All things September

Ahh, the great outdoors.
We had our first soccer practice experience a couple of Saturdays ago. It went great! Oliver and his BFF Charlie (they act like brothers - which is both good and bad) are on the same "team". It's pretty much like herding cats at this age. Oliver is pretty driven at coming in first in everything he does, so it's already evident he will be the kid laying out other kids flat if they get between him and the ball. I really have no idea where he gets this trait from (cough, cough). We have also enjoyed our first apple picking experience out in the country. The countryside around Lawrence is very pretty this time of year. But, I will say, country folk are just different. Very nice. But very different. I like the mix of city-living with the proximity nearby of life slowed-down. It's nice to visit the country. I just wouldn't want my only mode of transportation to and from my house to be a tractor (one from the 1940's at that.) Speaking of old tractors, Oliver and Matt also took in an antique tractor show the other weekend, also out in the "country". I am told there was a memo involving overalls and motorized wheelchairs that my family missed somehow. Oliver loved the event (and discovered there is a tractor brand named after him)!

Kickin' it with his homie.

All smiles all day!

Now, you would think looking at this photo, that Oliver really enjoyed his time spent picking apples.

And this one as well. Boy, he sure did have fun, huh?

Well, the two photos above were taken right near the end of our time at the orchard. The majority of the time there was spent whining, not listening, falling down for no reason, and refusing to pose for photos. Like this one.

Oliver, meet Oliver. 

Friends, Fish, Family = FUN with a capital F!

Just hitting the highlights here folks so excuse the brevity (but there are lots of pics)! Labor day weekend was all play and no work for us. Oliver had 2 birthday parties, we all went to the lake, and Matt and I even made it to an adult house party at the Gudgells like the good old days. Ahem, curse you Flip Cup. (The next morning reminded us that it is no longer the old days, but now the days in which we are old).

Next up, last weekend, Dad went off to Vegas with "other daddies" for their annual trip-o-debauchery (it gets milder each year for some reason. Oh yeah, it's cuz they're old and getting older). So, not to be outdone on the fun, Oliver and I packed up and headed down to Oklahoma City to meet Nana and Pa-Pa for a weekend of Zoo, Pool, and a Bricktown Boat ride. It was super fun but super hot. Oy vey, Mother Nature! I get it. You bestowed a blessed summer of mild temps upon us, and we were not grateful enough, so you are making us pay in September. Enough of the heat rash already! Digression.
Oliver and I also got to meet Cousin Evie Nagy for the first time - she's 15ish months now!

Moral of this past weekend: OKC is fun! And totally doable in a weekend. Drive on down and check out the action. You might even score yourself a Kevin Durant sighting! (I did not. BUT, I did see his new KD's restaurant in Bricktown. It's close to Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill. Not to be confused with North OKC's Wes Welker's Bar and Grill. No, I'm not kidding. If you're an anyone in Oklahoma = if you build it, they will come. And eat!)

Okay, so this pic may be a week older than Labor Day. But, it's the freaking cutest pic ever!

Wearing their OSU Orange to Waylan Roberts's 2nd Birthday Party at the Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park. So much fun with the animals. 

Oliver caught his first fish at Deanna Rose! Heck, it might have been my 1st as well.

At the OKC Zoo. It's now ranked in the Top 5 zoos in the country. We were there for 3 hours and only made it halfway through! 

Nana and Pa-Pa were troopers in the heat! 

To say Oliver would not leave Pa-Pa alone in the hotel pool would be an understatement.

 Bricktown Water Taxi Tour.

 2nd attempt for a smile worked after he saw a big kid pose for a pic.

Great series of sculptures depicting the land run right off the Bricktown canal. More to be created to make it the largest scultpure series in the world, so we were told.