The Zoo

It was a very cold day at the zoo, but the animals didn't seem to mind much.  Once you've been to the San Diego Zoo it's difficult to be impressed by any other, but the Atlanta Zoo was perfect for Mason.  He was able to walk the entire thing without one of us having to carry him (although once we were out of the park, we did carry him back to the car).

Mason was in awe of the big gorillas!

We saw flamingos, lions, rhinos, meerkats, kangaroos, and then it was off to the petting zoo.

We ended the day at the zoo playground.  No outing is complete without a stop in the playground. And he's picking up the "ladies" already.

The Beanie Debut

Mason likes to put hats on other people.  He even thinks it's funny when the dogs have hats on, but don't even think of putting a hat on Mason's head.

Aunt Melissa bought Mason a cute little University of Richmond beanie months ago, but Mason refused to go anywhere near it.  Much like the coat, it took extremely cold temperatures and a stubborn child's desire to play outside.  

We both won - - I got the hat on his head and he got to play outside.

Finally a coat!

We purchased the "fireman" rain jacket weeks ago, but Mason refused to put the jacket on. I have been worrying ever since that he would freeze this winter...but he now understands what cold means and understands the purpose of the jacket.

Not only does he LOVE the jacket, but he thinks he's a fireman when he wears it and wants to ride his fire truck everywhere.

Man's bestfriend...

Few things are sweeter than watching a 21 month old love on his "pups". Mason roams the yard with Walter, looking for sticks, rocks, and tennis balls. He then sits under the trees to rest with Josephine.



Now, I'm not really sure where he thought he was going to go in the wheel barrel...but it did make for some cute pictures.

Mason's First Halloween

We carved pumpkins Thursday night, roasted pumpkins seeds, ate pumpkin cookies and pumpkin seeds (once they cooled).




Our hopes weren't too high for Halloween festivities. Mason refuses to wear jackets, hats, gloves, or anything out of his normal, daily wardrobe. We bought Mason's pirate costume last weekend and left it laying around the house in hopes that he would "warm" up to the idea of wearing a costume.

He loves pirates, emphatically shouts "arggggggggh" whenever asked what a pirate says. He even tried to get the rest of us to don his pirate costume.

Well, with a little strength and stubbornness (on my end) I got Mason into his pirate costume. Once I had him convinced that he was the "coolest", he relaxed a bit and even insisted on putting the pirate boots on! ...dressing Josephine as a princess helped too!

ARGGGGH!

Trick or Treating is a whole new experience when you're following a 2-year old from door to door. It took Mason 2 or 3 houses before he got the idea that people were handing out yummy treats, just for ringing the doorbell. However, he wanted to eat the candy on the spot. So, as we went from door to door, we stopped every couple of houses and sat on a stranger's stoop and ate a piece of candy. Mason reports that milk duds are "so good!" and "chocolate, good."