Apple Picking and The Buddy Walk

This weekend we were busy with fall activities. On Saturday we went to the apple orchard and picked apples with Eric. It was a nice cool day - perfect for sampling some of the goods!

Eric tried one of the apples And was pretty good at picking his own

Here, he got the premium view

Then on Sunday we walked with our friends from church to honor Ava Mossman in The Buddy Walk. "Ava's Army" was the second highest fundraising team! It was a great event that I'm sure we'll continue to participate in years to come.

Ava gets a laugh from her friend, Elizabeth

Animal Sounds

Tonight we got video of Eric doing some of his animal sounds and a few of his words (listen closely for 'clock' and 'dog'). Note: to hear the video you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page in the black music box and hit the Pause button in the upper left corner.

Sitting - at the table and on Bailey's bed

OK, so they're not related, but they're both cute. First, we hit a milestone today. Eric is officially eating at the table! We got SO tired of the highchair - it's huge, cumbersome, we can't face Eric, etc etc etc. So last week we moved him to his booster at the table, but still used his tray. Today we took off the tray and put his plates on the table. All went well! And for his first grown-up meal, he actually had a pretty grown-up array of foods: salmon, sweet potato and kiwi! (all in their spots on the divided plate of course). The highchair is officially gone.

Obviously he's not interested in posing as much as eating!

On another note, Eric has always liked Bailey's (& Rusty's) bed. He'll go sit or lie on it when he sees it. But now, Bailey is getting so used to it that she doesn't even move. It's actually very cute to see them both on the bed!

Bailey yawns while Eric reads her a story Not sure there's enough room for them both???

Updates and Such

I admit that I've not quite kept up as much as I should. There's lots to report, so I'll try to post everything below in descending chronological order:

Tonight Eric and I went on a walk with the Moeller clan in Will's new wagon. Looks like we need something for Christmas!

Sadly, I report that this week I lost a dear friend. Stewart Owens died Thursday of gastric esophageal cancer. It might seem odd that I post this in the middle of fun stories of my family, but he was a great mentor and I feel I should at least honor him with the best tribute I can give. As former CEO of Bob Evans, Stewart was very down-to-earth; he would frequently give me career advice and sit down to have a cold beverage with me and other co-workers. I will miss his honesty, his laughter and his kindness. Our thoughts are with his wife and children.

Also this week, we felt the effects of Hurrican Ike. A hurricane in Ohio? Why YES! We didn't get the rain, but on Sunday we got 75 mph winds. The house is ok, but we had a neighbor's tree fall into our back yard. Yikes! Luckily it turned out fine and brought the community a little closer together.

Last weekend we went to Charleston to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Renee and Todd and threw them a stock the bar party. It was a blast! We can't wait for their reception in Morgantown!

Well, we're entering the plastic years. You know - when everything you buy is plastic because we have a toddler who climbs, throws, falls, etc. Our neighbor realized this and decided to give us her gigantic playset from when her kids were young. (see below) We love it and Eric LOVES it, but I think it's just a little too big for our back yard. Anyone need a playset?

Finally, thanks to our dear friends Tammy and Trevor (& Jake!), we were able to celebrate Tim's 30th birthday with a cookout at the Dean's new house with two of Tim's best friends. Chad and Marla probably thought we were nuts because we started at 5 and ended at 8, but I guess that's what happens when you have kids! Anyway, it was a really nice evening! We're so lucky to have such good friends!!

Marla and Jake Big J
Ladies Man Tim and Trev with the boys

Whew! That's it for now! :)

Beach vacation

We went for a week to the beach with the Ellis' and had a great time. Eric is definitely a beach baby! Here are the pictures of a great vacation! (Including Eric's black eye, which he got the first night when he decided he would stay up until almost 3am, and then got so tired he could barely stand...and fell and hit the table....)