Time to TOT!

Happy Halloween! Our week consisted of a back-up candy-corn costume for my daycare party ...

... and some themewear for Finn, too.

We TOT'd around the Square on Friday as most businesses opened their doors to little ghosts and goblins and the like. Finn and I tried to get a decent side-by-side shot ...

... but more often than not we ended up like this.
While my corn costume merely got the job done, Finn's costume was a big hit among the TOTers.

After Mom worked on my real costume all day Saturday, I finally made the reveal on our way to breakfast this morning.

I successfully dodged Cruella and the Bad Guys during our breakfast outing and then sought refuge by the river and in the trees after I spotted Cruella's car on our street.

Although I had a blast and expended a lot of energy evading capture by Cruella, Finn thought the whole charade was pretty funny.

We also stopped for a few photos along the water ...

... before rushing home to scoop out slimy seeds and carve our pumpkin!

After a long afternoon of waiting, the time finally came to walk to the the park for the neighborhood costume parade ...

... and lots of trick-or-treating! I was quite into the treats this year - and managed to fill up my bag with all sorts of goodies. My lack of shyness was apparent as we walked through the night ... on more than one occasion I let myself into strangers' houses when they didn't answer my "Trick or Treat!" plea fast enough!

Hooray for dalmations! Hooray for candy! Hooray for Halloween!

Early fall

Finn says "hi."
He and I have been keeping busy by being busy ... puzzles (me), books (us), parks (us), tag-a-longs (me), Cougars (him) ...

... soccer (my daycare friend Jacinda is a new addition to the team) ...

... "I wanna do it myself"ing ...

... backyard projects ...

... and most recently, camping! We camped for a night last week on our way to spend the weekend with GMO and GDO in the Northwoods. I had a lot of fun hunting for fire wood, roasting "smeshmellows", sleeping in the tent, staying warm while waiting for breakfast ...

... and teaching Finn the finer points of outdoor living.

I set out on a few exploratory hikes in the State Park ...
... and saw lots of animal houses ...
... and, once the weather warmed up, shared a giggle with Mom and Finn ...

... and stayed true to my tee.

Despite the chyllie temps, I was excited about everything camping-related and am already anxious for my next opportunity to roast a "smeshmellow!"

Time for fall

A lot has happened over the past month, including a repeat of the "No Cars! Just Bikes!" day in our city. Even more bikers came out to celebrate a car-less city than back in June! Hooray for bikes! Hooray for Madison!

Speaking of bikes ... NC!JB! signalled the apparent end of my Cougar'n ways. I am now all about the tag-along!

Dad and I head out just about every day ... either to the grocery store, the bakery, the bike shop, Betsy's house, the park, the hardware store, or wherever else we feel like. I work really hard to help out with the pedaling but full rotations are still a work in progress.

Despite deserting Finn in the Cougar, I still love being a big sister and smother him constantly with kisses and the rest of my body.

Speaking of Finn, he now smiles just about every minute that he's not hungry.

Finn, Baby Belle and I had a special day with Mom on her last day of summer - we accompanied her to "Mommy Yoga" down the street ...
... where Baby Belle ate just like all the other babies in attendance.

Since our school district said I was too young to take the fall swimming classes that their summer instructors told me to enroll in, I instead signed up for "3's on 3's" soccer. I'm of course not 3 yet, but I've been practicing my dribbling in the attic and have thus far fooled the authorities. My team's first practice was something to see - although I like to kick ...

... I hadn't quite figured out when to stop.

Our first game was 10 days ago on a cold and rainy Sunday ... and because only 3 of my team members showed up I had to play the entire game.

The whole idea of soccer being an actual competition was/is still a bit foreign, so although I managed to kick off just fine ...

... figuring out what to do next was a bit of a struggle (although spectator Finn didn't seem to mind).

And by "struggle" I mean the other team always stole the ball and scored.

To the tune of about 20 goals in the first half.

So first Mom and then Dad headed out on to the pitch to help keep me in the thick of the action ...

It didn't stop the little Pele's on the opposing team much, but I started to figure out how the game is played.

(One thing I didn't have to figure out was what to do with the after-game snacks. That was definitely the highlight of the day!)
The last week has felt a lot like fall and was spent in the wind at "Hair (Yahara) Park" ...

... getting gussied up for dancing and popcorn at Saturday's "Outdoor market" ...

... and playing soccer game #2. This time no parental assistance was needed and I made a few nice runs with the ball ...

... and used my speed to keep ahead of the older kids in pursuit. Not that it helped the overall result much, as the other team had a few 4 year olds that outscored us by 25 or so.

But I had a great time and great braids and great smiles and big high-fives afterwards. Hooray for soccer!