Looking Ahead to mid-Autumn

Equinox

How Hellen Keller Learned to Speak

I added some new interesting history and science 'twitter-ers' to my list, and I'm very delighted already by how much interesting stuff has turned up. Historians are so smart! Just putting that out there. Historytweeter posted a blog entry about this incredible video, and I just had to repost it. It shows Hellen Keller's teacher explaining the system she used to help her pupil understand spoken language and speak herself.

Just brilliant.

America's Funniest Bobo

My mom decided to watch some America's Funniest Home videos just now, and they had a section on 'redneck women' in which said females fell over, fell off stuff, or did some other clumsy embarrassing thing. It was horrifying, but we were laughing, so Bobo started laughing too. Then, once it went to commercial, Bobo decided HE would provide the entertainment.

He's spent the past 15 minutes giving me heart attacks by running full speed across the room to dive head first into anything and everything, and every single time he thinks he's hilarious. Maybe I should take a video and send it in myself. :X

Small-Town Carnival

Tonight Bobo got his first 'real' carnival experience. Last year he went to one for a grand total of five minutes, and has ever since been totally enamored with the concept of the Crazy Bus. He talked about it for months afterward ('bus!' 'Juju!' 'bus!' was actually the extent of the conversation, but I got the point). Tonight he was reunited with his beloved Crazy Bus... and wouldn't even think about going on it!



He did agree to go on the train, which was his first... and last ride. It was wristband night, and thank goodness we didn't spend the money for that, since after throwing a tantrum on the train (which I rode with him while Momo watched) he refused to go on anything else.



Oh well, we'll try during the day and maybe it will be less confusing and scary without all the lights and loud bands playing!



Since we had so many leftover tickets Momo took a turn on the Fun Slide, and I went on my favorite ride ever, the Swings! I had so much fun, especially since the operator let the ride go extra long (it wasn't very crowded and it was wristband night, so things were very laid back). I could ride the swings all day long, especially at night! It brings me right back to those middle school days of rushing home from school to get ready for the carnival, then spend the night wandering around hopping on as many rides as possible while gossiping with the girls and keeping an eye out for the cute boys from class. Now, I just enjoy feeling like I'm flying. :)

Save the Words - Nifty!

In my early morning internet stumbling, I found this little bit of interesting: Save the Words by the people that bring you the Oxford English Dictionary.




The premise is that you select one of the archaic words and 'adopt' it, pledging to use it in daily conversation, in your writing, or as a name for your pet... so that it will make its way back into use. Not quite likely, given the obscurity of the words, but I found it really fun to learn some new definitions.

Cynthia von Buhler's Children's Books

I came across this author today, and both her children's books went right on my Amazon wishlist. Check out this website for But Who Will Bell the Cats?, her work is SO gorgeous:
http://butwhowillbellthecats.com/lookinside.html



She makes intricate scale-models of her scenes and then adds painted paper dolls for the characters, and these books are so beautiful! Intricate down to the smallest detail, and gorgeous colors that just grab you. These will be coming into our home for Christmas (or before). I'm so in love!

This blog of hers shows the behind-the-scenes and how she made the book, her sculptures and close-ups and tons of photos of the delicious details. You have to see these pictures! Here is the before picture of the ballroom... amazing.

Labor Day Party

We had a nice little gathering yesterday, and it was a good time all around (the sad, untimely death of a crow aside). Of course, I didn't really take pictures, but it was a beautiful day, nice and cool but sunny and clear. The whole weekend has been gorgeous.

I spiked up Bobo's hair, since it's so long it's getting in his eyes, and got a few pictures of that. Here's one of us!


Notice the long sleeves and Bobo's adorable new rugby shirt (thanks Dada!) which is perfect for fall.

Oh, and we tried out that new ice cream place ... Goss Farm, that's just opened right down the street. It was pretty yummy, and apparently cheaper even than Doc Davis. They also have a few baby animals (chicks, bunnies, and two veal calves), which as Bobo eloquently put it are "stinkeeeee". They have big tractors though, which Bobo thought were fantastic, and apparently they're also going to have a big corn maze when it's high enough. That'll be a nice adventure for the Bobo!

Wordle

This is a word cloud thing from the Wordle website, featuring the most used words (biggest) of the recent entries on Bobo's blog. I guess I use the phrase 'so much fun' way too much. Heh! It's fun, go try it out if you're bored.

Hello, Bobo

A few Bobo pics from the 'last day of summer'.



As my grandfather used to say, he's going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up... :)




Look at all those teeth! I think he's even got some way-back molars coming in. Is that normal?

Anticipating Fall, with Photoshop...

I also have my little Autumn Leaves Yankee candle I grabbed at Parker's Maple Barn this weekend... mmm. How long until everything is red and orange?

Last Day of Summer's Green

It's been so beautiful and cool for the past three days... you can certainly feel autumn coming. These pictures are from yesterday, the last day of August (and therefore, according to me, the last day of Summer). I'm so pleased that we could wear long sleeves. I'm so excited for Fall, it's the start of my favorite stretch of the year!








I've already posted these up on facebook, mostly because I needed a new profile picture as it's been half a year since the last one! Time flies, I can't believe summer is over. At least we have a lot of fun memories (and a lot of NOT fun ones) to look back on... and we certainly did a lot this season.




Here's to the end of Summer and beginning of Autumn!

Hanging out with Melissa and the Girls

My friend Melissa was staying in Amherst for a week, so we finally (after forever!) got to see her and her beautiful daughters, Evie and Rory. We spent the day watching our little toddlers run around and get into relatively peaceful altercations over fire trucks and bikes. It was so much fun, and I hope we'll be seeing them again soon (much sooner than last time!).



Melissa and I were roommates (in a triple) during our first semester of college. We had some differences (as teenage girls do), but after we lived safely in separate rooms we became much better friends... and now we're all grown up with little munchkins to take care of! Where does the time go...



Melissa is a lot more laid back and fun than I am. She lets her kids play with water *indoors*... I almost died! I really need to chill out on my OCD freakiness that' I've developed, because the kids had so much fun splashing and playing with ice cubes.



While the girls went upstairs to take their nap, Arin took the opportunity to explore the gentler toys that he doesn't have at home. They had these fantastic and realistic looking cats (and REAL cats that Arin loved), and a lot of baby dolls! Bobo loves him some baby dolls, but I guess he wanted to wait to enjoy them when the girls weren't there to see. :)



Missa, if you're reading this, thanks so much for having us over, we missed you terribly! Let's do it again soon, there must be some fun fall stuff going on at those farms now!