We had a busy end to the month of September, beginning with Brutus’ 2nd birthday on the 25th. This boy is still very much puppy. Regularly seeking attention by bringing things to us like tissues, paper towels, Finn’s tennis shoes, or other toys he knows are not for him. He is so playful whether with Lily or me. Anytime I get down on the floor he thinks I’m there for him to be able to bulldoze me, so we push and shove and play for a bit. It doesn’t take much before he’s so riled up running around in circles like a crazy thing that he becomes somewhat of a hazard, ha! We love him lots 🙂
This week was also picture day at school on Friday. Our handsome boy picked out what he wanted to wear, choosing his blue button down. I had the day off on Friday and enjoyed being home to get him on the bus and off to school. It was a beautiful fall morning and I was able to capture a couple of pics of our front yard. Reid and Griffin rode around on Joe for a short bit before the bus came. Reid’s expression is one of many I find cute. 
Finn’s first school field trip was this week also. The kids rode the bus to Stratford Ecological Center and they learned all about nature, gardening, different animals, they made cider, and we went on a nice walk through the woods to the stream. The kids got to get their hands in the dirt, feed chickens, see how chickens lay eggs and the eggs are collected, and so many other things. My friend Claire and I were in the same group with our kids so we were able to hang out during the trip. It was a fun morning.
Griffin completed section four of his first sight word booklet this week, go Finn! He came home with a certificate for free custard at Culver’s. Bet it won’t be long before we make it there to redeem it. 
While Finn was in school Reid and I went to Liberty Park to enjoy a perfect fall day. The skies were blue and the temperature was perfect outside. He enjoyed being silly and running from me, exploring a few of the play areas they had there, and riding on the swings. He rode a teeter totter too and I’m pretty sure that’s where he got a tiny chip in his left front tooth when he took a slight tumble to the ground. He makes so many faces and expressions. He’s a silly boy, not really talking yet, but understanding and listening to all you ask him to do (unless he’s being stubborn!). 
Saturday night we had a progressive dinner with our neighborhood crew, this time our theme was Football Fan Food. The OSU-Penn State game was on at 8, so everyone was dressed in OSU gear and we watched the nail-biter of a game at Brian and Lisa’s. Good thing, as there was lots of screaming going on! Reid happily slept in his bed at our house and we are able to see him via our video monitor while we were next door. 
Sunday after church we headed up to Mansfield to go apple picking with Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein at Apple Hill. We love that the orchard is close to their house and even when busy isn’t congested at all :). It doesn’t take long to fill our bags with tasty treats. We all taste-tested different kinds of apples and ended up picking an assortment for our bag. We’ve been enjoying them at home – they have all been really good! This year Griffin and Reid tag teamed picking apples from Grandpa and Kevin’s shoulders at the same time. And as always, we always go for the highest Finn can reach! This year he was a bit apprehensive (it was really high up there!) but he was a trooper and was so happy when he picked that apple. 
These boys were beat after a long and busy weekend. They both were asleep in the car once we hit the road back home. Bedtime was a breeze!
And here is Mr. Reid with some of his funny face babble talk. I would have kept taking more video, but my phone ran out of memory so it cut off the filming! He’s a funny boy.
My last week at home included some fun family times over a long holiday weekend. On Friday we began our weekend by heading to Pins Mechanical. Kevin had been car shopping and Griffin and I were at the zoo for a quick visit before the weather began to turn. Griffin has been wanting to go to Pins for awhile but they have strange hours that have been difficult for us to arrange a time to go! We finally made it happen and we had a great time. The weather was yucky outside, cool and rainy, so fortunately for us that meant the crowds were much smaller than normal on a Friday evening. When we arrived we had a short wait so Griffin played pinball and we all enjoyed a drink. Finn’s cool Cucumber drink (with cucumber, lime, and soda) was so yummy! Being the cucumber head that he is he liked it and it came in the keepsake duckpin ball cup. I really enjoyed it too and I plan to get one when we go back next time! Reid slept through most of it (we put ear plugs in both boys as it’s a pretty noisy place) but awoke toward the end. He was my lucky charm as he bowled with me and I got a few spares 🙂  
On Saturday morning we headed to Mansfield for a holiday cookout at Mom and Dad’s. We decided to make a last minute trip to Apple Hill where we picked Honeycrisp apples and enjoyed tasty and warm apple donuts! From there we headed to Kingwood Center to enjoy Ribbit the Exhibit, a cute traveling exhibit of frogs. We walked around the grounds for a short bit before they closed for a large wedding event. 
This made me laugh – Brutus didn’t want to be on the outside of the crate on the way to or from Mansfield so he slid himself through a tight space in order to get in and lay down with Lily. 
While Reid appears to have an old man hair do in most pics (bald on the top and sides) he actually has a lot of hair! It’s coming in a lighter color and is hard to see but it’s soft and fuzzy!
And here are a few more of our week, including Griffin’s “meet the teacher” day at pre-school. He did a treasure hunt around his classroom finding various items his teacher put on the hunt. It was a fun way for him to get familiarized with parts of his classroom. And he chose a yellow hand print for himself for this year’s class canvas. 
