Comings and Goings

GUYS. This month went so fast! I mean, time always flies, but I'm pretty sure I blinked and this month was over. Me working is amazing, but it makes us approximately a million times busier! Anyways, a post about me working is still in the works, so instead here's a post about some of the other things we've been up to.

I took the kids to the Zoo the other day (sans Jesse, which felt really brave, seeing as it was an hour's drive each way!). The kids were amazing though--they both snoozed in the car on the way there and Niko just played on the way back. Nikolai is at a great age for Zoo going--he's inquisitive about the animals but also is happy leaving after 3 hours of wandering. Sure, there was one minor tantrum and an almost-potty-accident, but all in all I called it a success.

Anyways, here's a grainy cell phone picture of our two sweeties in the double stroller that I hauled them around in all afternoon:

Even though I'm working, I haven't given up orchestra! Every week as I go to leave for rehearsal, I think "Oh, maybe I just won't go this week. I'd rather hang out at home tonight!" But then I get to rehearsal and we play the Russian Easter Overture by Rimsky-Korsakov and it's so pretty I'm moved to tears and I think "I'm so glad I came!" So even though it adds to our busyness, I'm still doing it!

Sunset has been happening earlier and earlier every day and the other day it was setting just as I was driving to rehearsal:

(Yes, I took this while driving. No, I don't do that on a regular basis. Yes, it was irresponsible. But LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS!)

I'm still doing that awesome swap with my friend Nycole (She watches our kids when I work and vice versa). She lives in our neighborhood so three times a week I pack the kids into the running stroller and wheel them over there (though sometimes Niko insists on riding his bike, like a "big boy"). This is my view when I do:

Because we just LOVE being busy, we signed Niko up for a 5 week once-a-week preschool soccer class last month. It just ended, which is probably for the best. He enjoyed it some weeks, but also spent an entire class one week (40 minutes) throwing a fit and refusing to play. The final week, he played about half the time and spent the other half pretending to be an Alien Space Bug (they were having an outer space soccer adventure, so it wasn't out of nowhere). I thought about encouraging him more earnestly to play what the teachers were playing ("Use your soccer ball to explore Venus!" "Push the big red ball and blast off! Run as fast as you can!") but then I was just glad that he was playing imaginatively outdoors, so I let him be.

I have to say, his teachers were really excellent though. They were both goofy Scotsmen who knew just how to make a bunch of 3 year olds laugh. Coach Martin frequently pretended to be strange and silly creatures, including an alien bent on stealing the kids' soccer balls:

Overall, I think we learned that it's good to get Nikolai to try new things, and to allow him space to sometimes not enjoy them.

One final coming and going: the leaves in our neighborhood! The photo from below was taken 2 weeks ago, and all those leaves are now on the ground. 

I do so like fall, but its glory doesn't last long!