I'm baaaaack!

"Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!!!!"

Oh. No, no. Wait. No J's here are named Johnny. 

But it is Halloween week and we did watch Halloween (the movie) last week. No The Shining...yet.

We chose to watch Halloween instead of the last Presidential candidate debate. Call us un-American. We are anything but. I think I made a Facebook comment to the effect of, "We just chose to watch something a little less scary." We just chose NOT to watch grown men act like fools.

Anywho. We've been WAAAAAAAY busy since the last post...over 6 months ago. Uh-hum.

And we were WAAAAAAAY busy before that post too. 2012 has been a crazy-busy-fun year for the J's Raker! I'm going to do my best to actually blog again and stay caught up. Baby J (who is anything but a baby and will henceforth be called "Doodle") has said so many funny things lately that I need to document them. I want to have them forever. Daily laughter is a guarantee these days!

I'll leave you with one. We recently visited The Knoxville Zoo. We were observing the wolves inside their fenced enclosure. Inside was a small structure resembling a dog house but made of, what appeared to be, dried leaves and sticks. As we were standing there one of the wolves looked at the 3 of us. I asked Doodle, "What's that wolf doing?"

He replies, "He's gonna blow that house down." So matter of factly, like it happens everyday.

Daddy J and I CRACKED UP. I love how the mind of an almost 3 year old works.

Have a great week, y'all!

Making Memories

We thought it was a great day for a family hike. 

Rain was a possibility in the forecast but Daddy J likes to pretend meteorologist and said it wasn't going to rain, "It's going to miss us," he said. 

So, we loaded up and off we went to a local park that includes trails Doodle can easily navigate. 

What 2 year old doesn't need to burn off energy on a dreary afternoon?

Doodle LOVES being with his Daddy.

Daddy loves it too.

This apparatus is no match for this boy.

He's been a climber long before he could walk.

Daddy J was once given the nickname "Spidey"; 

And now there is "Baby Spidey" or "Spider Monkey".

The day was a beautiful autumn day: warm and breezy, leaves fallen to the ground.

We threw rocks in the creek for a bit and then moved on with our hike.

We stopped a moment to gaze at the creek...and take shelter from the ever increasing sprinkles. Then came the rain. The sounds were so relaxing, the feeling serene, until we began shivering. After a little discussion, Daddy J took off running to get the car. Doodle and Mommy J stayed under the shelter of the trees for several more minutes before we started quickly walking to where Daddy was meeting us...

Actually only one of us was walking, the other was being carried.

Instead of being glum about the situation and voicing displeasure, 

we decided to chalk the experience up to "making memories".

  

We were all SOAKING wet by the time we scurried into the car. 

Poor Doodle's teeth were chattering!

The best means to warm him up was to strip him to his skivvies and crank the heater to the max. After hot showers we were all finally warm again.

It certainly was a day we made family memories.