Honestly, I look at these pictures and it seems so long ago, even though it was just last week! Thursday we spent the afternoon at the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls with my family celebrating my niece Abby’s 4th birthday! Nathan was so excited to go, he couldn’t take a nap. He told everyone that he was “going to the zoo to see mam-mimals!” It was a cool, cloudy afternoon, but the animals were out and active, and it was quiet and not too crowded.

I know everyone gets excited about the zebras, giraffes, tiger, leopard, rhinos, monkeys, and bears, but I thought the giant ant-eater was the most fascinating! One of the wolves was running back and forth, back and forth in his cage and Nathan thought he would be funny and do the same! Dan took a video of him going back and forth in time with the wolf, giggling here and there. One of the bears was enjoying a dip in the water, blowing bubbles at us through the glass plate, which was pretty fun to see. Abby was crowned “zoo princess for the day” when we got there, and welcomed presents at Pizza Ranch afterwards. It was such a fun day, full of memories and experiences!

In N&N news, can I just brag on Nathan for a minute?! I am so proud of his eating habits….he will pretty much eat anything and actually likes it. I don’t make kid food, so he just eats whatever I’m making for supper, but I never stop to be impressed by how he actually eats it and likes it! For example, he asked for two helpings of broccoli the other night…hallelujah! A few nights ago I made a zucchini curry soup….he had two bowls! Eggplant parmesan…yes, please! Salad with arugula, quinoa, shredded beets and carrots, feta and walnuts…downed it! I lean over to Dan and whisper things like…..”What 2 year old kid asks for more zucchini curry soup?!” and we smile at each other in shock and hope we don’t jinx it!

We have yet to see how Natalie will be, although so far she has eaten carrots, green beans, peas, pears, bananas, avocados, peaches, cherries, blueberries, and squash so far. I just got some sweet potatoes to add to the mix. Yum! She also likes to gnaw on bell peppers, carrots, watermelon and muskmelon rinds as a kind of chew toy/pacifier. Even though she is a toothless 9 month old who isn’t officially crawling, she can still find a way with raw determination to acquire whatever is out of her reach! She rolls, scoots, throws herself forward, leans, stretches, pulls herself up, does the splits….this girl is going places! She loves to read books, and can use those fine motor skills to hone in on where she should feel the fluffy kitty or bumpy lizard on the book. Now that she holds her own bottle, Nathan will climb up on my lap to read while I’m still holding her, and turn the pages for me. Aware of this, Natalie palms her bottle one handed, and uses her other hand to feel around, usually grabbing Nathan’s hair or eyes, or ears, which thankfully, he is amused by. The other day I had put them in the car to go to the Zoo and they were both “supposed” to be falling asleep since it was nap time, but instead Nathan was making funny faces and babbling and Natalie was just laughing hysterically! It was music to my ears!

Sunday was a miracle morning! Both of the kids slept until after 7:30am! It was wonderful! After church, we headed to a friend’s house in Beaver Creek for a little “harvest festival” complete with a potluck, pumpkin patch picking, apple cider, hot chocolate, bonfires, scavenger hunt and all around good time! The kids had a blast and we came home with a few pumpkins for decorating!

The transition to cold weather is always hard, especially when it’s wet and windy too! The kids are so used to being outside all the time, they have a hard time getting used to playing inside and finding inspiration in their toys, when Nature has been their playground for months! There’s been some whining, but all in all not bad, as I catch up on some projects and light cleaning, laundry and more canning! On the few nice days we are cleaning out the garden and harvesting the last of the veggies, beans and popcorn. I do LOVE fall! A nice cool, sunny morning is wonderful! I’ve had to scramble a little with the extreme shift in temperatures to find our winter gear, so Natalie had to sport some socks as makeshift mittens, but she didn’t mind at all!

And that’s the news from this zoo-and-pumpkins week on the farm!