We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo.
Finn and I had a fun adventure to the zoo on Monday after pre-school. It was a hot and sunny afternoon. We luckily happened to be able to see the remains of some pumpkin carvings they had at the zoo over the weekend. They were very cool and quite intricate. Here are a few photos, but there were so many more!Finn has been really having fun at pre-school. I love taking him and picking him up. He is so excited at the end of the day when I pick him up he typically does some sort of happy dance on his way to the door and gives me the biggest hug! He’s been painting while learning colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. Here is a sampling from this week. Here are a few of Finn and his buddy Lily. Every night he gives Lily a hug and kiss before he will get into his bed. No matter where she is, he calls her into his room so he can say night night.
This was a hard week for me, emotionally, as Friday, October 2nd was Nathan’s due date. It’s something that had been on my mind regularly and especially throughout the couple of weeks leading up to it. It was a sad day. It was a hard day. It was cold and rainy and not at all how I had pictured this fall to be. We are thankful for the calls, texts, thoughts, prayers, gifts and kindness many offered to us.
It’s been another fun week for the Armstrong family. Finn had his first visit to the Dentist this week and he was a-w-e-s-o-m-e! We went to Haring Pediatric Dental (turns out Dr Haring is from Mansfield!) in Dublin. They recently moved in to their new office space and it is really cool. Their logo is a turtle and the entire office is themed with turtles and nautical things. They have the neatest “waiting room” for the kids. For the exam, Lynette, the Hygienist, gave Finn a pair of cool spider man sunglasses to wear. She explained each of the instruments before she used it and he got to choose his flavor of fluoride (watermelon, of course). She told him anytime he wanted a “drink” to let her know and she would give him one out of the water gun. Sure thing, he asked twice for water, ha! She assured me that we did not have what she considered a “normal” visit for a 2-year old as she kept praising how great of a patient he was. She asked if we had been practicing, which we hadn’t, other than a couple quick photos in the car right before hand. He checked out great, though he has two spots (one on each lower eye-tooth) where there was an interruption in the formation of the enamel and it appears as round spots on the front of his teeth near the gums. She said most likely it won’t be a problem, but can make cavities more likely there. At the end of his appointment he was watching her work on the computer and she asked if he wanted to help, so she put him right on her lap and told him what she was writing up. I told her his favorite part of the keyboard is to press the “zero”, but he didn’t ask her to do it!. Friday evening was the Preschool’s Fall Fest at NPCA. There were hot dogs, ice cream, and many games for the kids to play. After completing each game they won a prize for their bag. Finn’s favorite was the whistle that he chose after tossed a ring around a pumpkin – which was the Guppy class (his pre-school class, hence the fish theme) activity for the night. Saturday we had an afternoon adventure to Mansfield to pick apples with Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein. We went to Apple Hill Orchard and got to see roosters, a goat and sheep, we took a long wagon ride around the farm, and we picked lots of yummy apples. And while we finished picking apples, Kevin went across the street to their store and picked up a dozen WARM apple donuts and apple cider (the aroma of them fresh baking the donuts percolated through the entire apple field where we were picking, so of course we had to buy some before we left!). We picked Honeycrisp, Jonathan, a golden variety and an unknown (to us) red apple. They are delish. And Finn loves to be hoisted into the air to pick the highest apples possible. Kevin, Dad, and I all took turns – but daddy wins the prize for the highest!In other things, I hadn’t checked in on the garden for any harvest lately and once I did – check this out! Our one ginormous zucchini. It is as tall as Finn’s waist!And here is a favorite of mine from Saturday morning, Finn woke up after 9 am and was a super happy boy! He likes to be worn as a hat!
This boy. He just warms my heart. He is growing so quickly and his personality is so vibrant. He is loving and affectionate often saying “bless you mom” after a sneeze or giving the best hugs and kisses. He’s a great caretaker. He loves Lily and Cameron and always notices when they need some water and is the first to want to fill it up “by myself”. Cammie has been having some bowel issues lately and he talks to her so sweetly and gives her hugs and tells her he hopes the medicine makes her feel better. Then there is his spunky side, full of show and entertainment. He can hit the switch and make people giggle like none other. His personality shines through in some of the photos from this week when we visited the New Albany Classic on a beautiful fall afternoon. It was perfect weather to be outside and enjoy the many kids activities. The horses are amazingly beautiful and strong animals. I often wonder what it would be like to have a horse and wish we had some land to have one. Other days I think I’m crazy for thinking that, but most days, it’s wishing we had a lot of land, a barn, and lots of different animals. Finn has such a heart for animals. He loves looking at them and petting them too.
I’ve been taking Monday’s off for the last several weeks and it has been really nice being able to take Finn to pre-school and pick him up. He’s doing really well at drop off, going right into his room. He’s been wearing big boy underwear too and using the potty that is connected to his classroom. Every day he comes home with art work and he beams with pride, usually, about what he made. A few times afterwards we’ve gone into the worship room and he’s run around playing ball.
We had some mid-week fun downtown at the Slice of Columbus, the yearly fundraiser for Nationwide Children’s that is held downtown at the Columbus Commons. Finn was a great age this year to play in the bounce houses, go down the big slide, and make his own “pizza” to take home. It was another beautiful night of weather and lots of yummy pizza.
Oh, and a pouty face for a bit too – as he didn’t want to sit down and eat anything, he just wanted to play all the games. Look at the beautiful skies on the afternoon of the New Albany Classic! One of Finn’s favorite parts are petting the animals they have in the petting area. However, this year the horse had a big sneeze of sorts and Finn didn’t want near him after that – as he didn’t want to get any boogies on himself from the horse, lol!These next photos are all the same play structure – it’s like a big maze with a lot of challenges. Finn was excited to do it, and during certain parts where he was apprehensive the worker guy went through it with him. Check out his face once he comes down the slide – beaming and doing the happy dance!This year there were flag-bearing sky-divers that were a part of the opening ceremonies for the horse-jumping event. It was really cool, and the American Flag was huge!My pictures don’t do the horses justice. They are strong and beautiful animals!And here the cousins are having some fun, check out Greta’s giggle face and Finn’s bear hug!And these days we see lots and lots of this. Finn is always on the move, running and usually carrying a ball. He has the cutest football run when he crouches down and throws his legs in a funny way. Later that afternoon we headed to Enon to celebrate Grandma Armstrong’s birthday at Brett and Missy’s house. We enjoyed a delicious mexican dinner that Missy prepared and some more time outside playing soccer with Grandpa. And of course, cuddles with Grandma and play time with Babou!
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
Finn has been really having fun at pre-school. I love taking him and picking him up. He is so excited at the end of the day when I pick him up he typically does some sort of happy dance on his way to the door and gives me the biggest hug! He’s been painting while learning colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. Here is a sampling from this week. 
Here are a few of Finn and his buddy Lily. Every night he gives Lily a hug and kiss before he will get into his bed. No matter where she is, he calls her into his room so he can say night night. 
