We thought Ethan was going to have to dress up as an animal to be part of the Noah's Ark parade at school. (the toddlers opted out this year because it's a little too overwhelming!) So...Catie let me borrow this frog outfit anyway and Ethan loved it! He would walk around saying, "Ribbit, ribbit". It was a huge hit. :)
taking an important phone call :)
Dennis, Ethan, and I made a whirlwind trip to NY a couple weekends ago. I got to see Anna and Marcus, and we all spent great time with Dennis' family on Long Island. We celebrated the one month birthday of Kaitlyn, the newest addition to the family! We ate lots of yummy food and enjoyed seeing family. We even got to celebrate Auntie Alice's Mom's 94th birthday. Ethan had a great time!
Our big boy participating in conversation :)
Dennis' hours have been much more enjoyable lately, despite the fact that the cause is a bit disturbing. (things at the bank are a little slower these days...) We got to have a weekend in the mountains, and the leaves were gorgeous! Ethan had his 18 month shots on Thursday, so he was a little under the weather with a fever. He really enjoyed the walk we took to the old McClure homestead. Great-Grandpop McClure told us all about his days of walking to school and building the fire in the schoolhouse. It was a fun weekend, and we even got to celebrate Mum and Papi's birthday with a delicious Chinese meal prepared by Dennis and a caramel cake baked by Grand-Martha. Yum!!
The McClure homestead (behind us is a rock wall that Grandpop built!)
Dennis and I went on our first trip (other than one overnight) without Ethan to enjoy some time together before baby boy #2 comes. We had a great time together, and it was perfect timing! It has been crazy in the banking world recently, so we had a wonderful time being away from it all. The resort had plenty for Dennis to do (he is a very good water skiier and I trusted him to take me out on a hobie cat) and plenty of places for me to rest and read. :) Thank you, Mum and Jackson family, for taking such good care of Ethan! It was hard to leave him but we knew he was having a fabulous time without us. 
Ethan brought home his first art project from school last week--a pine cone with peanut butter and bird seed on it! Let me just tell you, I would have paid money to see 8 toddlers doing this project together. :) He seems really proud of it, and we hung it together on a tree near the back patio!
Cass' birthday was last Thursday, so we celebrated by taking a field trip to an apple orchard! It was a gorgeous fall day and the kids enjoyed every minute of it. The orchard was on the top of a mountain so the view was amazing. (hence the name, 'Sky Top Orchard' I suppose!) Unfortunately the apples did not make the most amazing applesauce that we were hoping for, but it was still a fun outing!
Ethan loves books! They are honestly his favorite toys. If he's quiet while he's playing I'll look over and he's got a book in his lap. His favorite thing to do these days is grab a book, walk over to me, and plop in my lap. Hint, hint! 
