October 21st, 2018

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!

Lake Adventure

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.

 

October 18th, 2018

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!”

October 17th, 2018

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.

Des Fourth Birthday

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

May Des’ Fourth Be With You

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)

A New Hope

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.”

October 12th, 2018

Everyone piles in bed for a Daniel Tiger story while mom’s at an Edgar Allen Poe reading at Joslyn Castle