While the first layer of snowpack settled on the Snowbasin peaks, Della, Bappa, and I drove north to Logan to watch Ariel and friends flipping their fins under the sea.

George is really into cutting. He wants to be a barber for Halloween. He has been cutting his rocking horse’s hair down to the point that it looks “sheepy.” He says his horse wants to be a sheep for Halloween.

Through a series of unsuccessful treatments, Della has been attempting to dye her hair blue with mouthwash. Here she is after getting her face painted at the Huntsville Fire Station Open House.

More from the Open House: George’s primary memory of this event was not being allowed to fly the helicopter.

But he was invited to spray a firehose. Hosing is his second favorite activity, second only to cutting.

The other day I found them in the backroom with a bag of grated cheese, and Della was feeding it to George and calling it baby food, and they were playing daycare and she was telling me, “He was a very good baby today.” Here is Della dressing George in a pink Hello Kitty dress.

The Huntsville Marathon passed by our house, and neighbor/teacher Kari watched with us for awhile. She told a car that zoomed by to slow down. George took this as his cue to yell Slow Down! at each passing marathon runner. Here is Della giving the runners a thumbs up.

Here is Della drinking tea with her toes.

Bill has laminitis!

Steve joined his brother and nephew in Lincoln for a Huskers football game.

The Huskers won, and everybody got a tan.

Bappa was away, too, on a moto trip with Uncle Paul. Left to my own devices, I took the children to McDonald’s, Subway, the Kangaroo Zoo, Pineview, and a soup party.

Pineview is still happening, but the water is pretty cold.

Around the house, I let them do whatever they wanted,

and things got even messier than I imagined they could. I got overwhelmed to the point of paralysis for a few hours mid-afternoon, but by Sunday evening I managed to collect myself and clean it all up while they watched 13 episodes of Goldie and Bear.

And lastly, George:

• thinks deodorant goes under the elbows…

• …rides in wheelbarrows…

• …and demands campfires.

Pool’s still open. But winter is COMING. Low of 31 this morning in the valley. Fall colors popping. It’s gonna be real.

TOYS

These are George’s two favorite toys: The Hooker and My Horse’s Leash. Both are used for grabbing and pulling and controlling things. If you join us for dinner, you might be lucky enough to have your chaired pulled out by The Hooker. 

My Horse’s Leash is used to drag around this homely fellow. George has been cutting his hair to the point of balding because its mane and tail, he claims, are “too tangly.” If George were a doctor, he would fix you up and then just keep cutting.

This is George’s Doggy Guitar. He got it in exchange for his pacifier, which we threw away at Target. When he’s tired he screams, “I DON’T WANT MY GUITAR!”

LIES

George calls his pacifier his Wee Wee. We used to tell him that the Pied Piper of Wee would steal his Wee Wee and put it in a Lock Box if he used it outside of sleep time. We also tell him that if he misbehaves a very boring man named Dr. Green Thumb will babysit him and feed him only green vegetables.

This isn’t exactly a lie, but Della looks like a Snow Monkey.

Also a Hakken-Krak.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

We had a bit of a psychedelic slip ‘n slide party.

We got a good end-of-season deal on some paddle boards.

We hiked from the gondola to the top of Strawberry.

Hope your LDW was rockin’.