Late October Happenings

Sorry, but the pictures on this post are completely out of order. I don't have the patience to figure out how to switch the pictures around with out deleting them (that's what usually happens). Anyway, I hope that you can make some kind of sense out of this post!

The weather here is cooling down a bit. Hallelujah! It looks like it may stay in the mid-sixties this week. Also, it rained yesterday for the first time this year! The last hard rain that I remember was last December. Before that, it was the fall of 2005. Our little family took a short walk in the rain with an umbrella and Lizzie didn't know what to think.
What's happening, Mommy? Is something wrong with the sky? Why is it dripping water?
It's pretty sad. She is almost 15 months and she has no recollection of rain. She'll probably grow up thinking that rain is one of those phenomenons that only happens in movies. Poor kid!

Due to the temperature decrease, slight as it may be, I bought Lizzie a hat and some gloves for her to wear on our morning runs. Needless to say, she wasn't too fond of them at the beginning. But she eventually got used to them and she has now worn them successfully for two mornings. I don't feel as bad taking her out in the mornings when I know that she is is able to stay toasty and warm.

Her new fad: the purple sippy cup with the straw. She LOVES that thing. And that's an understatement. I know that it's a safety hazard, but she really likes walking around with the thing in her mouth. I guess she's getting me back for getting rid of her binky when she was only 4 months old.

Lizzie loves spending time with her cousin, Mikey. I took them on a bike ride a few weeks ago. Lizzie took up most of the room in the trailer, but Mikey was a good sport. :) Also, when I was riding in front of them, poor Mikey was whining and when I stopped and turned around to see what the matter was, I found Lizzie pulling on his ear. Sorry Mikey!

We have made a few trips to Apollo Park (the highlight of Lancaster, in my opinion). It's a really beautiful small lake in the middle of a dessert. Strange concept, I know. There is a walking trail all the way around the lake and numerous playgrounds and picnic sites. Jon and I like taking our bike trailer there and riding around the lake with Lizzie. She also enjoys playing on the playground toys.

This is Lizzie and her friend, Nina. I am friends with Nina's Mom and we like to get together every now and then for our kids to play with each other. Actually, Nina is Lizzie's only girl friend. All of the other kids she plays with are boys.

The dreaded hat, again...

It's funny how kids are. She hates the pink fuzzy hat, yet she LOVES the vast variety of hats that Jon has laying around the house. She puts them on her head whenever she gets a chance.

Lizzie LOVES to read. She spends more time reading than playing with all of the toys that we bought her. I have read all of her books to her a zillion and a half times. And then all over again. I think that it's so wonderful that she loves books, although I do get kind of sick of reading the same thing over and over again.

Here she is with Mikey, again. I kind of feel bad for Mikey. Wherever he goes, Lizzie follows. Mikey probably wanted some "alone time" with his blankey on the step, but Lizzie had to follow him over there and bring some toys too. :)

Last but not least, we were little party-poopers this Halloween. We didn't do anything to celebrate the holiday. We didn't really want to waste money on a costume for Lizzie (although I'm sure if I really wanted to I could have made her a fairly inexpensive one). It seems to me that Lancaster is a community void of many festive celebrations. Tara and I wanted to take our kids to the pumpkin patch, but when we arrived, there were only about 5 pumpkins. I have decided that there is nothing like good old Logan, Utah. I would do anything to see a pumpkin walk like that community puts on! Anyway, Halloween came and went and we thankfully discovered that life still continued on in its normal cycle, despite the lack of festive celebrations. :) We'll be better next year. By then, Lizzie will be old enough to appreciate a costume...hopefully. :)