Punkin Hunting

Now that we have August in our lives, we figured it would be a fun new fall family tradition to go to a pumpkin patch. I did some internet research and found a few prospects in the region that offered hay rides, some crafty photo opp's, other fall themed activities, and of course a slew of pumpkins to choose from. As the end of October drew closer, we realized that making the journey out to one of the bigger attractions wouldn't be the best use of our time, nor would August really care much. So, we opted to go to a traditional little pumpkin patch to find a couple of plump squash to potentially carve, or paint, or just rot in peace. We came across this great little patch in San Marcos that consisted of piles upon piles of voluptuous pumpkins nestled into the courtyard of an old Methodist church. Though August had just fallen asleep 5 minutes before we reached our destination, and was missing several key pieces of his outfit thanks to a hurried diaper change further up the road, it ended up being a great, peaceful little visit for the 3 of us. We had the whole patch to ourselves, the volunteers couldn't have been nicer, we picked one medium and one Augie sized pumpkin, and the beautiful overcast sky created the perfect backdrop for our inaugural hunting of the pumpkins!

Who Says you Can't Play Dress-Up With a Boy?

   

Week 37

This week was work/life as usual for the adults in our household, but for August it was a week stock full of exploration. With his new found crawl and mad pulling up skills, each day brings new discovery for our little man. He has declared the barstools as his jungle gym and spends his entire day chewing, climbing, and weaving his way through the legs. He's infatuated with testing the stability of the baby gate that covers the overlook downstairs. He thinks the dog food bowls and Kevin's house plants are his personal digging pits, and the dog water is his own wading pool. On top of the major dangerous finds of the week, he also spends a large portion of his day loudly double-checking the latches that his daddy installed in all of the cabinet doors and drawers. Finally, when he's tired of checking out new things to get into, he heads back to pulling the furry and loveable tails of his four-legged sisters. As scary as these new skills are, it's pretty fun to see how quickly he is gaining his independence and waking up to the world around him.

   

Transition

The oh-so brief transition from contentment to hunger

Week 36

This week was a much better week in the Gupton household. Our shower was 'completed' on Monday after 21 days of work,  August's new nanny joined us, Kevin was in town, and the weather was actually so chilly in the mornings and evenings that we've pulled out our lightweight jackets!

On the August front, he figured out the traditional hand/knee crawl. He had been managing just fine by scooting, but now that he has big boy crawling down, there is no stopping him. With his new found mobility, he has explored the kitchen, behind the couch, and as of today...daddy's indoor plants and the dog food bowls! He has also become quite the chatty-cathy. While he isn't forming words that we can understand, he is definitely babbling something of significance from first thing in the morning, quite loudly while playing, to right after we feed him his dinner at night. Every stage of his life really has been so fun to witness, and it just seems that although he is getting into more dangerous territory now, this age is just a glimpse of an entertaining and action-packed toddlerhood.

ACL music fest!

We were so excited to be taking August to the annual Austin City Limits music festival, right in our own backyard of Zilker Park. It was 3 days jam packed with gorgeous weather, delicious festival food, and fantastic musicians. Luckily for us, my mom decided to partake in the festivities again after a 2 year reprieve. We all went down to the park on Friday, mom and Augie stayed back at the house on Saturday for a day of recovery and preparation. And Sunday we loaded up the stroller and all headed down for another great day of music. This year was as good, if not better, than some of the years past. With the purchase of a 3 day wristband, we were able to hear: Blues Traveler, Miike Snow, The Black Keys, Beach House, the Strokes, Pete Yorn, Two Door Cinema Club, Broken Bells, The xx,  Monsters of Folk, LCD Soundsystem, Lance Herbstrong, Yeasayer, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's, Band of Horses, Norah Jones, and the Eagles. We couldn't have asked for prettier weather (though it did get a bit toasty at times), or better company with Mom and Augie. Even one of my dear college friends and her husband moved back from London just in time to join us. Fun was definitely had by all, and we're already looking towards future festivals.