ZOO

Last Sunday we took River to the zoo. We have taken him once before but he was too young to enjoy it. We all had a fun time and the weather was nice, just a little cool. River loved being at the zoo, walking around and exploring but was really not interested in the animals. Brian and I had high hopes of watching his excitement at the animals. That was not to be. We even got to see them feeding the whales. As we were leaving the aquarium we got to see a shark open it's mouth to let the little fish clean it's teeth. That was very neat and Brian got a great picture. After a quick tour of the animal exhibits and aquarium River played at the kids area. He had a blast. It was good to spend a sunny day outside enjoying each other's company.

First Movie

Brian had Tuesday off work for Veteran's Day. After getting our new camera we just couldn't make ourselves go back home. It was a grey, rainy day. We decided to go to "The Rock" for pizza. It happens to be right next to the movie theater. In an effort to pass the rainy day Brian suggested that we try to take River to a movie. Madagascar 2 was playing. We got our tickets and got settled in. River seemed to be excited about being there. The previews started and he was amazed. That wore off quickly. Soon, the seats became the most interesting part. In a effort to refocus him Brian took him to get popcorn. He liked that and sat still for about 10 minutes. A bit more restlessness a few attempts by us to point out the movie and now River is most interested in hanging out in the aisle. That didn't last long. He noticed that the theater is sloped and proceeded to run up and down the "hill". We decided it was time to leave. Really, we got through about half the movie and it was more success than we hoped for. Once outside River had a meltdown because he did not want to leave and wanted to watch the movie that he hadn't paid any attention to. I guess he had fun. Brian and I enjoyed ourselves too. It was a fun day and a great distraction from the rain.

Halloween

Our camera broke at the pumpkin patch. I am waiting to get pictures from family to post. River was the CUTEST scarecrow. He just looked adorable. We had such a fun Halloween. We started the evening by going to our 2 neighbors. River knows all about candy now so he was very interested in getting into his pumpkin to get at the candy. After that we headed to Centralia. Our first stop was to meet Aunt, Uncle and cousins for trick or treat at the outlet mall. There were so may kids dressed up. River was in wide eyed amazement. He was so busy looking around and taking it in that he didn't even care about getting candy. With just a bit of instruction he followed his cousins from store to store to get his candy. He seemed so big! Next stop, Grandma and Papa's for pizza and more tick or treating. After showing off costumes and taking a break for some food we went around the nieghborhood. River was so cute following his cousins and jockeying for position at the door steps. We lucked out with NO rain. It had rained earlier in the day but we had a nice evening and night. We were able to spend more time back at Grandma's and Papa's checking out the loot and just having fun. River fell asleep in the truck on the way home.

October

Somehow the month of October got away from me. I did manage to take the time to get a few pictures of River.

River has learned to pedal his trike all by himself. He took a few independent pedals while Brian was away in September, but these pictures show his first "real" bike riding.

Aunt Lori's Birthday at the Olympic Club, Centralia

Our visit to the pumpkin patch. We go to Hunter's right down the road. It was a gorgeous day. In addition to getting pumpkins, River got to go on pony rides, a train ride and see the animals. Just like last year his favorite part was riding the tractor to and from the patch.