Oh Deer!

We came home from a Sunday morning breakfast this morning to find some new friends sitting in our front lawn. I was pretty suprised to see a 5 point buck and his lady friend sitting underneath the trees. There were also two more male deer, with smaller antelers nearby, but this guy wouldn't let them come close. They stayed here for about an hour or so after we got home and then eventually left.

After awhile, I kind of got bored and decided it would be more interesting to ride my bike instead. you can still see him off in the distance keeping an eye on me.

We've seen lots of deer since moving in earlier this year. I've been working with Mommy on ways to keep them out of her garden. One method particularily successful is to stand in the window and yell out "Hey Deer! Don't eat Mommy's garden!" One of the things I've learned this year is that deer don't particularly like it when you throw open the front door and come running out yelling "Hi Deer!" They tend to run away. Here are some clips from April with some of my first encounters of deer.

Streets We Call the Zoo

I made yet another return to the zoo. While we didn't make it Zoo Boo as planned, it probably worked out for the best - the line was insanely long. We came back the next day and got to see a lot of the zoo at our own pace.

It was a cool Sunday morning. I was determined to see my two favorite animals...monkeys and giraffes. I love giraffes, just mesmerized by watching them. However, the highlight had to be 20 minutes of activity of the giant polar bear. Only a couple inches of plexiglass is what seperated me from polar bear jumping in the water and playing with a large garbage can.

But that wasn't all...I also rode on a Carousel for the first time. The staff said to be careful because it moved fast and that was certainly true. I was a little nervouse at first and didn't like the loud music, but had a great time riding my horse.

Lil' Barista

Lately I have really been honing on my barista skills and insist on making coffee almost every morning. I wake up, run to the stairs and declare "I'm making coffee, Daddy." We run down the stairs, change our diapers and get the coffee ready for the day. My favorite activity is grinding the beans.

It didn't take long and I was able to master the barista artform...I sure would like to be able to experience the fruits of my labor. I feel one of the keys is to become one with the beans, you know...develop a relationship with them. I have started to talk to the beans before grinding them now, a process I call "Helloing the Beans". The odd thing is, once I feel I've connected with the beans on a personal level, it is really hard for me to grind them. So the "Helloing the Beans" process lasts for 10-15 minutes with much internal debate of whether I can/should grind my new legume friends

I'm not all task and manual labor. My personality is growing as well.

- August 23rd, I said "I love you" the first time - to Mom. Dad was a few days later.

- Morning of September 10th, Dad made yet another mistake...he gave me my morning Orange Peach Mango drink in normal, glass glass (not my old plastic glass). Obviously, the next morning, I expected to drink from Daddy's football glass again...when that didn't happen, I let my feelings known.

- Evening of September 10th, I saw fireworks for the first time. I was really excited and talked about them all day long. Then, I actually witnessed them. Actual conversation:
Spencer: "I saw fireworks"
Mom and Dad: "Did you like them?"
Spencer: "No. Too loud"

The next morning, the same conversation occurred with the same result.

4.8 Miles with Daddy

I woke up the day after the state fair refreshed and full of energy. The day began like many other recent mornings - jumping into Mom and Dad's bed, instantly jumping on Mommy yelling "squish". That activity is followed by reaching out and taking her nose. That didn't last long - I refused to give her nose back, so Dad came in and took mine, returning it only after I had given back Mommy's nose. In the end, it appears to have worked out for everyone, I suppose, but I still would really like to have two noses.




Dad and I headed downstairs where I proceeded to turn one of my toy chests into a bed.





After breakfast, I headed out for a round of golf. I'm getting to be pretty good. I know my clubs and no longer about just swinging the club into the ground.






Later in the day, Dad and I headed out for a walk around the lake - a 4.8 mile journey that included a stop at the beach and playground. Dad's first mistkae was letting me choose between the stroller and the red wagon. Neither of anticipated what it would be like to pull or sit in the wagon for roughly five miles; not necessarily the best choice. We headed off on our journey. It was a pleasant walk through the woods around the lake...we saw all kinds of ducks, cranes, and some kind of sand piper-esque bird. It included a stop to play at the beach and playground. Dad's second mistake was that I wasn't exactly thrilled to leave the playground, so he tricked me - he told me that he thought there may be some new playgrounds for us to find and we should go explore. There weren't and I reminded him the rest of the afternoon that I wanted to find a new playground.





Overall, we had a good time - explored the area, found a couple new parks along the way. I fell asleep for about 1 of the five miles, but it didn't appear Dad got lost. 3 hours later we made it home.

Hard to believe summer is virtually over. But that's okay because that means football season in here.

The State Fair

Greetings. I just got back from my first State Fair Experience and had a lot of fun. Lots of good eatin' and sights. I woke up Mom and Dad early so as to get to the fairgrounds as early as possible. We started off with breakfast, looked at some tractors, saw a lot of animals and of course tried lots of good food.

We started off with breakfast...eggs, hashbrowns and, of course, pancakes. Mom and Dad also had some bacon and coffee...neither willing to share either delictable with me. Typical. After breakfast, I wanted to check out some heavy machinery so we headed out to the tractors.

After test driving a number of tractors, we headed to the Miracle of Birth barn. I saw all sorts of animals...newly hatched chickens and one day old chicks, big pigs and baby pigs, big cows and calves, goats and kids, sheep and lambs, turkey and ducks. I even got to pet a lamb. A cow started going into labor while we were in the barn, but Mom and Dad didn't really seem to intersted in watching an actual birth. We also stopped by the respective cow, horse and pig barns to seem some really big versions of the real thing. Suprisingly, my favorite activity was watching the cow judging. I was entranced and didn't want to leave.

We also had lots of good snack food. Mom shared her Pronto Pup with me and I also had some fresh mini donuts.

By the end of the morning I was exhausted. I've to rest up...it's a long weekend and I got to keep Mom and Dad out of trouble.

Oh No, My Pieces!

It's been a busy summer. When I'm not demanding my daily reading of "Happy Birthday To You" by Dr. Seuss, I am getting into all sorts of mischief. It's quite the paradox - by running around and getting into trouble, I am actually keeping Mom and Dad on their toes, thereby keeping them out of trouble. So, I'm actually doing them a favor. I' have really come to playing hide and go seek. I have become very good at hiding.

Another fun activity I enjoy is to making a mess and then pretending to be upset about it. It really forces mom and dad to multi-task. I intentionally spill something and then pretend to be upset about it. It really makes my parents think...do they clean up a disaster or console an obviously distraught child?





I have also really come to enjoy playing with balloons. I got my own helium balloon a few weeks ago, but the fun didn't last very long. Little did I know, the regular balloons were much more fun, because they don't fly out of my reach. I really enjoy kicking around the balloons. I don't discriminate...I like balloons of all colors...but want them big so I can roll around on them.

The only thing more fun then playing with balloons is helping dad blow them up. I'm really good at offerring him words of encouragement.

Not even 8AM and it's already been a long day.

Saturday Morning Dance Party

My body is like clockwork. I wonder if Mom and Dad appreciate that they no longer need an alarm clock anymore because I get up around 5:30 every day - including the weekends. The weekends are the best, Dad and I get up before the sun, change our diapers, make a cup of coffee then have a dance party. We dance to all kinds of music - rock, 80s hip-hop. Best of all, we make sure the blinds are up in case the neighbors want to enjoy the show.

Sometimes I sing...

I've been busy talking and laying down the law around the house. I've found physical force is the best way to get things done.