Friday, October 31, 2008

a frog, a pirate, + a supersleuth

H08: a frog, a pirate, + a supersleuth

(note: Only the dogs' egos were harmed in capturing the above moment. They were only subjected to the humiliation for 60 seconds tops.)

First, my original post, before actually celebrating Halloween...

Now that I have a little one, it turns out (rather unexpectedly) that Halloween is the hardest holiday to celebrate away from the States. Sure Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter are hard, and being able to celebrate with family would be a huge bonus. But at least with those holidays you can make your own fun and start your own traditions.

Halloween, on the other hand, is different. It is completely dependent on all the people around you being on board and in the mood and just plain getting it. That's where the fun lies. In the trick or treating. In the festive decorations. In a stranger you pass along the way remarking on your cool costume. In all the neighbors being out and about and participating. In the candy corn. In the pumpkin carving. In the autumn smells and fall foilage. In the decision over what candy to pass out. In the visits from cute kids to your door. In the candy inventory and trades. In the awesome treats in your lunch box in the days after.

Without all of that, you're pretty much just left with a costume.

As a kid the Halloween anticipation lasts for a couple months. Choosing your costume feels like the hardest decision you'll ever have to make. How many houses will you make it to? Will you fill your pillow case? The first year you get to trick or treat without your parents, you feel like the coolest kid on the planet.

I hate that Quincy will miss out on all of that.

I hate that he won't get an annual trip to the pumpkin patch where he would surely take ages to select the perfect pumpkin and moan about all the pictures his mama would take.

No hay rides. No haunted hauses. No candy corn. (Did I mention candy corn already?) No hot apple cider.

I hate that he will miss out on wearing his costume to school for the Halloween party.

And most of all, I hate that he won't get to join in the family fun at my brother's house, where all the local cousins trick or treat together each year. And there is a big feed after. So so much fun.

At least we got to join in the festivities last year.

H07: Mosaic

H07: the group

To view all the photos from last year, click here.

And now, after unexpectedly enjoying Halloween...

I still hate that Quincy won't have the same Halloween memeories I have. But we can make new memories. New traditions. And we can still have fun even without the candy corn. We proved it tonight. And here is one photo as evidence.

H08: checkin' his loot

I'll write more tomorrow (and have way more photos to share than you'll surely care to see). For now, I'm tired. So until then, I hope you all have a blast trick or treating and I hope your weather was as stunning as ours was.

Labels:

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

hearty smiles

How could this not make my heart smile?

papa + quincy reading 3

When Jeremy comes home from work, Quincy doesn't greet him with a simple "hi". Instead he gets totally excited, says "book", runs to select one, and then plops himself down on the cushion eagerly waiting for Jeremy to join him. In the shot above, Jeremy just finished a book and I guess the hug is Quincy's way of showing his appreciation!

papa + quincy reading 1 papa + quincy reading 2 papa + quincy reading 4

My boys. They always (well ususally) make me smile.

Labels: ,

Sunday, October 26, 2008

i want to ride my bicycle. i want to ride my bike.

Anyone who has ever had or looked after a toddler is well aware of the ease at which they can go from this...

Q on a Trike Mosaic

to this...

Q having a Tantrum Mosaic

in an instant. It's amazing how quickly their worlds can unravel.

So far all of Q's tantrums have invovled the trike or the desire to sit in the driver's seat of my car. Did I mention he loves vehicles?

I don't think we're ready for this dark side of toddlerhood.

Labels:

Thursday, October 23, 2008

the look

Quincy has a look that is reserved for Jeremy. It is clearly one of awe and admiration.

isn't it deeelicious? are you enjoying yours too, papa? look at me, i'm on a tractor

Jeremy is a lucky guy. Quincy definitely doesn't look at me that way.

Speaking of admiring one's father, happy birthday, dad!

Labels: ,

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

first swimming lesson

first swimming lesson

His favorite part? When it was over.

( story behind the photo: I only had time for one very quick snap before anyone came in and thought I was really weird for taking pictures in a changing room. I got super lucky with a smile and some rare camera eye contact!)

Labels:

Monday, October 20, 2008

seven more

Seven more digi layouts to share from our recent trip to Cincinnati. Once again most everything comes from Designer Digitals.

CB_200808_QInFrancesArms

CB_200808_FamVacBliss

CB_200808_Zoo

CB_200809_LittleOnesCincy

CB_200809_QIsaHenCarLake

CB_200808_QSurf

CB_200808_QRoseBeach

Still quite a few left...

Labels: ,

Sunday, October 19, 2008

1 + 2 = 3

Sometimes it is necessary to work a little Photoshop magic when your subject is an active toddler.

(1) too much foreground + (2) not crazy about the stance

=

(1) + (2) = (3)

I loved the squat in the first photo, but there was way too much foreground and not nearly enough sky. Fortunately I took six gazzillion shots (during which time Jeremy claims to have suffered a mild case of heat stroke), so I had one with a nicer composition that I could play with.
And as for the photo-heavy day on Saturday, Jeremy, I only once asked the two of you to pose. Other than that, I just quietly observed and documented while letting Q do his thing. So there. :)

Labels: ,

Saturday, October 18, 2008

a Q-perfect day

Another Saturday adventure, thanks to the Entertainment Book. This time we headed to Lindale Farm. Of course spring is the perfect time to go. Baby animals galore.

lamb cuteness

I am pretty sure today was one of the best days in Quincy's life. He got to wear his gum boots, sit on a real red tractor, climb hills, meet all sorts of farm animals, and eat his first very own ice cream cone. Hokey Pokey goodness. He was in heaven. And he was d.i.r.t.y.

ice cream mosaic

When he saw the tractor, he just ran. We could have turned around and gone home after that. It would have been enough to make a perfect Quincy day. He loves loves loves tractors.

tractor mosaic

This calf cracked us up. He was so dog-like. He was a bit of a doofus and reminded us of Berkley. Only he walked better on heel! He just loved Jeremy.

calf mosaic

Those little Q-legs took him a long way. He only climbed into the stroller at the very very end. It was so nice that he had so much open space to explore. He was definitely in his element. He was cracking up as he mastered climbing up and down part of this hill. After a couple tumbles, he realized it was best to go down on his bottom.

hill climbing mosaic

And given all the freedom, he didn't mind holding mama's hand for a little of the way. In case you were wondering, there is not a chimp in the photo on the bottom right. It's just me. I include it only to point out that my arms are indeed 3 inches longer than the average Kiwi woman.

farm walk mosaic

So these are the animals we saw... a turtle, ducklings, chicks, a rooster, a turkey, an emu, a sheepdog, a sow + her squealing piglets, some sheep + a lamb, several rabbits, some deer, a couple fish, a horse, a few llamas, a big hairy bull named Boris, 5 calves, 3 goats, and a goat kid. The ones in bold were his favorites. The ones in italics, he fed.

farm animal mosaic

We loved seeing him make the connections between the real-life animals and his books/toys. Pretty cool. And after growing up scared of animals, it was such a joy to see how comfortable he is around them.

Right now Q has four passions, and as far as passions go, he's pretty obsessed. He is all about books, vehicles, his Schleich animals, and being outside. Today combined all four with a bonus ice cream on top. Q-perfect.

farm anticipation on the way home

Oh and this is Jeremy's favorite picture of the day...

run

And here's mine...

staring contest

Labels:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

nice neighbours

Today Quincy and I collected for Plunket [the Plunket nurses do home visits for newborns and then regular well checks until age 5, they hold educational classes, and they organize PIN (Plunket in the Neighborhood) coffee/play groups]. While out, my love of our neighbourhood and the goodness of the people in it were reaffirmed.

Our next door neighbour with three girls (aged 7, 12, and 15) wanted Quincy to stay and play while I finished collecting. He could not bust out of the pram quick enough and made himself right at home. When I later went back to get him, he was of course sitting on their old trike and getting off wasn't really in his plan, so she offered to lend it to us. Then when I told her Quincy didn't like the pea soup we were having for dinner, she wanted to send us home with some of their dinner!

At another house, we got invited for a BBQ on the weekend if the weather holds up. At another house we got a recommendation for a landscaper. And Norma insisted on lending us a ride on that her grandchildren wouldn't be using for the next couple months.

How's that for nice neighbours?

Labels:

Saturday, October 11, 2008

zookeeper says

Today Quincy took us to the zoo.

we're goin' to the zoo zoo zoo, how about you you you?

He got to feed the giraffes, but the highlight of the day for him had to be "driving" the old zoo Jeep.

the old zoo Jeep

The kiwi was cute, but the highlight for me was the baby chimp. Pity about the blurry pics, but I think the cuteness is clear.

baby chimp 1

baby chimp 2

The highlight for Jeremy was the well-endowed bat. I don't even need to ask him. I just know. I'll spare you the photo.

As entertaining as the animals were, these signs were, well, hysterical. Now remember, zookeeper says, beware of the bucking zebra.


zookeeper says...beware of the bucking zebra.

zookeeper says...don't kill the monkey.

zookeeper says...this bird will make you bleed. zookeeper says...throwing stones at chimps is cruel.

And on the way home, books about animals, of course.

animal study 1 animal study 2 animal study 3

Labels: ,

Thursday, October 09, 2008

cincinnati layouts part 1

In order to actually get a vacation album finished, I am scrapping my recent trip to Cincinnati/Gulf Shores digitally. Over the course of 11 days in September, I created 22 layouts! And that was without neglecting Q or letting the housework slide (too much anyway.) Two still need journaling, but the rest are finished. I have a bunch more in my head that I want to do and I'm going to get back into it tonight.

I will share half of the layouts here. If you want to see the others, go to my Flickr photostream. Clicking on one of the images will take you there.

(Most everything comes from Designer Digitals, with a few of my own designs thrown in.)

CB_200808_C&QSoLucky

CB_200808_QAmyIfThatsNotLove

CB_200808_Birthdays

CB_200808_FamVacSilly

CB_200808_FamVacJumpPool

CB_200808_QFranBucket

CB_200808_QLuciaStroller

CB_200808_QOneFootInFrontOfOther

(this next one is a scraplift)CB_200808_RickeMen

CB_200808_QHangingWithBigBoys

CB_200808_FamVacMissing Amy

Once I get the rest finished, I'll do another share.

Labels: ,