Going Batty!

In case you haven't noticed...there's been a little bit of a Batman obsession going on at our house the past few months.  C had been waiting for Halloween with great anticipation.  So, you can imagine his excitement when he realized I was going to let him wear his Batman costume before Halloween.  (Now, don't get me wrong, that kid has worn the costume so much the edges are fraying.  I should clarify and say he was stoked to wear the costume outside of the house) ;) 

 

 Batman's first appearance was at story time.  The theme was superheroes and he got to go up front when she pulled out the picture of Batman.  Miss Dawn asked him if Batman was a good guy or a bad guy and what kinds of things he did.  "And what is your name?  I can't remember."  "Uh, I'm Batman."  Everyone laughed as Miss Dawn agreed that, "Oh, yes that's right."

 While outside for some real-life hero demos, C was way more interested in organizing his own superhero gang than watching the police dog bite some poor MP's arm.

 Here he is with his sidekick.  Although, I think it could be argued that Batman was the sidekick on this day.  Once C realized Robin was around he literally did not leave his side.

 Batman's second appearance was at our local BooZoo event.

 Where one of the highlights was the train breaking down while we were on it.  We had to get off while the conductor tried to get it up the hill.  Then get back on.  Then get back off again.  And walk back to the station.  C thought it was great.  He's never gotten the chance to jump across railroad ties. 

Thankfully he had a night to rest before the big culmination of Halloween festivities!

 

 Batman and his Transforming friend!

 The whole crew! 

 Checking out the loot.  This is the part where all the adults took out everything we wanted for ourselves "checked" the candy.  C's favorite thing about trick-or-treating? 

"Getting to dress up as Batman!"

What else?!?

Nothing but Treats!

"You're the most handsome Batman I've ever seen."

"Thank you Wonderwoman.  Thanks."

Super Heroes Unite!

Nana and Papa put to work!

Nana and Papa came to see us.  And I put them to work! ;)  The landscaping in front of our new place makes me a little bit sad.  So, I decided that while my parents were in town my dad and I (ok, my dad) should remove the sickly little bush and sprout of monkey grass and plant lots and lots of tulip bulbs.

 And plant we did...eh...he did.  They did.  C was such an enthusiastic little helper!

 See this?  Proof I was not the only slacker on this bulb planting project.

 It was just too cute watching C try to do everything just like Papa...right down to putting his foot on the shovel to dig in.

 Unfortunately, I picked the hottest day of their visit to subject my dad to all this manual labor.  When I brought water out for them I announced, "Water break!"  And C looked at me and sighed, "Finally."

 Don't be fooled...this is how my dad was really feeling by the time he hit 6 inches deep. ;)

 And what joyous luck that the ice cream truck would show up just as we were finishing up the project!  A wonderful reward for a job well done.  Now we are all just hoping those babies pop up this spring.  I think my dad will be the most disappointed if they don't.  (He worked really hard!)  Thanks Dad!

 Nana may have skipped out on the gardening, but she more than made up for it in the sewing department.  She gave C his first lesson, which I'm pretty sure lasted 28 seconds.

 I couldn't find any throw pillows to match our couch and curtains so I asked my mom to bring her sewing machine up and make some for me!  As an added bonus, I got a table runner from the extra material!

 And here are our new pillows!  Nice, huh?  Thanks Mom!

 I just happened to be in heaven in the fabric section of JoAnn's.  Oh, how I wish I could sew.  The possibilities...sigh.  I did commission my mom for another project.  Can't wait to get my birthday present in December!!  So, I was feeling all inspired and thought I would put my mad craftin' skillz to good use.

 Oh yeah.  There was some serious hand-eye coordination required to cut all those straight lines and tie all those knots.  Impressed?  Yes?  Well, C was!  And that's what counts!

 I have a fleece blanket that I got one year for Christmas from a dear friend of mine.  I've had it since high school and I love it.  So does hubby.  He is always trying to steal it when we are on the couch watching a movie.  So, there was some jealousy when C got his very own fleece blanket.  Hubby requested that I make him one.  So, while he was gone for a week I decided to oblige.  Since I'm all super-crafty nowadays.  He did not make any specifications concerning fabric choices.  So, I let C pick. 

I think it's pretty fitting. ;)  Now we all have our own blankets...and we're officially the coolest family ever.

Following up

Finally, I'm following up on that last post.  We had company and then went out of town.  Then had company again.  Then we all got the stomach flu...while we had company.  Good, good times.

Yes, hubby did drag me camping with the boys again.  Yes, I did really read by the light of that thing on my head.  And yes, now that you mention it, they do consider a "tree house" to simply mean a cabin on stilts...amongst the trees.  It's appeal was not lost on C.  He loved it!

 Just in case you're wondering...I did not.  There were moths, big ones, attacking us.  Well, attacking Clint and I.  C was quite content up on his top bunk, hollering at us when we turned the lantern on, "Hey!  How am I supposed to sleep with all this light around me?!"  And later shushing us because he was, "trying to sleep up here!" 

Once I realized I could breathe through a very small opening in my sheets I was able to get over the bug factor.  Then I realized that I actually preferred tent camping to this.  Not only are there less bugs, but the air mattress is way more comfortable than that 4 inch foam pad on top of my plywood bunk.  My hip bones were not appreciative.

The weekend was not ruined.  As I said earlier, C loved the whole "tree house" thing and he didn't have any problems sleeping through the night.  My enjoyment level went up the next morning...promptly upon checking out of our lovely accommodations.  We went for a nice little hike along a section of the Appalachian Trail.  

We explored a quaint little train museum...

 Where C and Daddy enjoyed a little dress-up...

 And can you see that giant spider in the carnival booth?  I didn't even notice it when I was taking pictures of the miniature train display.  Eww.

After the train museum we set out for a pumpkin patch.  A real one.  Where they grow 'em on the vine.  It was so cute and fun.  Complete with animals and tractors and hayrides...and hay bales made to look like animals.

 Check out my pumpkin progression post if you want to see how he's grown. 

Lastly, the little waterfall in the last post was at a state park we stopped by on our way home from our weekend extravaganza.  There was a lake there with a little beach we played on.  We enjoyed views like this...

 And this...

Yep, that's exactly what you think it is...speedo and all.