Swimming in a puddle

We spent the evening swimming in the pool at Jill's condo complex, and it's so interesting what Mia finds exciting. She divided her time three ways: swinging her arms side to side while singing, jumping into the water in fits of joy and splashing in a tiny puddle near the pool.

The Miakat

Leigh and I realized that this is probably the last year (or second-to-last year) that we can choose Mia's Halloween costume for her. Therefore, this is our last year (or second-to-last year) to pick something super hilarious. What was she? Meerkat. Oh yes.

She went to school in a Halloween outfit, but we had to save the meerkat for trick-or-treating.

We went to Jill's house, Haunt the Zoo and the to the Dupuys' house. Here's a montage:

It only took a few stops at the trick-or-treat stations before Mia got the hang of things. She held her little bag up every time.

After we finished Haunt the Zoo, we headed over to see the Dupuys. When we got in the car, Mia was gripping a Twizzler, which I thought wasn't a good piece of candy for someone who doesn't have all her teeth. I told her we'd have candy later and took the Twizzler. She cried out: "My tandy! My tandy!" We had no idea she even knew what candy was.

Chickens and the fair

We took Mia to the fair! I think I was much more excited about this than Leigh or Mia, who pretty much sat in her stroller and leered at everything. Jill came with us, which was fun. Mia pet a chick, saw day-old piglets and enjoyed watching all the crazy people at the fair. She seemed slightly disturbed by the exotic chicken exhibit, but I think that's because the chickens kept attacking each other.

We only spent time with the agriculture exhibits and avoided the food and rides this time. (We're going back again, though, so we'll see what happens.) I wrote a column about what we learned. Click here to read it.

Holy Kimball Matrimony

We love the Kimballs. We love them. First of all, they are fantastic people. Second of all, they are amazing friends. Their wedding was absolutely lovely. I mean seriously - look at these two!


We were so honored that Mia got to be the flower girl! We found a fabulous little silver dress so she would sort of blend in with the bridesmaids, who also wore silver. We had a couple test-runs that went OK, but when the big moment came, Mia was not interested even at all. I carried her for a bit then tried to peel her off me. That failed. I decided to just go ahead and carry her the rest of the way, like a toddler sherpa.

Of course, immediately after sitting down with her, she livened up and started chatting. Leigh had to take her outside for the last half of the ceremony. She stayed with us for a while at the reception.

We took to Tiamo Jill's house after supper so she could go to bed and we could enjoy the adult part of the reception. As soon as we got there, Mia got on the phone.


We had a fantastic time, and we were so happy to be a part of the Kimballs' big deal. And then Leigh stole a case of their beer.

Forget you, pool

So we decided to take Mia for a swim. Of course this meant I had the chance to put her in a life jacket and sunglasses. Hilarious.


But she was not interested. At all.



She didn't want anything to do with getting in the pool at Tiamo's condo complex. A few hours later, we gave it a shot at one of the city's sprinkler park. Not interested. It was really more complete revulsion as opposed to indifference.


What happened to our water bug kid? Last year she was all about it! (Click here.) So Leigh and I decided we would give it one more shot in the pool after dinner. She went from crying when we put her in the pool to crying when we had to leave.

Bath time at Tiamo's

Mia loves taking a bath in Tiamo Jill's sink. She loves it even more now that she's discovered she can turn on the faucet. Jill had to move it out of Mia's side so her water doesn't go cold.

More from the Dean wedding

I snagged some photos from Deaner from his wedding day. Hooray!

Bryan gets married!

Our friend Bryan Dean got married! Aw. Little Deaner. Growing up. Sarah looked beautiful, Bryan looked nervous and the whole ceremony lasted approximately 38 seconds. Leigh was a groomsman, and he did a great job at, you know, walking and standing. It was at the state capitol, where Leigh and I got married. (Aw!) We finally had something fancy enough to put Mia in her amazing red dress from my grandparents. Look at this kid! None of our pictures of the ceremony turned out, and we didn't take any pictures with the bride and groom! We suck. So here are some random pictures we took right before we left. With Uncle Clay: Running crazed through the halls of the Oklahoma Capitol: Leigh and his mom, Jill: This is Leigh's favorite photo. He was taking forever to take the picture and there's a very limited window in which you can photograph a toddler. So he took this picture after the opportunity had slipped away. Then he showed it to everyone he could. "Do you see this?!? I get this look every day!" hahaha

We tried the photo again, this time with my mom. Mission accomplished: