Festival!

"Wanna go to a festival? There's going to be a petting zoo!" Gokul knows the key to Noah's heart, apparently. Bouncy toys... jumping Frisbee-playing dogs... and to top it all off, a petting zoo??? Jackpot!

Noah and Gurteshwar like the Frisbee-playing dogs. I think Noah liked that they were dogs, whereas Gurt's slightly more sophisticated tastes appreciated their athletic abilities. To each his own.

Anish was just happy to be so tall.

We initially put Noah and Anish into a kayak as a cute photo op...

But after some strategic coaching from Gurt, they quickly learned the ropes... They were unstoppable! It looked like they were about to paddle away, even though the boat wasn't even in the water.

I think they were just getting all excited because of the Olympics, so they decided to start training for 2016. Keep an eye out for the Anish-Noah combo to represent the USA.

But Noah and Anish aren't snobby about their sports. They don't restrict themselves to events that will ultimately yield them gold medals. They are true all-around athletes. So, while some people may not consider bowling to be a very complex or high-class sport, these fine young men consider it a challenge to overcome, nonetheless.

Who cares that the ball weighs half as much as he does? Noah is going to be a professional any day now. If only they had oiled the lanes, there would've been a lot more pins knocked down in these pictures. (It's always the lane's fault, right?)

Anish was generous with his tutelage... He showed Noah a thing or two, and I think they both improved their game after a few rolls.

Next stop: bouncy toys.

Noah is pretty much more at home on a bouncy toy than anywhere else, it seems. He doesn't seem to mind getting bounced to the point of falling down. It's pretty much the only place where he consistently tries to jump. He doesn't cry on bouncy toys. He's basically always smiling. I mean, he's a happy kid in general, but bouncy toys kick it up to a whole new level.

Even when he's abandoned by all of his little buddies, Noah knows how to live it up. I thought I'd have to crawl in through the tiny opening to pull him out, but eventually he decided that it was time to move on... Maybe he remembered what the next stop on the agenda was...

So, if I were clever and thought ahead, I could've gotten videos of Noah making the animal sounds for all the animals he got to touch. That would've been cute. Maybe I'll just let you know what sounds they make, and you can just read it out loud in your best Noah impression. That might be more fun anyway, now that I think about it.

"Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

"Aaaaaaaa!"

**Scrunchy-nose (and open-mouth) face**

I don't know if she knows what sound a bunny makes...

"MMMMMmmmmmmmm"

"Aaaaaaaa!"

"Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

Habitat for Humanity had a booth at the festival. They were there, in part, to officially welcome to Southfield the inhabitants of a new house they built. But their ulterior motive was really to recruit new workers. And apparently with volunteering, there aren't any labor laws to protect kids.

They had a helmet that was just the right size for Anish... Scary thought, eh? Can you picture him chasing you with a hammer - I mean, hammering in the nails that keep your house together? They didn't have a helmet that was quite small enough for Noah, though.

At the end of a happy day, ya gotta hug, man...

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...

If you're going to have a spur of the moment trip with a super awesome cousin, what better place to go than the Detroit Zoo? That's right... no better place. So when Ellia called up Noah one day and offered to meet him there, Noah didn't hesitate. Now, neither Ellia nor Noah is a stranger to the zoo, but they had to educate Dad/Uncle Kevin, since he hadn't been there since long before either of our main characters were haploid cells in their parents' bodies.

Of course, the zoo, like everywhere else in the world, has silly rules about supervision that apply to those under the age of two, so it was a family affair... mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles... the whole gang was there. But Noah and Ellia didn't mind. I mean, after all, that exponentially increased their odds of getting tasty food while they were there - like freshly baked blueberry muffins... hmmm... I wonder where those blueberries came from!

Noah and Ellia haven't quite reached the point of complete and total possessiveness (if that's a word). So, they shared pretty nicely. Take, for example, the cut up peach: 80% consumed by Noah before Ellia finally nibbled her way through the first piece.

But there were no hard feelings, despite Noah's gluttony. They had fun eating and playing and walking together... almost like they've known each other their whole lives.

They both enjoyed the frog statues...

I think Noah misheard the fairy tale, though... Maybe he thought that there was going to be a princess that appeared or something.

And in case anyone's wondering how they're doing in terms of size these days, they kindly posed very obediently so that you could tell... In terms of height there isn't a huge difference. In terms of weight, I kindly refer you back to the story about the peaches to guage the difference.

The highlight of the trip? Seeing the grizzly bear get fed? No... he was hardly impressed with the dead fish tossed at him. The best part was definitely seeing the polar bear in the pool. Apparently he's a male bear visiting from another zoo to help with reproduction. So, basically, he's on vacation at Club Med, enjoying this awesome set-up with a huge pool and a lady friend. He certainly enjoyed swimming while we were around, and it was the first time for all of us seeing a polar bear use the swimming pool.

And I hope I'm not spoiling their Christmas cards, but here's a family portrait for the Egles of Dearborn, complete with their new adopted son:

Noah, you're turning Noah!

The title was a play on the line, "Violet, you're turning violet!" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in case you missed it...  She was turning into a big blueberry.  Noah almost turned into a big blueberry today, too!

We went blueberry picking!  He had quite a good time.  The cry of "Booberries!" could be heard throughout the farm.  Everywhere he turned, there was just more and more of the delicious fruit.

Everyone helped him pick 'em.  And he was good at it, too.  He was even able to avoid picking the green ones and only get the blue ones.

He focused... worked hard...  heck, if farms can hire illegal immigrants, they should be able to hire 21 month old boys, too, right?  It's about time he starts paying his way around here.

His one downfall, though, is remembering where the blueberries go once picked.  Sometimes they ended up in the buckets... sometimes they ended up in his tummy.  Or maybe that was just his quality control measure.  Maybe it's a good thing in a worker...

Sometimes his quality control went a little too far, as he tried to occasionally eat the berries directly off the bushes...  He was eager, though.  You've gotta give him credit there!

What a fun weekend activity!  Beautiful place... fun thing to do... fun people to hang out with... what could be better?

And 14 pounds of berries later, we were on our way...