Tales from Mommy Merrill: Fall fun and new tricks!

Well - it's been a typical Florida fall so far, highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s so you won't see any pictures in the post with leaves and fall jackets!

Somehow the month of October has just FLOWN by! Drew is getting to be such a big boy - so independent, saying lots of new words and suprising us every day with his new little talents.

One of his latest loves is getting behind the wheel! (He may have got this from his mom...I recall a story from when I was a kid... maybe 5 or 6 yrs old and I took Wendy for a drive in Ronda's car, down a big hill at the farm... oh, and then a repeat offence when I was 14 on my school permit - driving my friends to the neighboring town!) Drew referres to anything with a steering wheel as a 'BEEP BEEP'

With the weather being so beautiful and Ronnie around more - we have been able to spend some time enjoying the Hunter's Green Golf Club. Whenever we go there to eat, Drew heads straight out the back looking for balls on the putting green and a BEEP BEEP to jump in!

He even figured out how to press the revers button... look out!

There are some pictures below from a pumpkin patch - and I have to share the story here... so a few weekends ago we decided it would be fun to take Drew to a local pumpking patch. Last year Aunt Melissa and Kelby were here and we went to THE SMALLEST PUMPKING PATCH EVER... it was such a joke! I thought surely there must be some better ones in Florida! So....I heard that there was a really nice one Ruskin, FL. I told Ronnie to look it up online - I was sure of the name or the exact address (please note: Lesson number one, never let your husband search the internet for these sorts of things). So away we went..................into a very bad part of town...............with very weird people working there...................with about 20 more pumpkins than the patch we were at last year.

HA! Needsless to say, we didn't drive up to this magical pumpkin land with hot apple cider, games for the kids and hayrides like I had imagined. It was off of busy highway in a bad part of town. Go figure! Maybe 3rd time is a charm and we'll find that fairy tale pumpkin patch next year :-)

Drew and daddy picking out a pumpkin!

Of course he had to pull the wagon around...it was almost like a 'BEEP BEEP'

Hey mom - don't get the background of this place in the picture....

We of course made the best of this interesting place! However - we did end up taking a bale of hay home! After I tried telling Ronnie that it would be a huge mess and it's not a good idea - we ended up with one in the trunk (our compromise was that he wanted to buy 2 and I insited on just 1).

It's sitting by our front door with a few pumpkins on it - so it actually looks really festive! What we are going to do with it after Thanksgiving/Fall season... I'm not sure???!!!!

Yes - this is Ronnie trying to be an Iowa guy in Florida.

That same weekend we decided it was time to take Drew to the zoo! The weather was perfect and we hit up the petting zoo, the safari, saw penguins and big turtles! Drew loved it -- his thing all day was 'WHOOOOOAAA' -- he would say that everytime he saw a new animal. ....'WHHHOOOAAA.' So cute.

WHOOAAAA

WHOOAAAAA

October is also the month that mommy takes her big work trip out to Arizona. In preparation for the trip - Drew thought he would help me get my business cards organized. What a little helper!

Of course he tried to sit cross legged on the step. So comfortable?!

Another new talent, aside from driving the golf carts is Drew's golf game! Ronnie played in a tournament a few weeks ago and at the end they did a championship drive so we followed all the golfers around. In between shots - Drew got out of the cart and hit his ball! He learned how to say golf club that weekend.. it sounds more like 'glot glug' -- haha!

Hangin' with mommy! (notice his coozie -- gotta keep that wa-wa cold!)

Last week we had a special treat with a visit from Ra-Ra and Harry! We had such a great time with them! It happened to be the night of the Halloween Extravaganza at the club so we went to that then of course Drew showed off his golfing skills at the putting green! This child is obsessed with balls!

Ronda and Drew were having a little chat by the pool -- Sammy was trying to get in there to hear the story too :-)