What a difference a year makes

I am constantly amazed at Maggie's and Ollie's pace of growth. If I could learn and develop at even half their rate I'd have won a Nobel Prize by now, in multiple categories. I'd also be, like, a thousand feet tall with really big boobs.

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. It's one of those slightly tawdry places where the jumpy houses are filthy and the guy filling up the $2 balloons has a cigarette dangling from his mouth. But, the kids love it. Despite their rapid rate of development, their snob reflex hasn't kicked into gear yet.

2008 Oliver

2009 Oliver

The first thing Ollie did upon arrival was go running excitedly up to the wooden cutout of Homer Simpson shouting, "Dad! Dad! This is the guy who loves beer!" He then proceeded to have a conversation with wooden Homer that went something like this. "Mmm, beer. Woo hoo!" Which is more or less the sound that the Mister's Homer Simpson bottle opener makes.

2008 Magnolia

2009 Magnolia

It was such a change from the year before when they were only two-and-a-half and still wandering the world in a sort of babyish daze. Now they're all kid-like and confident. Now they take those jumpy slides by storm and approach really, really famous celebrities to talk about malted, adult beverages.