catching up on things

It has been so long since I've written. I don't want the blog to die off. A lot is going on here right now.

- China, our orange kitty, passed away two Fridays ago. He had kidney troubles and had been declining. That week, he started going downhill fast. He wasn't eating or drinking, and couldn't always keep things down. We took him to the vet and found he was in kidney failure. So, we took him home for one more day and then had to have him put to sleep the day after. It was hard to do that, but he was suffering and we couldn't let him suffer. He was 17 years old, and had a long and happy life.

- China used to dominate Izzy, our black and white cat. China was such a sweet personality. He was so friendly with people, and he was wonderful with the kids. But he was the boss of Izzy, and whenever they fought we would find big tufts of poor Izzy's fur around the house. We always thought Izzy was anti-social because he spent most of his time upstairs during the day. Now I think something about the Izzy-China dynamic prevented Izzy from being in China's territory. Because now, Izzy spends all day in the family room and seems to enjoy being around us all the time. We've misjudged Izzy, poor guy.

 - We've had some good weekend fun lately. Last weekend we went to a place (they call it a "farm") with all kinds of kids' activities. There are an enormous trampoline-type thing (and separate trampolines for little kids and bigger kids, which is fantastic), a corn crib to play in, hay rides, corn mazes, a cow train, and big tractor tricycle things to ride around a track. Very fun.

I got in the corn with them!

The farm is in a beautiful spot on the river, pretty at any time of year but especially with fall foliage.

- That weekend finished off with some pretend camping in coordinating bathrobes. If you want to see the cutest thing ever? I will lend you these bathrobes to put on your children for a night.

- This weekend, we've also done some fun things. On Saturday we went to a little local fair. It's very small, but good for us. We walk around, the kids get to do pony rides and face painting, there is a big tractor hayride, and Celia always gets some kind of balloon toy. This year it was an owl, because she is in the "Owl" class at school and therefore very interested in owls. So far her owl has been going places with us, has been fed and well taken care of, and has been sleeping on a bed Celia made on the floor of her room. I thought Henry might want a balloon toy too, but a gigantic dump truck caught his eye and somehow we ended up carting it home with us. It is, actually a pretty cool truck. It's really well-made with big wheels and a metal body, and today we discovered that it rolls down the hill in our yard all by itself. This is especially fun if we fill it with leaves or pine needles and send them down.

Henry getting his hand painted. He was so serious. Adorable.

On Sunday, we went to Tower Hill Botanic Garden for a fall festival. We have been there once before when Celia was a baby, and I think as the kids get older we will get a family membership and go often. It's such a nice place to walk around, with gardens, greenhouses, water, and trails. There are many events there throughout the year. A really nice place to visit and a fun place for kids to explore. There were some activities, and a room full of kids' craft activities. Celia made a fairy wand and crown, had her face painted with a fairy wand.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but there are some beautiful views. 

Henry sat in this chair and demanded lunch.

- We've also been doing a lot of dressing up lately. Henry, being the little brother of a girl, is almost always wearing at least one article of women's clothing.

He was waving his arms, telling me not to take his picture. Haha.

- Henry has gotten much better with markers in the last couple weeks. He used to color all over himself and everything around him: Everything but the paper. Now he does very well staying on the paper, and he and Celia color together for a long time almost every day. Henry also suddenly knows all his colors. He sometimes makes a mark or a circle, and tells me what it is that he drew (usually a man or a house).

This time, I got to fold laundry while I watched them draw.