (he's in the orange shirt the second car from the end), and a different kind of tractor ride with dad.
Great weather, lots of fun activities, but very little sleep: summer ended with a
bang this weekend.
My folks were in town through Saturday. We went to the Discovery Museum with Owen on Friday afternoon, and to a favorite park on Saturday morning. He had so much fun he didn't want to nap ... so the fun continued, albeit with a little more saggy-eyed fatigue. The zoo was excellent on Saturday afternoon. Owen left us in the dust when he saw the carousel near the entrance. We rode it on our way in and again on our way out. In the middle, there was great fun with the sea lions, sun bears, and tigers.
Oh my.
Sunday was a little more predictable. We went to another park in the morning and after a "let's take him on a drive" nap, he was refreshed for a trip to the pool. Owen and I had been to the Fairview pool several times, but we'd never gone as a family (the pool we typically go to closed several weeks ago as summer wound down), so we'd never really had a chance to check out their two water slides. Amy indulged my water slide fancy by sitting with Owen, who seemed quite delighted to see his dad zip down the slide and into the pool at the end. "Go another-again, Daddy!" he would say.
On Monday, after going to the Labor Day parade downtown in the morning (his first experience at having significant amounts of candy thrown at him), Owen wasn't napping again (coincidence?), so I took him back to the pool. After playing in the wading pool for a while, Owen pointed at the slides. "Go another-again, Daddy."
Without Amy there, we went over to the slides and watched other people ride. After a while, though, I noticed some parents coming off the "slow" slide with their children in arms. I hadn't seen anyone do this the day before, so I went over and took a closer look at the rules. Indeed, you could ride down this one slide with a child under 48" tall.
"Do you want to go, Owen?"
Mmmm hmmm!
The lines were long since this was the last day the pool was open for the summer, but we rode the slide three times. It was the highlight of the day for both of us. Owen giggled and was adamant about going again and again. It broke my heart that we were going to have to wait until next summer to go again, but the sun was strong and he, go figure, was looking tired.
So we went home. But the experience left a lasting impression. As I was getting him into bed on Monday night he said "I rode all the way down the slide, Daddy. I rode all the way down the slide."
My folks were in town through Saturday. We went to the Discovery Museum with Owen on Friday afternoon, and to a favorite park on Saturday morning. He had so much fun he didn't want to nap ... so the fun continued, albeit with a little more saggy-eyed fatigue. The zoo was excellent on Saturday afternoon. Owen left us in the dust when he saw the carousel near the entrance. We rode it on our way in and again on our way out. In the middle, there was great fun with the sea lions, sun bears, and tigers.
