Mobile Moments: Violins, Memories, and Molly is Weird Part 5002

So, I totally forgot to get Mike to share his album of our trip sooooo you get THIS. AUTUMN PLAYING THE VIOLIN.


Sunday was pretty fun. We got to skype Uncle Brad and he and Autumn played a Twinkle Twinkle duet. I should have recorded it but I did get a photo! I know a lot of people aren't fans of social media, technology, and other advances but, personally? I love it.

Last week we had Autumn as Fancy Nancy. This week we have mismatch day! Autumn got to participate for reaching her AR goal, yay! There are things I miss about Autumn over the years as she has grown up way too rapidly. One of the big things is when she had that cute cartoon sounding voice. I think another thing I'll miss is when she doesn't play dress up all the time. But then...maybe she'll be like me and wear a costume every chance she gets!

Okay, I have to post this video that's on my youtube page of Autumn and her cartoon voice.


Sigh. Anyway, we got pie Saturday. Autumn ROLLED through her piece. It was kind of amazing. I almost didn't get her a piece of her own but, holy cow, I am glad I did. I wouldn't have gotten any! This child eats as much as I do and I eat a LOT. If you are ever in the Germantown area, be sure to stop by Pie Folks. It's good stuff!

Other than eating and skyping and violining, Autumn is still doing her kiwi crate every month (um, if you're ever tempted to buy a subscription or a crate, go to my other blog and click the banner!). This crate was pretty fun. She made a hobby horse! I have no idea where it went but before we even started, Autumn lost one of the ears. She named the horse Holy after our friend's cat. The cat has a damaged ear so they named her Holyfield. Recently, I explained to Autumn, at her request, the reason behind the name. "So there was this boxer named Mike Tyson and he was CRAZY and there was this other boxer named Evander Holyfield. Well, one day..."

Oh, and speaking of cats, if you were wondering how Molly is doing, she has a new hobby. She found the unpaired sock basket. So now we find socks in random places all over the house. The strange thing is that we have never actually seen her carrying the socks. I don't know when she does it or why. It's kinda funny and weird. One day last week we came home to Molly standing over an entire pile. Maybe it's like how some cats bring chipmunks? Molly brings SOCKS.

A Night with the Phantom! Or, Autumn's First Girls Night Out

Today is our fashion issue! Autumn and I went shopping last week which **never** happens but it was picture day and everything was either too small or didn't fit the dress code. Autumn absolutely fell in love with this hat. I didn't have the heart to tell her no so we got it and a couple of outfits to match with picture day and our trip to Phantom of the Opera in mind. I love this outfit so much! I just wish she could have worn the hat in her pictures. Too fun.

It was a little warm on Saturday for the dress but there was no way Autumn wasn't going to wear the hat. She has worn it every day since Wednesday, except for today!

Mike and I went to Phantom some time ago so this time around it was just my mom, Autumn, and me. Autumn was pretty pumped. She kept grinning and saying it was her first real girls night. I figured since this was our first time and will be a rare event so we did dinner, dessert, and the whole nine yards. We went to The Beauty Shop Restaurant in Midtown. It was good! I'd definitely go back.

At the Orpheum! We were stopped by several people who told us how cute Autumn's outfit was! She's not a huge fan of that kind of attention. Once she had on cat eye glasses and took them off because too many people were looking at her. Apparently Autumn likes the hat so much that she didn't want to take it off despite the staring.

After I bought the tickets, I was concerned that I made a terrible mistake. Autumn hates movies. She's even scared of Frozen even though she loves it! But, she has watched the 25th anniversary Phantom, loves listening to Broadway on Pandora and is all classical with her ballet and violin plus I just want her to like theater so I have someone to go with (Mike only goes occasionally!). Thinking about her issues with noise and potentially scary parts, I got tickets in the top balcony on the front row. It worked out really well because we could see right down on the stage and it was far enough away to not be freaky. Plus she could see the violins playing and she was amazed. She kept saying wow throughout the whole show!

Autumn jumped once or twice but never got scared or covered her ears which I'm going to take to mean that all my preparation via YouTube videos of potentially scary parts worked. She even danced along with Masquerade! It was awesome and I wish I could have gotten video of it. Afterward, Autumn told me it was better than a movie. We all had a great time. It was my mom's first time to see Phantom, too, by the way. I think I like the old version a little better--more of a spectacle, *possibly* slightly less campy but that could be me--but it was still super fun and the new, rotating stage is fascinating. I'd love to see how it works up close. Saturday went so well that I'm kind of almost thinking maybe Autumn would enjoy seeing The Lion King in the spring. We'll see!! Oh, and check this out. Autumn never falls asleep in the car but her very first girl's night tired her right out. :)

Friday Field Trip Fun

Friday was 66 degrees. In July. IN MEMPHIS. I was so disappointed that it was raining because we were supposed to meet friends at the zoo. We ended up over at the Pink Palace for their new bug exhibit. Oddly, Autumn liked the real spiders better than the fake ones which is oddly consistent. Remember this? And you should totally click that link because it's adorable. Back to today, Autumn and I did the spider cutout. Look at her side-eyeing my happiness.

Because I'm an embarrassing mom, I made her pretend like she was going to eat me.

Um, the kids had fun, too.

I promise I wasn't hogging the stage. :)

We went to lunch after the Pink Palace and by the time we were done eating, the rain stopped. It was only 1pm, we were already in East Memphis, and, seriously SIXTY SIX DEGREES. So we went to the zoo. Mimi had to go on home so Aurora could nap which was too bad but Sara was able to stay so Autumn had someone other than her crazy mom to hang out with. We saw this new bird feeding spot. It was a dollar for a feeding stick so I let Autumn get one. I am so glad I did! Check out the three birds!

Autumn was pretty good with the birds. She stood still and stayed calm the whole time. She was also patient with holding the stick out to tempt the budgies.

I had to include this because Jeffrey looks so happy and look at that cool bird takeoff! Plus, check out Autumn's travel outfit. She decided to be Fancy Nancy that day. She wore about 6 necklaces and some bracelets. Plus rain boots and rain coat.

The zoo was really empty so there was no line for camel rides. Last year I asked Autumn if she wanted to try and she said no. I can't remember if we were there with friends so it was either Autumn getting braver or the confidence of having a friend. Autumn loved it. They got to see a baby camel with a back mohawk running around, too!

Sara and I laughed so hard at the kids because they were all about pictures. They kept stopping for photo ops, like we were paparazzi or something.

Autumn doesn't quite have majestic explorer pose down but check out Jeffrey.

I might have to edit this one a little and give Jeffrey a copy. So cute!

More majestic exploring. I thought I had one of Autumn venturing forth but I seem to have caught her in the process of becoming majestic.

Look at the wolf!! She was chilling there on the ledge so we could see her so close up. There's a plexiglass wall in front of the rail where the kids are. It kind of looks like the wolf could just hop over!

SIGH. School starts in 2 weeks. I am not ready. I love having Autumn at home. Hopefully it'll be an easy transition. We have been doing some math, science, and writing over the summer to keep us both in practice. This is one of the projects from her Young Scientists Club subscription. I got it half off and so far we're enjoying it. We're enjoying it more than the math book we're working through, that's for sure!!!

Labor Day Fun

Autumn stops doing it every time I try to take a picture, but right now she's going around the playroom pretending to be a warcraft paladin. She and I made a character today and we did 2 quests. It was so fun! We've actually had a fun holiday weekend even though we didn't go out of town. Friday, we got to go to a Mexican restaurant I like and Saturday we went swimming!


We had a great time and before we left, Mike and I threw one of those fuzzy balls that you catch with a velcro frisbee looking thing. While we did that. Autumn took a raft, stacked some stuff on top and crept around the pool pretending to be a silent sea monster. When anyone would see her, she'd put a finger on her lips and go "shhh."


It was this kind of raft in case anyone is wondering how she managed this sea creature business.


Mike joined Autumn for a while. It was funny and weird with Autumn creeping around but with Mike it was kind of scary, hahaha.


After swimming, we made waffles! HELLO KITTY WAFFLES! I forgot how many tiny waffles one batch of batter makes so we had about a zillion. I don't know if it was the afternoon outdoors or not but they were AMAZING.


AND, this week, Miss Autumn starts her pre-competition swim team! She's both excited and worried but she's going to be great! Her first time is during my aikido classes so I won't get to go. I'm so sad! But hopefully Mike will get a lot of pictures. When the swim cap and goggles came in, Autumn was pretty excited.


The above picture is funny but this one is cute, too:


Oh, and in case anyone is interested in trying it out, one gym has hired me to teach a class! I'll be at the Germantown United Methodist Owning's Life Enrichment Center on Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30 starting September 10. We're going to try a new class called PowerKick which is a combination of fitness kickboxing and strength exercises. It should be fun! We'll see how it goes for 6 weeks and then evaluate. The first two classes are free so I'd love it if people would come check it out. After that, the classes are really reasonable. I have some other interviews lined up, too, so hopefully I'll have more classes to tell you about!

Haha, right now Autumn is gathering items to be like her paladin--she has a sword, a fan for a shield, and the warcraft plush gryphon our community group gives us. Why did I just now get her to make a character??

Fall Fun

I love fall!! Even though I am cold almost every moment by this time of year, it is so beautiful and, at least here, we get little breaks from the cold! Earlier this month, we had a nice, warm day for Autumn's school field trip. Autumn looooooved getting to ride on the bus. She loved that I got to come along, too! Each parent got 2 or 3 kids to chaperone. I got Autumn and her friend Isabella.


By the way, this is Autumn's teacher. :) She is really, really sweet and Autumn loves her. Autumn had a tummy bug and missed two days of school last week. There was much sadness--Autumn kept lamenting about missing her teacher and PE!


We had way, way too much time during the field trip. Several schools went to the fall festival at the Botanic Garden. We had fun watching the other kids and doing the activities at the different stations but we probably could have taken an hour and a half instead of 3 hours. One of the moms and I tried to entertain our kids with games like duck duck goose.


They hung in there for a while but that last half hour draaaaaaaged. This is not a tiredness collapse. It's a boredom collapse!


Oh, and Autumn was Star of the Week this month! She made a collage of photos and stickers to hang in the hall. Wednesday, Autumn's teacher sent home a book with photos of the kids. At the beginning of the year, each family made a page for the book. Too cute! One day they had show and tell and another day Autumn got to bring her favorite book. Autumn's favorite was Thursday when she got to bring home Marvin the class mascot.


If you notice, there's another monkey there in a dress. Autumn had been calling that monkey Marvin because, apparently, Marvin would leave class and come spend the night with her. I asked her if she knew that Marvin is a boy but Autumn solved that problem with magic. He turns into a girl at night. Of course!

On that note, I'm calling it a night! Oh, one last thing:


STATIC!

Check out Passing Pinwheels! New hair, new items in the Etsy shop AND MORE.

In Which Autumn Discovers Her Latent Gymnastics Gene

Yesterday we got to go to Olivia's birthday party! I think we've talked about Frank and Emily here before. Frank is one of Mike's best friends from childhood and he was in our wedding. It's crazy that we're all grown up with kids and everything, haha. Anyway, Olivia just turned 3 and they celebrated at the Little Gym. Autumn had a good time. A seriously good time. She hung upside down some.


Bounced a little.


Got smushed in a kid and bouncer taco.


But every single time she had a chance, Autumn headed back to her true love: the balance beam.


At first she went across with Mike holding her hand but after that she was all over that balance beam.


It was so funny, on one pass, Autumn totally fell off, bounced off the mat, and hit the wall. I know I shouldn't have but I laughed. She popped up and looked a little disgruntled but then she patted her head and yelled, "I AM OKAY!" Most of the time, though, she trucked on down, leaped off, and then did a front roll down the wedge crash pad at the end! Seriously, I'm going to have to get one for my kids' aikido class.


When she got tired, it was back to the beam for a rest. :)


Somewhere in between the balance beam and the party games, Autumn and Mike played some ball. I got this fun shot of Mike.


:) And the party ended with a hug for the birthday girl!


Don't forget to check out Passing Pinwheels to see what else we've been up to! I'm also hosting a self defense workshop in October. If you or anyone else you know might be interested, check it out!

trying something new

Old dogs can learn new tricks! This is my first attempt at blogging on my tablet. Mike has voted that I'll hate it but it's worth a try...my computer doesn't like that summer came early and sounds like a jet engine every time I turn it on, haha.

This was a crazy week! Autumn had spring break and Tyler was in town so we had lots of events planned. The week went great but ended with a bang. Poor Miss Autumn spent Friday night throwing up all night. Until 3am. We joked with Mike's parents that they kept her healthy until she was home with us. :) Poor thing is feeling much better. Enough better that she's chafing against her tummy protecting diet.

Aaaanyway. Our first big trip was the zoo! We got to see these guys:


This is what Tyler thought...


And this is what Autumn thought. She said that she didn't mind the dinosaurs but thought the roaring was too loud.


It was pretty warm out so most of the animals were just chilling out. I love the lens Mike got me for Christmas because it makes it so easy to get shots like this. I mean,this is totally a Molly expression.


And how adorable is this guy? He sat way up in his tree staring right down at us.


I always enjoy the meerkats and take too many pictures of them :)


This is for Mike. He loves goats.


Autumn wasn't overly impressed with the cow smell.


These two...they crack me up. Autumn played princess most of this trip and rode in her royal carriage aka the wagon. So this is a rare photo of her actually standing.


The china exhibit is so fun. I like the otters almost as much as the meerkats. They weren't very active but for real they are just as cute sleeping.


If you read the latest post on my other blog (passingpinwhels.com!), this is the kind of monkey Autumn looked like when she was a baby.


Mike's parents got a nice picture with Autumn and Tyler...


My mom and I? We got this...Autumn trying to choke hold us and devour our brains.


We also went to the children's museum. There was much fishing...


And Cathy and Samuel got to come! The kids scattered after this,haha, so I have almost no photos of them all together.


Autumn spent some time "bein' a mama" in a her-sized grocery store.


And then she climbed the giant cat tree thingie. A lot. And when she got out 2-ish hours later, she said, "I don't think I can go that high." And didn't believe me when I told her she did, in fact go that high.


Right before heading out, Autumn wanted to try out the fire truck and police vehicles. First up, the motorcycle!


And then it was Tyler's turn.


I giggled at this photo but it was really terrible quality so I fiddled with it a bit.


I giggled at this one, too...isn't Tyler wearing such a Boppa expression? When Autumn saw this she said, "we're police and Tyler is my partner!"


This is what Hudson thought about all of it. :)


Me, too! I think it's bedtime...

(Incidentally, Mike was right, blogging on the tablet...I might be too wordy for it!)