Not sure what to make of ma and pa’s skeleton decoration
Building the birthday Millennium Falcon
Piloted by the coolest Chewbacca minifig ever
Go strap yourself in, Des is going to make the jump to light speed
Eleanor proudly showing off her artwork
Poke bowls!
There had been big talk and practice for Desmond’s first camping trip, but unfortunately mother nature wasn’t quite cooperating for a the perfect fall overnight (rain, low temps). Dad had taken the day off to chaperone Des’ class trip day to the very same pumpkin patch as Monday, so he floated the idea of having a special adventure- going out to the lake, canoeing, picnic, hiking. Des’s decision was instant, and turns out, it was the perfect fall day for a lake adventure.
Dad has been canoeing a lot in his life, including the merit badge for which he tipped a canoe over on purpose, flooded it, then emptied the water from it while treading water. But Des sitting ready mid-hull gave dad pause, much like that first time driving your first born home from the hospital and fear reassesses one’s driving skills. Instinct kicked in quickly though and the first father/son canoe shoved off.
What do you do after the newness of paddling in the middle of a lake wears off? Go scout the coast for wildlife. “Ahoy captain, there be turtles!”
It was also quite windy- the canoe was facing north when dad had pulled the paddle out of the water and due west in this picture.
Arrowhead Lake is about 25 minutes east of Council Bluffs and the first spot dad camped with grandpa, just beyond the right side of the photo-
There will be other days for learning camp cooking, this was a picnic for maximum fun and yumminess
When dad had returned from packing the car, Des was just chilling in his chair, watching the geese
He’s clearly ready to go hiking
Scoping a few good spots for the (hopefully) nice camping trip in the spring
Starting what ended up being a fairly long trek
Critter stop, as you do
Des surveying the campsite dad and his friends usually select
Another caterpillar! He was pretty excited to see so many furry friends
Have to have a good hiking stick
Photo credit: Desmond, via the remote
Dad pointing out where he first camped
A core memory for sure.
“Sure Des, you can walk down and throw stuff in the lake.” This could have ended poorly, but didn’t.
Dad: While I felt in denial of this adventurous boy turning four (mourning or whatnot the bumbling toddler days clearly past), today’s new experience left me so giddy for the future. Though the perfect fall weekend for his first night camping wasn’t in the forecast this year, it was the perfect fall day for a lake, canoe (!), picnic, hike and nature exploration. My soul is finally at peace with our Desi turning four- and all the new days, treks and conversations it will bring.
He was out before completing the first mile on the interstate
Ella continuing her joy/fear relationship with the car wash, this time with preemptive hand-holding that began before even entering
“Hey sister, try to bounce on this balloon and pop it!” It ended just as you would expect.
Four-year check-up with Dr. Loucks- weighing in at 40 pounds and 3’6″ (85th %)
Ella is now able to get up the stairs all by herself, so it’s endless loops on the slide
“Here dad, I raked you a leaf!”
Ms. Becky welcoming Desmond back
Making sand cakes with the help of Des’ BFF’s little sister and Ella
This fall’s hottest new trend- filling the recycling bins with leaves. Des indicates that his bin is full, despite Eleanor’s enthusiasm. Fortunately there are two bins.
Desmond chose yet again to spend his fourth birthday out of school on a special adventure with just mom and dad to… the pumpkin patch. While waiting for the tractor to depart, Des surveys the map
Cold and muddy, he’s undeterred on his quest for the perfect pumpkin
The kind lady taking tickets at the gate, upon learning it was his birthday, offered Des a special birthday button. It took nearly 10 minutes for her to return with it, but clearly worth it.
Proud of his haul
While dad runs the pumpkins to the car, Des hops on another tractor ride
The now annual windmill photo, Des is notably more comfortable walking on grated surfaces 🙂
He was a bit trigger happy, though some apples made contact with the steel pumpkin and black cat silhouettes
While last year’s climb to the top was immediately followed by walking down the stairs, this time Des was all about the Big Slide
The yellow barn was the same loud, pneumatic chaos of foam ball fury
Desmond was endlessly tickled by the horse with what appeared to be dog-like patience and interest in pellet treats. The swing-arm feeding tray that he could control likely also played a role in his ear-to-grin and giggle fits.
Gotta feed the goats…
…but there’s no one like his #1 pal
Able to peddle his own way around the trike track with dad needing to push. It was a lot of fun until he didn’t understand that one must yield to pedestrians loading/unloading at the beginning :/
Refueling with some sandwiches and a pickle
The equivalent “fun” of paddle boats, Des enjoys the ride as mom and dad peddle (with their knees to the chest) what can be best described as a manual dune buggy. Mom takes the wheel as dad engages in vehicular photo shenanigans
Practicing his mastery of the force in the corn pit
Much more confident as a four year old, Des really enjoyed the bounce pads
Duck racing, as you do
Snack break for some apple cobbler and ice cream
It’s not a John Deere, but it’ll do
Mom and dad weren’t sure how this was going to go…
There’s sometimes a fine line between thrill and terror, but Des clearly landed on exhilarating!
To be fair, no one in Team Llama got over a condescending “bumpkin”
About sums up the day-
Opening family presents
Des first Hot Wheels track!
His own music station, for mixing his noise-scapes on a whole new level
Yeah, that’s fun
Continuing the tradition of birthday cupcakes
After half a cupcake, Ella get’s pretty wild
What was certain to be a good omen, Desmond starts his birthday party day with the season’s first snowfall. On a trip with dad to nab folding chairs, Des also gets a special birthday hot chocolate
All warm
A young Jedi recreating a scene in Star Wars
Eleanor is in a phase where any material, regardless of how small, is either spread out as a blanket to lay on or cover something that is “going sleepy”
Ella is as surprised as everyone else that the snow is sticking and begins to accumulate
What dad thought would be just a nice background (while Beatles played on the speakers) ended up being an early focal point of the birthday party
Getting pigtails with aunt Megan, who is significantly more skilled than mom and dad
Snack picnic
When originally prompted for birthday theme ideas, Des, almost without thinking, replied “Star Wars and Rainbows.” Safe to say, mom and dad’s baker friend nailed it. Mom took to the next level with action figures.
Ella and pa negotiating terms for sharing chips
One can only assume he’s wishing to watch Empire Strikes Back. Or for real-life dinosaurs…
Ella showing off her fork skills for great-grandma Jan
Action figures rivaling cake and ice cream for attention
When you’re so cute, everyone offers you a bite of cake
Desmond solicits help from Liam reading cards
Making the rounds
Mom demonstrating how the R2-D2 candy dispenser works
Hug pile with ma
And the party inevitably ends in some sort of balloon-oriented mayhem
(Mom gets award for best birthday installation)
Eleanor susses out the new crow on ma and pa’s front porch
Literally years in the waiting, Desmond finally gets to watch to watch Star Wars on the eve of his fourth birthday. In all of history, there has never been a more well-informed pre-schooler on the primary and more subtle plot points. Beyond general knowledge, Desmond and dad had even been re-reading/studying the stories before bed in preparation. With Eleanor spending the evening with grandma, and having borrowed a subwoofer from pa, it was finally time for the opening score and crawl-
A boy first seeing R2-D2 and C-3PO landing on Tatooine
Ok, the first scene or two with Darth Vader may have been a bit intense…
…but there’s comfort and support
After the first intermission, reinforcement stuffies arrive
“The Force will be with you. Always.”
Everyone piles in bed for a Daniel Tiger story while mom’s at an Edgar Allen Poe reading at Joslyn Castle
