Ernie's Camping Adventure

We finally took Ernie camping. We like to wait for cooler, less buggy weather, and we didn't want to take him before he was old enough to sleep with a blanket. So on Saturday we drove to Hamburg, Iowa to Waubonsie State Park. The weather was perfect, and Ernie loved being outside all day and saying "camping! camping!" over and over. He slept great in the tent . . . Until Mom and Dad joined him at 10:30. Then he played jungle-gym on our sleeping-bagged bodies for the next four hours before somehow finally falling back to sleep himself. Apparently we're just too much fun to sleep through. Several times I woke up to a giggling boy saying "Pac! Pac!" (short for pacifier, of course) and jamming a Soothie into my lips. He's still recovering from the lost sleep, but he loved camping nonetheless.

Mt. Michael Fall Festival

We all went to Jeremy's alma mater for their annual fundraiser Fall Festival. There was way too much fun stuff for us to even try to experience it all. But Ernie's favorite things were the tractor pulled hayrack ride and riding a horsie. On the horse he kept passing other riders and telling them "Horsie!" as if they did not already appreciate the shared experience enough. Afterwards he promptly asked "Again!" He now draws horsies almost as much as he draws buses (for the record, it's a bunch of scribbles but he'll tell you its either a horsie or a bus).

Just being Ernie

Just a few shots of Ern on the porch yesterday. He loves being outside and to pretend he's fixing his tractor and strollers.

Farm Days

On a tractor with our loveable corncob.
Did I just see a TRACTORBUS?!?!?!?!
Consider the tractor parade . . .

Last weekend we went to Carsten Farm Days with the g-'rents Mohrs. Among the hundreds of tractors (our most over-used word of the day) was the model of perfection in Ernieland: a school bus pulled by a tractor forming a TRACTORBUS!!!!!!!!!!!

So rad.

We bought almost $100 in Oilver Tractor merchandise (we're like Harley groupies at Sturges, except not at all badass) and loved every minute.

We also pet two giant Belgium horsies. If you ask Ernie if he went to a farm, he'll scream "Horsies!" at you. We wonder if he didn't realize how real and huge they actually are after only seeing them in picture books and on Aunt Jan's quilt?

It still fits!

This proves that we need to work harder at growing. The awesome bear costume Grandma Bonnie made for us last year STILL FITS us. It's for sizes 6-12 months. We're officially 18 months now. But doesn't Ern look cute in it!?!?!

Dining out

We recently tried a meal out, which was mostly a disaster, but Ernie did learn to drink from a straw!

Swerszeks!

We got to spend some time with the Swerszek kids recently! Robbie is super fun, and we are still saying his name (big boys leave big impressions) and we realized how much we can love whipped potatoes as long as Kathleen makes them. Mom needs her recipe secrets. Alex is such a mover, and we love how she grunts for her food! And Lorelai is so sweet and shared her baby doll with us.