Artist in Training

Amelia had her first "school events" when her daycare hosted their fall art fair last Friday. Growing up in Lawrence I was spoiled with having all four of my grandparents within a half an hour drive. Merrill and I don't have childhood event memories without the attendance of of two parents and four grandparents. Amelia got to have two of her grandparents at her first event. I'm pretty sure the only reason that she didn't have all four was that the other two don't live nearby. I have a feeling that all four grandparents will log their share of hours at school plays and after school activities.The proud grandparents and their artist!The school keep all the projects covered so they are a surprise for the parents on the night of the event. In addition to all of the kiddo's masterpieces the teachers did a "project." Each student was photographed and then participated in a question and answer session. Apparently Amelia wasn't in the mood to smile but she did a good job practicing poses for her Senior pictures. I'm sure with the toddlers they had to get creative with "their" answers.

Q :Who should be the next Mayor of Chicago?

A: DADA!!!!

Q: What is something round?

A: ball

Q (to teacher): What will Amelia be doing in 5 years?

A: Being the sweetest girl in her first grade class

Oh, teachers know what to say to make parents proud! Amelia showing JuJu one of her masterpieces. What was Amelia's favorite part of the show? The bags of popcorn!

Happy (belated) Birthday Mark!

Fall in our household begins with celebrating Mark's (and Tom's) September 28th birthday.

We took advantage of the cool weather and hit the road to the country for apple picking. It didn't take long for Amelia to get the hang of, "rip apples off tree." She rather enjoyed it.
A pumpkin for our pumpkin!This was when she was happily playing in the toddler play area. Next came a temper tantrum when mom and dad took her away from toy tractors and petting zoo.

She also got her first taste of apple donuts. Not that we were counting but we did eat a 1/2 dozen by ourselves. As Mark pointed out getting six was only a dollar more than getting three so clearly it made sense to get six. Clearly.....

Our little chef was a great help baking dad's birthday cake. She is still demanding, "finger, cake!" Our naked chef impatiently waiting for the finished product. For those that don't know, the only cake Mark will accept for his birthday is angle food cake with no topping. I don't get it either but it is his birthday wish so I gladly spend all the hard energy baking an out of the box angle food cake. Adding water is hard. When we gave Amelia her slice she looked up at us really confused and asked, "icing?" Looks like someone else isn't totally on board with dad's idea of a birthday cake.

As Mark and his dad share a birthday their birthday celebration isn't complete without a Tom/Mark celebration. Why of course Mark and Tom's birthday dinner would take place at a pizza place. Barnaby's is a long time Lang Family tradition. Girls, eating French fries at a pizza place? I don't think either of your dad's raised you to do such a thing.....