autumn is for

leaf jumping!! Enthusiastic Sam, athletic Samuel from next door, and happy (and tentative) Abe. Everybody loves it!

the whole gang

Our Halloween gang gathered again this year to try to get at least a little real food into the kids before hitting the streets for candy collecting. Sam as Shaggy, Max as a robot, Lucy as a skeleton, Isaac as a bat, Ezri as a bee, Abe as a cowboy, and Jasper (not seen here) as a bear.

You may remember

the last time Abe was a cowboy for Halloween. Three years later, he reveled in his cowboyness, and galloped along on his horse ("Horsey Horse Horse") for blocks at a time. I considered wrangling Oscar into the suit for a photo op but decided against it.

Oscar gets discovered

by the kindergarten girls. They insisted on calling him Sam Junior.

overnight

These pajamas used to fit. Like very recently. What with the growing and the loose tooth and the reading and the approaching birthday, I feel like I can't keep up!

quick windy trip (say that five times fast)

Last weekend Oscar and I made a quick trip to Chicago, taking along Zach and visiting family and friends.



The lovely Evans ladies of the house.



The lovely Evans gentleman of the house (with his young guest).



The littlest cousins.



Outstanding brunch at Lucky Platter in Evanston with Meg, Emily, and Zach (who ate a full brunch platter and still managed to get his best time ever in a 5K just a couple of hours later).

Oscar claps!!

Turns out it's just as exciting the third time around. Maybe even more exciting, since there's a bigger audience.

see ya summer

We kept up with our annual tradition of eating a banana split to say goodbye to summer (even though it's technically been over for a few weeks, we had to wait to be safe). Rebecca and Austin came with us, and we considered getting three banana splits but were happy we just got two. We thwarted Oscar's efforts to stick his hand in the ice cream at every turn, so he had to make do with baby puffs and the wipes package. Maybe next year we'll need three.

Mama, Mama take my picture!

Abe showing off his sushi book before taking it for show and tell (and he really does love sushi. Following in your steps, Nathaniel).

And the kids playing/wrestling. Even Oscar tries to get in on the action.

the namesake

I made a quick trip to New Haven on the way home from Boston (well, not really on the way home, but sort-of) earlier in the week, and Oscar and Abe and I had the chance to go see our former landlords, Abe and Zoia. That's right, Big Abe and Little Abe. They warmed right up to each other, even though they hadn't seen each other since Little Abe was a baby. They were sweet as usual and force fed Abe cookies and chocolate truffles. They almost fed Oscar a truffle when I wasn't looking. And Big Abe, a lifelong dental technician (he made false teeth in the basement of our house), admired the kids' teeth (all of Little Abe's and Oscar's one).