Fall!!!!

Oh, golden trees, how I love thee . . .

Last year when Mimi was in Kiddie College she began playing "school" at home.  She pretended to be Miss Kelly, and I can remember her asking, "Mommy, what is the season?" to which I would respond, "Fall."  Then she would say with much enthusiasm, "What did you say?!  Say it louder!!"  And I would have to yell, "Faaaaallllllll!!"  And I was quite happy to yell about my favorite season.;)  And I'm even happier that my blog is finally catching up.  Fall!!!!

Mimi started her soccer classes at Lil Kickers again, and we had plans for Mack to love it as much as she does.  He had other plans.  Those plans were not joining the class and running away at every chance.  After 15 minutes of this, Clint threw the little monkey over his shoulder and informed me that we can try again in the spring.  Mack didn't seem to mind.

 Being silly before she ran her little legs off in soccer.

Dogpile on Coach Gomez!

Mimi is also taking karate.  Hi-ya!!

Her class is at the Little Gym and is about half karate and half gymnastics, which is really fun for Mimi.

Mack also started taking a class at the Little Gym, and this is what he has to say about it . . .

Just kidding:)  He loves to run around and jump on bouncy things and hang on rings and fling his body against mats.  The Little Gym was made for my monkeys.

And now for the update on the public/private school dilemma I had (that you can read about here).  By the way, thank you so much for your suggestions and words of encouragement because there are WAY too many educational options in this city.  A few days after my post I toured the perfect little school and the potential four-year-old class for Mimi where Mack attends.  The girl who gave me the tour is named "Mimi," (I'm not kidding) and she did a wonderful job of showing me the perfect little classroom, teacher, and students who sat perfectly still in a perfect circle.  They were absolutely precious and I was comforted to see how well they listened to their teacher and worked together.  She gave me some background of the school and told me about their goals and mission, and she explained the way they teach and why.  It reminded me sooo much of where I attended preschool and kindergarten.  She was amazing, and I loved her and the school.  Here's the problem -- I wasn't sure Mimi would love it.  I don't think this is the right place for my free-spirited little monkey.  She craves chaos and imperfect circles.  Suddenly the decision that had been eating away at me for days became quite clear -- I knew as soon as I left the building exactly where she belonged.


As soon as the teachers and Rahm got it together, Mimi returned to her school.  I noticed on the first day back that the students appeared to not have skipped a beat.  As soon as Miss Jami appeared, they ran to find a place in line in their new school shoes and backpacks that are bigger than they are.  The parents appeared happy and friendly, and Mimi talked nonstop on our walk home.  She loves to step out our door and meet a little girl who lives down our street to walk to school together.  Mimi eagerly grabs her hand and talks her head off without even remembering her name sometimes.  She is excited to see her friends each day, and she met me at the gate Friday dragging a little boy behind her who she said was "adorable."  He is twice her size and so, so sweet, and I'll have to admit that he is quite adorable.  Miss Jami and Mrs. Vickie seem to enjoy Mimi's silly personality (which was a relief -- not all appreciate her), and Miss Jami told me that she loves how Mimi is nice to everyone and has no problem saying how she feels.  Uh oh.  I asked exactly what she likes about Mimi saying how she feels -- because my Little Bit doesn't hold back.  She said she doesn't flip out, but she definitely lets others know when they've crossed the line.  Ms. Jami told me this is great because many of the others don't use their words yet, and they are learning how to do so by watching Mimi.  Wow.  She's exactly where she's supposed to be.

And I'm excited that she's in a school that still needs a little help from the parents.  So I made some pillows for the toddler room.  

 Yay Jahn!

I'm also in the process of cutting out about 45 orange pumpkins and loving it.  Hooray for being a preschool mom and using construction paper!

It's fun to get Mimi from school and share a snack with her on the couch while she watches Spiderman cartoons.

But some days this is what we do instead.  Preschool is even too much for my energetic monkey sometimes.

In other news, my building has continued to be awesome with a new family with two little girls.  Mimi is in heaven and asks me every morning before her eyes are open if she can go downstairs and play at Izzie's house.  For the first time, we're actually having play dates without one mom being present.  I mean, we're in the same building so why not?  

Here's Mimi and her new BFF Izzie at the zoo munching on snow cones.   

And being princesses . . . 

Chicago is awesome, by the way.  One really cool thing that happens at the beginning of fall is Circus in the Parks.  This year the park 30 feet away from our front door was able to host a circus, and it was amazing!

The Big Top!

Can I honk your nose?

Mimi and one of her boy BFF's, Spiderman.  His love of all things super hero has prompted Mimi's new infatuation, which is awesome because I was getting a little tired of all things princess.  

I feel like my hubs always gets the shaft in my posts, so here he is, the infamous Mr. Darby.  He's the head of our family, pro-golfer wanna-be, and lover of dogs:)  A few weeks ago we ventured to the northern burbs to visit a sorority sister from college, and that is where he met this sweet baby.  By the way, do you see that screened in porch and green yard with trees?  Makes me start to consider the burbs . . . I just said consider -- don't get your panties in a wad.  We're city folks for now.

We're trying to soak up this wonderful fall weather as much as possible with daily trike and wagon rides because we know a Chicago winter is right around the corner.

Back to the monkey on the left for just a few minutes.  I'm still madly in love with him, but he's such a stinker.  He's doing great in his little 2-year-old class at his school, but the teacher has definitely pointed out several times how he's much younger than the other 2-yr-olds in the class and how it's sometimes difficult for her to pull him down from climbing on everything.  And I began feeling all self-conscious and defensive.  I mean, it's a two-year-old class, and Mack acts exactly like a two-year-old.  My sister told me to just stop asking how he's doing, and I think she has the right idea.

During Mack's class, I get some fun Mimi time.  His school is near downtown, so I love taking her to see some sights.
 
I think the Trump Tower is gorgeous.

Mack and his buddy, William, who is another sweet neighbor (This post is all over the place!  Sorry for being unorganized).  They are practicing crawling through the trenches, I suppose.

Mimi and some buddies at the park.

Buzz is making sure the animals get to the farm. 

Mack loves push toys, so this Strider might be perfect for Christmas.

We took a building field trip to a pumpkin patch.  It was fah-reezing but such a fun day.  Love my little pumpkins.

Because of a late spring frost, the apples are tiny.  That didn't stop Mack from occasionally stopping to taste a rotten one.

Bethany throwing my monkey around.

My husband, the Unibomber.

Awww, the Darby fam.

Just pulling on a couple of tailfeathers.

The two little ones in my building, Lucy and William.  I could eat them up.  So stinkin cute.

Sweet girls.

Remember Mimi's new love for super heroes?  Check out the Halloween costume.  Love, love, love it.  I think she's even talked a few of her BFF's into also being Supergirls. :)

Poor Mack doesn't have a say in the matter.  Every Supergirl needs a Superstinker.

 And one more shot of that gold tree just for fun.

My Heaven

Wow, I am lucky today -- the kids are taking the longest naps ever.  They may be up until midnight, but at least I get to catch up on the neglected blog.

And this is one of my favorite yearly posts -- the beach vacation.  Ahhhhhhh . . . . even as I was uploading the photos I could smell the salt in the air and hear the waves.  Clint and I have found our perfect beach.  Have you ever seen the Truman Show?  Remember the perfect little beach town where Truman lived and how it was created in that "bubble" in Hollywood?  Well, it really does exist in small beach town called Seaside in the panhandle of Florida on a strip of highway called 30A -- but, shhhh, please don't tell anyone because I can't handle the crowds.  

Seaside is gorgeous with its pastel-colored homes, but we chose to stay in the little community next to it called Seagrove so we could have a yard like this.  I mean, it has a picket fence.  Really.  And the homes aren't right on top of each other.  Just grab a bike and Seaside is a couple of minutes away.

I had an idea of how I wanted this post to be laid out, but I don't know how long these naps will last and I promised someone a trip to Scooters for frozen custard when she wakes.  So I am not arranging the photos.

Anyway, there is a restaurant called Bud and Alley's that has great views of the beach and the little town of Seaside, which you can see behind us.  Luckily, we had the grandparents in tow so we could sneak away with friends in the afternoon.  It was raining the first few days of the trip, but we didn't care.  

Well, we did care a little.  The trip started with a 6:00AM flight out of Midway, which meant I had to get my monkeys out of bed WAY too early.  Poor Mack lost his shiz somewhere over Nashville and didn't recover until he'd completely frazzled every passenger on our plane.  The combination of his yucky cold and two molars busting through his gums made him a sad little guy for the first few days of our vacation.  I also had his cold and Clint was working like a madman trying to close a couple of important deals, so we had no other choice.  We just had to stay a few extra days. :)  Oh, joy!

Do you see the little striped thing in Mack's right hand?  That guy is zebra, his best beach friend whom he found in the toy basket at the beach house.  Get ready to see him in a lot of the pics.  Oh, and he somehow is now living in the toy basket in our Chicago home . . . hmmm, wonder how that happened . . .

This one doesn't love the beach.  Not at all.

Mack and his Top.  Two peas :)

Two more sweet peas :)

Checking out "all the boo-tiful things" at Perscipacity.

Okay, I need to talk about this guy just a minute.  We call him Top, you know, like he's the "Top Dog."  And he's married to this woman, Shug, who I swear to goggles has a sign on her back door that reads, "Do you want to talk to the man in charge or the woman who knows what's going on?"  You already love her, don't you?  Anyway, if you don't know Top well, then you have no idea how hilarious he is.  Normally, he's fairly quiet and reserved, but sometimes he decides to ruffle up his hair a little. :)

Top with some sweet friends who were visiting from Birmingham.  The guy in the middle is actually at the Ryder Cup with Clint this very second.

I don't even know what to say about this.  Awesome, right?

Hahahahahahaha!!!!  He thinks big, muscular guys are hilarious and had a blast picking on this guy, who is about 2 feet taller than he looks in the photo.  This is one of the best shots of the vacation by far.

Poppaw and Bebe enjoying brunch at the Red Bar.

Remember I told you he'd pop up again.  Hello, Zebra.

 I couldn't have planned this picture more perfectly.  Tiny Mimi standing on her giant brother's shoulders while he buries a zebra in the sand.  Awesome.

 Dancing on the beach.

 Terrible shot taken after a night at Bud and Alley's by our sweet friend Kyle, who was a pleasant surprise at the beach.  Actually she and 5 other friends and their kiddos just happened to be staying a short bike ride away!  Kyle and her hubs were two of our very best friends in Memphis, and I could have cried when I found out that they would be there!

 Charlie's Donuts is the cutest donut truck ever in Alys Beach, which is by far the most gorgeous beach town I've ever seen.  Maybe if we ever want to take a romantic trip without the kids we will go there.  Wait, do people actually do that?

 Mimi with Mississippi friends Banks and Charlie.  She had so much fun bossing them around and stealing their toys.  That's what little boy friends are for, right?

 She begged and begged and begged and begged for this beautiful over-priced lollipop.  I obliged because it meant I could get a glass of wine and sit still for a minute.  She took about 3 licks and told me that she was going to throw it in the garbage.

One really cool thing about this beach community is that it is sooo bike-friendly.  I loved pulling the monkeys behind me to go to the beach or to grab an ice cream cone.

Oh, and how well did a bloody Mary go with this front porch?  They were made for each other.

 By the way, I fell absolutely head over heels in love with this beach house.  After waking up at 3:30AM, struggling with our sleepy-head, fussy babies, and dealing with lugging one zillion pounds of luggage into a rental car, we turned off of Hwy 30-A onto a narrow gravel road covered with huge magnolia limbs.  We pulled into the driveway of a white house with a big porch on the bottom, and screened porch on the top, and a white picket fence.  We opened the door and walked in, and I couldn't hold back the tears.  "This is even more perfect than I could have imagined!" I squealed to Clint.  "Can we buy it??!!"  And he just laughed and told me to get a nap.

This was the dining room where we ate all of our meals.  Do you see that green stuff and a fence out the window.  That is called a backyard.  I had forgotten how awesome one of those could be.

 The stairs that went down to the beach.  Love this photo.

Do you see all those sunbathers and the beach littered with umbrellas and blankets?  Nope, me neither.  Just a lot of sand and water.  Exactly the way I like it.

 Here they are.  A boy and his zebra.

Sweet little Mack didn't love the bright sun in his blue eyes and sticky sand as much as his sister and I did.  This meant that he spent a lot of time in my lap letting the waves hit us.  Who said I'm complaining?  I seriously doubt he'll ever let me do that again.

The sweet peas take on the beach.  These girls are too much fun.

 ROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 "Mimi, where'd you get that hat??"
"I got it from that boy."
"Did you ask or did you just take it?" (I ask this because I see a boy running at her full-speed yelling, "Give me back my hat!")
"Oh, I just taked it because it matches my outfit and looks cute on me.  Don't you think I'm so cute?"

 Mimi and Banks were serious daredevils who jumped off that tall concrete stage about two zillion times.

I wonder how much longer those beach blonde curls will last??

This guy isn't happy unless he's running away from me.

 Aww, sweet baby Andrew.  He came after we moved to Chicago, and I'm sad that I can't squeeze his fat cheeks more often.  But I'll be in Oxford in about a week -- so get those cheeks ready, Andrew.

 Mack celebrated his 2nd birthday while at the beach.  We had a mini birthday bash with dinner from the silver trailers and Publix cupcakes.  Perfect for this little guy.  Oh, and I have to mention Will, who is sitting on the right.  His mom, Lauren, is the girl who I loved a few posts back that takes gorgeous pics of my kiddos.  And Will, well, I think he and Mimi had a bit of a crush on each other.

 Getting ready to launch into his cupcake . . . 

 Ready for the attack!!  Head first is the only way to do it!

So back to my dream of buying the beach house.  I bugged Clint about it so much that he actually asked the owner about it.  The house will be on the market this winter, AND will probably cost less than what we could buy in Chicago.  So I'm thinking that we keep renting in Chicago, buy the fabulous beach house (which we can rent for at least half the year to all of you), and we could fly down to the coast a few times a year.  And then pigs will start flying.  I know, I know, but a girl can dream, right?

(And about the flying . . . our flight into Panama City was so treacherous that we actually canceled the return flight and drove 16 hours home.  I know.  Honestly, it wasn't too bad at all.  We spent the night halfway with my favorite sister in Nashville, and the monkeys were so wonderful in the car.)