Holiday Season!

Here's Mitch making Green Jello Salad for Thanksgiving. He did a pretty good job and liked licking the spoon!

So we went to the Christmas tree lighting in downtown Portland the day after Thanksgiving (you know, the one where the FBI busted a potential terrorist). We got there pretty early and there was already a huge crowd of people. So we got a pretty good spot across the street from the square where the tree was but it was hard for Mitch to stay interested for an hour and a half while we were waiting! (they were a little late lighting it).

The above picture is the closest we could get to a self-portrait family photo.

Getting sleepy...

Ta-da!

Mitch mowing the lawn one day. He decided after a while that it was fairly difficult to mow the actual grass and instead turned to mowing the sidewalk. He went all the way to the end of the block and probably would have crossed the street if I hadn't turned him around!

Just a few pictures at the zoo. The baby elephant is the same age as Mitch and getting big too! We were pretty lucky we got to see them getting bathed! Mitch was pretty excited.

Just playing...

Here's Mitch singing some combination of "I've been working on the railroad" (which he calls "banjo song") and "The wheels on the bus" all while playing the xylophone. He is one talented kid!

Zoo Lights! The Portland Zoo decorates with millions of lights for the holidays. We met up with Mitch's friend, Gillian and her family to walk around and see them all. It was really pretty and at times I think I had more fun than Mitch did! It was cold but at least not rainy!

Sitting on the zoo train waiting to see the lights

Just some scenery pictures. We took a lot of pictures but only a few turned out really nice mainly because it was so dark and we were moving a lot.

More play time

Mitch and Elliot had a chance to hang out last Saturday; even though it was a bit wet we still took a wagon ride to the park. They did a pretty good job of sharing space in the wagon!

Swinging

The teeter-totter was a big hit with both boys-we balanced perfectly with moms and boys on each side.

Matt and Mitch went to the airport to watch planes and play a bit. Above, Mitch at the end of a moving walkway which he apparently ran back and forth on many times. Below, Mitch drinking "coffee" on the train (actually water).

Halloween!

Mitch is such a snuggler! Here he is doing just that with Ginger (and we greatly appreciate her tolerance of it!)

Painting his pumpkin for Halloween

Mitch is now in a regular bed! He was so excited to sleep with a pillow and a big blanket! The transition has been good so far and the bed rail (even though not the cutest) has been a good reminder for where the edge of the bed is!

Mitch really wanted to be a dinosaur for Halloween this year. Thanks to our friends we were able to take a frog costume and doctor it up with accessories from a dinosaur puppet and voila! Mitchosaurus!

Practicing his roar

We went trick-or-treating in the dorms at one of the local colleges with Mitch's friend, Gillian. Mitch was really excited before and had lots of fun afterwards but was pretty overwhelmed while inside. He needed some coaxing to go up to the doors and didn't utter the phrase "trick or treat" even though he had practiced many times at home! I think this might be the only picture we have of the entire back of the costume.

Mitch and Gillian

Hugs

Mitch and dad downtown after dropping off our voting ballots

There are a bunch of bronze statues of animals downtown and here is Mitch, petting one of the deer.

He also decided he wanted to ride the deer and "hold on ears"

Nothing too exciting...

Mr. Sticker-nose...he kept this sticker on his nose from the time he got it (at Target) until the time we got home (about 20 minutes later).

Putting on "chapstick" with a pen cap

No, we weren't locked out of the house. Mitch had a fever and had been inside all day and was acting like he needed to get out for a while. It was raining and chilly but we decided it might be fun to read books on the porch while snuggling under blankets.

This is what it looks like when 2 parents are trying to get dinner ready and Mitch is left to play!

Pumpkin Patch etc.

"Ready to go" Pajama day at school

My sweet little boy...

We went to a pumpkin patch last Saturday, got a late start because Mitch took a long nap so we were there as the sun was setting. It was actually pretty cool, we rode on hay bales on top of flat beds pulled by a tractor which I think was the high light of Mitch's evening.

We weren't the only ones out there late though!

Mitch's pumpkin (still too heavy for him to carry back the whole way).