Girls Night

Over the years, Girls Night developed as a response to Todd participating in Mensday Wednesdays. After a Girls Night hiatus, it has been brought back, bigger and more exciting than ever! We have begun to hit up the Brit (local pub) for Tuesday Trivia nights. We are all super competitive and enjoy going through all the useless information we have accumulated over the years.

Granted, we don't win the trivia, but . . . we did win the raffle one night! Woo hoo! We split the Halloween bucket evenly and it was awesome!

Twins . . . almost

Jake and Luke have become quite the buddies (read: troublemakers, instigators, etc.) and they have been hanging out together a lot lately. We had the Gartins over for dinner and realized both boys were wearing navy athletic pants with two white stripes running down the sides. With their buzzed heads, they can be difficult to tell apart.

As wired as they get around each other, they sure do have fun together.

Going to Grandmas

Luke always wants to go to Grandma and Papas. Whenever we leave the house, he attempts to direct us to Grandma and Papas, no matter where we are actually going. Luke also loves to roll around his suitcase - personally, I love that suitcase too. I love anything personalized.

Raiders!

For Todd's birthday this year, Linda treated us all to a Raiders game! We left Luke at the Great-Grandparents house and were off to the stadium. Of course, Linda (in very Linda fashion) had a table set up for us for tail-gating, complete with decor and color themed paper goods.




Home of the Champions!! (Go A's too)

Todd bought me a Raider visor (to match my A's visor) and of course, it had to wear my flower.

Great seats!


We saw a few guys wearing t-shirts for the Raiders that said "10/10/10" which was the date of the game, as well as Todd's birthday. Gen went to go find out where they bought the shirts, but it turned out, they had them made. So the guy said that he would trade the shirt he was wearing for the one Todd was wearing under his jersey. Luckily, the two were the same size and Gen was able to get Todd the "birthday" shirt.


The guy in front of us was wearing a shirt that had "The Autumn Wind" on it from the old Raider films, which Todd loves. So, I had to take a picture.



The Raiders won the game over the San Diego Chargers, which was the first time that Todd had been to a Raiders game and they won. Best birthday present EVER.

Pumpkin Patch

Luke has been so excited about going to the pumpkin patch this year - the whole idea of pumpkins, going with his cousins, etc. has made this THE event of the year.

Little did I know how Luke would not be so agreeable to photos this year, unlike all the cutie pictures I got last year. Curses.

Uesugi Farms is the pumpkin patch to go to in the area and has everything from train rides to hay rides to mazes for adults and kids, pony rides and more. I'm usually the first in line for the corn on the cob (yum yum yum).

We went on the train first as that was Luke's main focus. On the train route, they've "hidden" five gold pumpkins, so the kids were intent on finding every one. Which they did, of course. But every time one of the kids pointed one out, Luke would shriek "GOLD PUMPKIN!!" as he is my passionate child.

They had fields of sunflowers, which I love. I love that they feel like a "happy" flower - they represent a great deal of good things in my life, so seeing fields of them was very special.


They had a hay bale area set up for the kids to run on and over and around and jump down into the middle. Luke was not as excited about the jumping part, but was definitely thrilled with the running part. Gracie and Collin were daredevils and jumping without concern. That is really impressive to Luke.



Gracie went on the pony ride, but Luke would have none of that. He just wanted to watch from afar and wave and shout to Gracie. The woman offered to let him just sit on the pony and that was not acceptable. He wouldn't even pet the pony. Fair enough.

The kids really loved the wooden cut-outs for pictures - Luke and Gracie had so much fun and looked cute together.



We hunted in the patch, Luke becoming very frustrated that he couldn't lift the big ones. The ones he could pick up, he enjoyed just dropping, like it was a ball. I was so glad that none of them cracked or broke. We found a Mommy pumpkin and a Daddy pumpkin and a little Luke pumpkin.




We also checked out the bee colony and Luke loved watching them - he pressed his little face right up to the glass and watched them carefully. He's my little etymologist.


Checking out the bees that were not contained.


We attempted to get another "Pumpkin-As-Hat" photo, but it was not to be. Again, not so agreeable with photos this year. Dang. But we were able to sneak a family picture in there, which I was glad about. I loved our last year pic, so I was hoping for another one. Pretty cute, it works. Todd is the most awesome husband ever: he wore the Halloween shirt I bought for him, even though he really didn't want to. But it made for great festive pics, which is what I'm all about.

Starbucks

Certainly my Starbucks intake has slowed considerably since having a kid (those kids are pricey!) but we still occasionally enjoy a treat together. Luke knows what he likes and will ask for it on especially hot days. Just like Mommy, Luke enjoys a passion iced tea unsweetened. Yummy! They have done away with the mini-donuts (boo hiss) but Luke will enjoy the mini vanilla scones, so we found a similar replacement.

Its always good to have a special treat on special days!

Bonding with Mommy

A few Sundays ago, I thought it would be really fun to have some bonding time over a donut with Luke. (yes, I love donuts.) I thought it would be a nice tradition and create some memories.

Luke was all on board for donut time, so off we went to our local donut shop. He used his good manners, saying "please" and "thank you" and impressing the employees. One thing that I am very proud of is how Todd and I have stressed manners. He says "excuse me" when he needs to get past someone, talk to Mommy or Daddy while we're in a conversation, and when he burps or toots.

We dove right into the donuts and (I hate saying this) but it was the worst.donut.ever. I didn't even realize bad donuts existed. But they do and it was terrible. I didn't even eat mine. *bleh* It was super oily and greasy and put a nice coating on my hands. Ew. Luke at most of his and the employees gave us some donut holes to take home. Even Luke refused the donut holes. Very telling.


We will continue our tradition, but now the challenge becomes finding a good quality donut shop to keep the tradition going.

Football!

Tis the season for Football! Luke is already a fan and will cheer during games and shout encouragement to the players on TV. (ex: "Almost guys! Almost! Try again!")

But what Luke really loves is to play football. Daddy found a little football for Luke and we have spent a great deal of time playing. He will run around, find it and ask us to play with him. But he has to be wearing a hat to play. He will adjust after every catch or throw, which is so random and quirky.

And if he misses the catch, Luke will say, "Good try, Daddy. Try again!"

Nothing like having a little parrot to make you realize what you must say all the time.

The throw. (please note the form. Daddy the football coach is very pleased about this.)


And the catch. He is so proud of himself when he plays!

Oh Birthdays . . .

. . . you are everything awful and wonderful at the same time.

Kids birthday parties are so exhausting. Your child never acts like your child at a birthday party. They act like some possessed demon child that is all hopped up on sugar and makes other parents glad that that kid isn't theirs.

Okay, Luke really isn't that bad and he has been listening and following directions much better. But still. Its all the kids his age that get him all hopped up like a spider monkey.

But then, the joy on that kid's face when he gets a cupcake. Its like he was handed a cup of sunshine with frosting.

I'm willing to put up with the craziness for the cupcake bliss.

'Tis the season to be Fall-y

It is that time of year again!

The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch in Palo Alto! It is an eagerly anticipated day for a group of my dear friends. I don't get to see them often due to distance and time constraints (man, everyone had kids!) which makes the annual event even more special. I hadn't gone since I was pregnant with Luke (yikes!) so I had forgotten just how gorgeous, expensive and dangerous it is.

I think what I love most about it is all the artistry that goes into each individual pumpkin. All the pumpkins are hand-blown by local artists and no two pumpkins are alike. This does create a multitude of problems, which shall be discussed a little later.

There are steps to visiting the pumpkin patch, which most of the attendees seem to know.

Step 1: Arrive obscenely early and be first in line, primed with bubble wrap laden basket in tow.
(I arrive just before it opens because I'm driving up from South SJ - not a quick little trip)

Step 2: Wish that you could bum rush everyone when the open, but realize that you are standing in a field of one-of-a-kind expensive breakables, so pretend that you're friendly, but know that you're really not. Not on the inside, where it counts. Everyone's out for the good ones.


Step 3: Grab what you love with only minor interest in the cost. You can sort the cost out later, but if the one you love is gone, it doesn't matter what the price was. You don't have it.

Step 4: Set up a home base with your initial finds. Leave delicate breakables and set out again for another lap. Be sure to know what your friends are on the hunt for too - you look for them just as much as you look for you. And they look for you too, that's why they're your friends.



Step 5: Spread out all pumpkins. Note that you gravitate towards the same color/size/pattern pumpkins year after year.

**Please note the volume of green pumpkins.

Step 6: Debate the qualities of pumpkin. Qualities include: color, size, price, pattern, inconsistencies, stem, iridescence, transparency, squash-qualities and price. Price price price. Ugh.

Step 7: Include friends in on debate. They will remind you of your current collection, including what you bought the previous year. Will ask profound questions like, "Do you really need to start a new color family?" and the like. You will take pictures with pumpkins that are clearly out of your price range.

note: $165. Yikes! But so pretty . . .
I took a picture with a faboo pumpkin that was $250 - I was about to grab it when someone else swooped in. My friend asked how much it was (for me), the swiper replied "$250" and my friend declared it was "out of her price range." True that.

**It's the Great Christmas Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!**

Step 8: Fend off poachers who make their way around everyone's home bases hoping that the pumpkin they weren't fast enough for will get put back. (They will be taught a lesson about timeliness. Or that they should at least have a timely friend in line for them.)

"It's the Great Christmas Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" or "A Very Dr. Seuss-y Christmas?" Difficult decisions.

Step 9: Send representative out to put back ousted pumpkins. They will bring back other pumpkins you will fall in love with and then be frustrated, just as you were getting to a good place with your decisions.

Step 10: You will head out yourself, just in case. You will pick up one pumpkin, put it down and pick it up again and repeat a number of times. You will barter with your friends about the pumpkins they have that you want and the ones you have that they want.

The pumpkins in question. I was in a "glow-in-the-dark" pumpkin kind of place. Most of the pumpkins I grabbed looked like they could even though they didn't.

Step 11: You will finally make all your decisions, trying to rationalize your choices by saying important things like, "It's an investment" and "I'm supporting local artists" or "It's not as much as a trip to Costco/Target" etc.

The final three, from top to bottom:
*ocean-y, swirl-y, blue one
* tan and blue mottled
* very Tim Burton pumpkin-esque.

(Discovered I enjoyed a matte stem. Made a note of that for next year)

Step 12: You will stand in an obscenely long line to pay.

Step 13: You will watch 18 year olds take your one-of-a-kind artistic creation off to be carefully wrapped. Most of the time it's okay. I've (unfortunately) seen a time it was not. Easily the most stressful part of the day.

You thought there was nothing to this Glass Pumpkin Patch, didn't you? Well, you were wrong. The patch is not for the faint of heart. I'm stressed the whole time that I'm going to belly-flop on a whole section of them like Chris Farley.

But then you get them home and you unwrap them and put them with the pretty ones you already have and you know that fall is finally here.

Celebrating!

While Todd was off in Nor Cal for the Homebrew Club Festival, Luke and I were off to celebrate our good friends' daughter's first birthday.

Luke was fairly disinterested in most of the birthday extravaganza, but, of course, loved playing with his buddy, Jake. They are quite the pair, two little peas in a pod.


They mostly played with a little car - Luke was quick to get into pushing position while Jake held on. There were a variety of near misses, including but not limited to being pushed into:

* a brick wall
* the street
* a car
* children
* the bushes

When the time came to switch positions, Luke would have none of Jake pushing him. He kept yelling, "FASTER! FASTER, JAKE!" and would point forward with determination, "GO! GO THAT WAY!" and Jake would push at an even, reasonable pace.

So Luke had to jump off and just run. So Jake continued to push the little car and Luke ran alongside him. So they ran and ran and ran and ran. I don't even have a picture of the birthday girl due to chasing 2.5 yr old toddler. What a handful!

We had a lot of fun though - a first birthday party is more of a survival celebration for the parents after making it through the first year.