The Divine Miss El

We had quite possibly one of the cutest little house guests ever last week so I had to brag about it. Our good friend Heather and her daughter Ella braved cross-country baby travel to spend a few days with us.
We got a LOT of rain while they were here (which made outdoor activity harder) but we had a good time.
When it came time for them to leave and go through security at the airport Linus cried. He loved having buddies at his house and simply wanted them to stay forever.
Thanks for coming, ladies. Farmer Ella loved the tractor action and all the "big kid" toys around here but I think her favorite was the big kid himself. This picture looks like a tackle but it evolved into a hug shortly after the shutter snapped.



Ella and her Mama on the Monongahela Incline.


Ella flipping off the city of Pittsburgh. At 11 months I'm assuming it's nothing personal.

Sometimes You Feel like a Ride...

It sounds fun, it sounds fun NOT, it sounds fun, it sounds fun NOT...

There's just no accounting for mood. We hit the two local fun spots here this summer and it was a mixed bag for Linus. Sometimes he was rarin' to go. Others, ehhhhh. Sigh. Hard to win. When you've got it in 'ya, you could play all day...

Got it:

Aaannnnnd not so much:

Though to be fair - on this motorcycle picture it COULD be that he is just a bad a**.
I'll give him that, I mean maybe he's just got such a hardened biker character thing going on that THAT is where the scowl is coming from. Right?

This, however was not due to anything other than
"YOU STRAPPED ME IN HERE AND I HATE IT!"
Poor Oliver in the back - "My Pilot is freaking out!!"

So big thanks to the buddies and to Grandma and Grandpa for sharing our emotional rollercoasters with us. We'll go for it again next year and see how it goes.

School School School

This past week marked a fairly big milestone for Linus. He started preschool. There's a little Catholic Parish very near us (3 min drive) and they have a nice, small preschool. Linus is in a class for just 3 year olds that meets two mornings a week from 8 until 11.

Linus likes his teacher a lot and though it was hard at first, he's doing much better at settling in for school and having fun while he's there. He has a just-the-right-size back pack and really likes helping me pack it with his snack and drink.

I think this will be a good thing.