October

Greg actually got into the Halloween spirit this year (read: was required to for his job at the track) & the night before put together this hardened prisoner (of marriage) get-up.

It's a little hard to read so let me spell it out:
Burke-Billows Prison
07102004
It was a gift from his groomsmen at his bachelor party. At least it was finally put to SOME sort of use because living with me is just HEAVEN.
Back in the summer I asked Adrienne what she wanted to be for Halloween & I started rattling off options... "a ballerina, princess, ghost, Wonder Woman" at which point she cut me off chanting "WUMBA WUNNAN!!!" "Well if you're Wonder Woman who should Nick be? Superman, Batman, Spiderman" Again, no hesitation, "SPIDERMAN!!!" And that was that. I figured along the way she would change her mind 100 times. Nope. People tried to sway her, offer up other suggestions but she never strayed. Nick was still a little young to grasp the concept... until his costume arrived & we tried it on him.

If looking in the mirror & seeing himself AS Spiderman wasn't enough to sell him on Halloween hook, line & sinker then trick-or-treating made him a believer.
No... seriously - WHILE we were trick-or-treating Adrienne & Nick were already planning NEXT year's Halloween costumes which I SWEAR they came up with themselves: Nick is going to be Jack & Adrienne is going to be Sally (I'm going to be Zero - ok, Zero was my idea). They are STILL, TO THIS DAY, talking about Halloween. At the store on Sunday (as in Dec 5th) they were playing with 3 older girls, one asked their names. Nick shouted, "JACK!" and Adrienne chimed in with, "And I'm going to be Sally!" *sigh* I had to go over to the girls and say, "No, their names are Nick & Adrienne" (to which the girls looked at me like I was crazy.... how could these kids not know their own NAMES) "and they're telling you that next year they want to be Jack & Sally for Halloween. Please tell my you've seen Nightmare Before Christmas?" A collective "OOOOHHHH! YEAH!" as the girls realized we / they aren't completely insane.

Doing their big-and-strong pose. As superheros well should!
(And how do you like the golden lasso & oversized red plastic clip on earrings a la Linda Carter!?!? Unfortunately neither lasted - as in, they were off seconds after I snapped this picture... oh well....)
Over to Yiayia's office.
Since my daughter stole my favorite superhero identity I took second best... Catwoman.
First official stop on our trick-or-treating trail, our wonderful neighbors (who thankfully don't mind little girl faces imprinted on their glass door).

Here he comes.....
Nick is in complete disbelief. CANDY. Mr. Salmon just gave me CANDY. Wait a MINUTE! Trick-or-treating = CANDY?!?!
I had only planned to do the 6 houses on our block but the kids were UNSTOPPABLE! We went ALL the way down to the end of our street & not a door was missed.

Back at the house, tallying up their loot.
There's no picture to go with this but I have to tell the story...
Now that we're home we're getting trick-or-treaters at our own door. Upon encountering a werewolf earlier in the evening Adrienne QUICKLY proclaimed she did NOT like that one bit. But it never occured to me to warn her about scary things coming to our own front door.
Doorbell rings.
The 3 of us go running.
I swing the front door open & am face to face with 4 tween-sized ghouls and the undead.
Laughing I turn to look at Adrienne & Nick. Nick had an eyebrow raised about the whole thing. Adrienne started weeping.
"No!! It's ok!!! They're not real!!"
As if they had rehearsed, all 4 whipped their masks up over their head to expose 4 freckle-faced-Irish-alter-boys who all simultaneously dropped to their knees to be eye level with her... "We're just pretending little girl!! Don't be scared!! We're not mean!!"
Reluctantly her sobs were replaced with a hesitant pout and she withdrew to the family room.
Needless to say, she didn't go to the door for any more trick-or-treaters that night...


Strung out on sugar (or one too many werewolf and Lucifer sightings) they invented this game (sport?). Toward the very end I realized that all he had to do was give her one nice little shove and she would go flying down the stairs. Thank heaven for small favors... he didn't figure that one out.
Oh, and at the end he wanted to go visit the monster in the front closet (we also have a monster in Adrienne's closet) but the video was WAY to dark which is such a bummer.

Should anyone require proof that Adrienne is really my daughter I'm going to show them this.
She didn't color in his patchwork of stripes. She created her own.
So... so.... SO anal.
A new addition to the baking process - a chef's hat!
(And yet anther disgusting looking baked good resulted from this session... I wanted to make Halloween cupcakes for Corinne & Cassandra's visit later that eve. What we ended up with were colors that only Shrek would love... moldy ogre green & dustball brown... *sigh*)

Another round of numerical breadsticks.... I said, "I'll do a zero!" (it opened up during baking - it's the U-looking shape in the lower left) Nick yelled out, "Do JACK!" (only true NBX lover's will get that... but I digress....)
Not bad for an on-the-fly Pilsbury Jack Skellington!!

Tori's first birthday adventure... Curious George Live!

Parents brought their kids dressed in FULL Curious George garb (seriously... as in, dressed AS Curious George). Since Keri & I are slacker parents who dressed our kids in good ol' cotton shirts & jeans for the event we showered them with over-priced trinkets to make amends.

Curtain is rising!

And wouldn't you know it! The theme of the show was about FOOD!

The afternoon of the yearly Philoptochos Luncheon that my MIL co-hosts.
Greg managed to sneak out of work early to watch the kids & I said a FEW DAYS PRIOR, "Since you'll have the rest of the day off on Saturday, decide what you want to do - I'll be home around 4pm. When I get home I'll change real quick then we can head out!" He said, "Maybe a hayride, pumpkin picking..." "Perfect! It's your call... just plan it out so we can hit the ground running!"
I got home from the luncheon, "So! What are we going to do!?" All sing-songy he replies, "What do YOU want to do?"
Well that's a problem right there.
"What do you MEAN what do I WANT to do?! This was YOUR show. You were supposed to plan it!!" (meanwhile I'm already booting up the laptop, scrambling to think of someplace new & exciting to head to being that this is a RARE chunk of daylight we have together as a family)
He proceeds to tell me how Nick slept for 3+++ hours but he just didn't have ANY time to figure something out. You can fill in the blanks (many of which were 4-lettered streaming from my mouth) on the rest of that convo.
I throw EVERYONE (including Greg) into the car. He's googling (on his phone... while I'm driving...) for something that is still open (now that it's after 5pm) and not a Halloween Fright Fest (apparently EVERY farm turns into one at that stroke of 5pm). The only thing that was still open (and not scary) was Delicious Orchards (which closed at 6pm). Close enough. So here we are. Getting the evil eye from the staff as we do a whirlwind through the store. Greg assuring me, "See! It all worked out!" I'm with the staff on doling out the stink eye. Armed with donuts, pistachios & coffee (ok, maybe that's not SO bad...) we headed outside for apple fritters and cider.
"Oh look guys! Hop up & I'll take your picture in the apple!"
(maybe I'll luck out and get a Christmas card picture!)
"LORI! They're on the WRONG SIDE."
More stink eye. Even though he was right.

OK, instead..... Let's sit on the tractor!
Way to give them a hand, GREG.

Adrienne wanted no part of being up there.

Which was fine. Nick was perfectly happy all by himself!

But still pissy about this day NOT going like I wanted it to.... I decide to go for another round of Christmas card shots.
Nick wasn't thrilled about Adrienne sharing the seat and did his best to nudge her off.

Hey! Look over there!

(he tries to distract her while she holds on for dear life)

I'M GONNA FALL DOOOWWWWNNNNN!!!
Nick 1, Adrienne 0

OK, on to the pumpkin for (yet another) picture attempt.
"Do you think she realizes that we're on the wrong side AGAIN!?"
"Umm, clearly, NO!"

FINE!
Here's the correct side. But something's missing...

Oh! THERE you go....
(plus we got an extra kid in there...)

FINALLY on to our apple fritters & cider at which point I realize he didn't get the donuts I love! So I sprinted BACK into DO (going in the exit, getting yelled at by the manager who is LITERALLY locking the door) and grab a bag (which turned out to not be the right ones either... ugh!).
We got into the car, Greg looked at me & said, "So! What do you want to do for dinner."
*sigh*

Since Nick's first poop on the potty he's an addict. This is how it goes:
"Ahn to go PAAHHTY, mommy! MOMMY! PAHTY!"
Take his pants off, take his diaper off, get him all situated with things pointing in the right direction. His arse BARELY hits the seat & he says, "All done. All done mommy." Go to slap the diaper back on him, "NO MOMMY! AHN TO GO PAHTY!" Round & round we go. So I FINALLY learned to just let him do his thing & when he's REALLY done he comes to me. The whole time he has a conversation with himself, "All done. 'Goin pahty. All done. 'Goin pahty." Well, Adrienne is in the bathroom (on the REAL potty), I'm in the kitchen & Nick is dueling it out with the little potty. Then it got quiet. Real quiet. I should've known.
Well! He did it all by himself! Poops in the potty!! And ON the potty... NEAR the potty... ON him... IN his pjs...
(not to worry, I black-barred it for the faint-of-heart)
I dragged Nick into the bathroom (where Adrienne was still doing her business) and she was just DELIGHTED that Nick did SOMETHING that clearly wasn't right. Not even thinking about getting a diaper on Nick (since he CLEARLY just went) - I was just trying to get them BOTH cleaned up. He escaped, ran out into the hall and let loose on my BRAND NEW (as in 3 days old) rug.
Potty training.
Love it.

Dinner with the Garofalo's.
Nick was hoping that all these girls weren't going to stay.

Target parking lot:

"Mommy! There's a DOG driving that car!"
"Oh Adrienne! Dogs don't drive cars!!" chuckling to myself... kids say the darndest things!!!
doh!

Yesterday my cell rings - a text. I open it up to see this picture & a messsage from his teacher, Alice: "So Nick just pooped on the potty!" To which I replied, "holy s***! LITERALLY!"
I got the full 'load' when I picked them up yesterday. He was standing by the bookcases (hence the book still in his clutch) & he had 'the look'. Alice asked if he was going, he said yes & she quick like a bunny scooped him up & got him on the potty JUST in time. So it was a little contrived but it still counts.... NICK'S VERY FIRST TIME ON THE POTTY!!!!

Friday marked Greg's 3rd day off from work since May. We spent the morning at the doc's. Greg & Nick went one way, Adrienne & I went another. Afterwards we headed over to Frank's (an old skool hole-in-the-wall diner in Asbury Park) for some breakfast. Nick decided to take his temperature just like how the nurse did - under his armpit. But with jelly packets.

And Adrienne sucked down some milk with her chocolate. Naturally, a sugary chocolate treat is the logically thing to give her after spending the morning at the dentist...

But then we headed off for a little fun. Our first time at the Popcorn Park Zoo.
We got to this gate & were feeding the birds for quite a while before we realized that we should be walking INTO the gaggle of fowl.

And this pretty much sums up the experience for the kids. The animals could not have been close enough or loud enough for No-Fear-Nick. On the other hand, Adrienne prefers the vantage point from the safety of the car at Great Adventure's Safari.

Bambi & Thumper. Or no, wait... Flower!

Yes that is a real tiger. Yes they were all of 10 (fewer?) feet away from it. Maybe I'm starting to agree with Adrienne about preferring them to be in a car.
All kidding aside... the animals were INCREDIBLE! The big cats, the farm animals, the monkeys, the geese & peacocks (of which there were DOZENS)... they were ALL out & about. It was great!

No, No-Fear-Nick, you may NOT go see the bears.



A split second before.......

Did you SEE that!??!
Ummmm YES!!! How could I miss my son's hand being swallowed by that enormous billy goat?!?
Indeed, all fingers were still attached. Then it was Adrienne's turn to feed the goats.

After witnessing her brother's hand almost get nibbled off she elected to go to the FAR end of the fence, where there were NO 4-legged farm creatures, and while hidden from sight behind a big tree, she cautiously tossed her popcorn in the yard. She wasn't taking ANY chances.

I had heard that the PP Zoo wasn't exactly a 5-star animal haven... well, maybe that set our expectations low because we loved it! The perfect sized place, the kids got up close & personal with a ton of critters, the animals were beautiful....
Well, except this guy. Is he NOT the dopiest thing you've ever seen!?!?

On the way back to the Parkway we stopped off at this huge farm - hayrides, a tractor train with cow cars, an obstacle course - AWESOME! Well, awesome if we were there on a weekend when it's all open & running. Not so much so when we're the only random family there & intruding on a class trip. But that's ok... the kids were hungry & tired anyway so they got to pick out more (yes MORE) pumpkins.
(yet another attempt at a backup-Christmas picture.. I didn't subject you to the MANY photo failures I snapped at the zoo)

Actually Nick picked out about 7 pumpkins. He'd pick one out & put it in the lane of pumpkins to the right. As we would snatch that one he'd pick out another & do the same. I guess he was cleaning up the pumpkin patch.

Adrienne suddenly chimed in, "Nick! Let me have your pumpkin!"
Death grip on the gourd... "NO!"

Peek-a-boo!

I see yoooouuu!!!

What can I say.... I'm a sucker for the 3/4 profile pose!
And with the GLASSES!!! TOO CUTE!

While Greg paid for the pumpkins we meandered into the obstacle course field - the kids had a blast in the rolling tubes! Well, before the girl came & ushered us out. It's $10 all-you-can-play on the weekends. It wasn't a weekend & we hadn't paid. SERIOUSLY!?!?

With all the wind & cold Adrienne suddenly had a bad (aka highly dramatized) case of chapped lips so I dug out a few chapsticks for her. It's been a while since she's had her 'lipskips' so they became the prized possession of the night.
When setting the table Greg called me over to see this.... Halloween Kitty was given a special place at the table & apparently asked to stand guard over her treasured lipsticks.

In the back of Adriene's Wild Animal Baby magazines they have craft suggestions & this is one I've wanted to do FOREVER... Pilsbury dough biscuit numbers. Seriously, who doesn't love Pilsbury biscuits and they haven't had them yet!!!
I had the video rolling the ENTIRE time they unrolled the wrapper WAITING for their expressions when it EXPLODED! Nothing. I took a spoon & hammered away at it. STILL nothing. A chainsaw & crowbar later.... POP!

It's like Play-Doh!

And now we're painting... with BUTTER!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.... 7, 8, 9, 10... 11, 12... YUM!

I bribed them (ok, Adrienne) into a nice long nap with the promise of painting afterwards. Not with butter this time... but with REAL paint.

And for the first time, I let Nick in on the mess fest. I give him a ton of credit - he was SO much neater than I expected.

Until he put the mask up.
Doh! The OTHER way, Nick!! Turn it around!

Ahhhh! SCARY!!

Jacqueline the Pumpkin Queen

I enlisted my mom to help me bring the kids to church on Sunday for Adrienne's class picture fund raiser. My mom offered to stay home with Nick while I took Adrienne. No, no! We'll all go together. What was I THINKING!?!? I already knew I needed help with Mr. Needs Another Exorcism which is why I asked her to come in the first place....
Well, for this split second, still going for that backup Christmas card picture, I corralled them to the front stoop for a photo op.
OK, so far, this is the runner up. Should all else fail, you may just be seeing this on your Christmas card in a few weeks.

Still trying for a better shot....
"Niiiiiiccccckkk... sit DOWN!"

"NO!"

"Adrienne, see if you can get him to sit..."

OK, that didn't work.
"Adrienne, how about putting your arm around him?"

He wanted NO part of that & sashayed his way out of her grasp.

Fine. Up close & personal it is. Keep in mind this is continuous shooting so they were snapped one after the other, instantly. Adrienne's I'm-forcing-a-smile expression doesn't change. The other one.... ay carumba. What a piece of work that boy is!

And............ this is why I should've listened to my mom. Church was going on (and on, and on... a visiting priest who doesn't subscribe to Father Andrew's breakneck paced service) & we were in the gym. Eating goldfish.

The long anticipated wait (for me!) to get the kids up to Touch the Truck in Westfield.

Tori was just plum happy to be hanging with the older crowd (aka 2 & up). The highlight of her day was waiting on the lines, not actually getting on any truck, per se (yes you read that right), but simply to be shoulder to shoulder with THE BIG KIDS!!
On the road again...

She took one look at the 6' climb up to the drivers seat, simply shook her head & went around back to hop on the trailer.

From the moment they set eyes on this school bus it was the end-all-be-all to their Touch the Truck experience. They could not WAIT to hop on...

I couldn't even get Adrienne to turn around - to see the world from the inside of a school bus... JOY OF JOYS!!!

OK, time to move on. The bus had the back door open... "C'mon guys!' Let's hop out the back! Like the school bus is poopin' us!" hahahahaaa.... (and yes, that became Nick's commentary for EVERY truck we got on thereafter....)
Well, at that VERY moment the driver hopped in and STARTED IT UP. Holy Mary Mother of Pearl. Thank heaven Nick is still in diapers because I'm pretty sure he s*** his pants right then & there.
At this point he is REFUSING to let me put him down on the ground... his buddha belly is hanging out of his too-small-Halloween-shirt (10 days left, buddy!) & unbeknownst to me at the time, my barndoor was WIDE open for all of Westfield to see...

And poor, poor Adrienne who has held the esteemed school bus on a pedestal for so long... she was PETRIFIED!!! Her hopes & dreams crushed with the turn of a key...

Surprise, surprise the line at the fire truck was by FAR the longest. Since we're completely brilliant we skipped the line to sit IN the truck, and instead went along the side to play with all the wheels, dials, levers & gadgets. And who needs a shot of your kid in the driver's seat when you can get a 3-fer hangin' on the back!
(note Adrienne's lack of enthusiam after the school bus debacle)

The mail truck didn't woo her back into the spirit of the afternoon either. But Nick was all for the photo op... and so were 2 other random boys so that works!

Ahhh.... the bounce house. When all else fails... Cement mixers, go carts, ambulances.... nah. But a BOUNCE HOUSE?! Happy days are here again!

Nothing like a treasured mommy-daughter picture in the bucket of a track excavator.

Ahhhhhhh! It's scoopin' us up!

Those happy days were short lived. This was the beginning of the end for Nick. We hopped on the REAL Thomas the Train ride that was zig-zagging through the parking lot but since Nick was with me he missed out on getting a balloon with the girls. No worries, he was happy enough to be on the train. For this split second.

Then he realized Adrienne & Tori were behind him having a ball sitting with Aunt Keri AND they both had balloons.

Oh HEAVEN!! Some random volunteer just ran up & gave balloons out to the kids! Yeah! Nick has his own which I tied to his belt loop which he fought with every muscle in his body & every scream he could muster. WHILE the train was cruising. I finally got it tied. He's screaming like he's getting run over by Thomas and...... POP! His balloon hit something sharp in the roof. After the ride came to an end I quickly found the paramedics (No! He wasn't HURT!! I just needed a pair of scissors to detach the lifeless balloon! And the kicker is he totally didn't care that the balloon popped he just REALLY DIDN'T WANT IT tied to his pants!!)

We managed one last hurrah with them in the boat & snagged one last shot of the 3 amigos (that would be Nick's rear end - I wasn't trying for better at this point). Time to head home.

Adrienne handed this picture to me... "It's a banana!" It certianly is! "Did daddy draw this for you to color in?" (you now know what I think of Greg's artistic abilities) "No! III drew it!" I totally didn't believe her & just then Greg happened to come down the stairs. "Did you draw this banana for her??" "No..." I looked at her in disbelief... "You DREW this?!? OMG!!!"
C'mon!! She's 3 1/2!!! Yes, my daughter is the next Cezanne!

Helping set up Halloween decorations at Mima & Pop Pop's... giving the Burke Jersey Devil a little welcome back hug.
(hmmm, I think they need a lesson on approaching strangers)

Quite possibly my favorite Anna-me-down since the brown, orange & pink dress (well, a sleeveless dress last summer, a long tunic this summer & hopefully a tank top next summer)...

Nick's buddha is definitely back. Greg's able to use it as a pillow.

We got a dog!!!!
OK, we didn't get a dog. But I almost kept the one that turned up on our doorstep.
After a 1 1/2 hour drive to work yesterday (due to a cataclysmic merging of construction and flooding) I elected (umm, demanded...) to work from home for the sake of my own sanity. And by working from home I rescued this little guy!
I was standing at the kitchen counter, banging away at an email when I saw a blur out of the corner of my eye. I looked across the family room & saw a crouching figure at our French doors leading into the family room. SOMEONE IS BREAKING IN!!! Then I put my glasses on.... No one is breaking it. It's a dog!! Odd... I've never seen this pup before... and we're pretty familiar with all the 4-legged friends in our 'hood. He sniffed around a bit & trotted off. I poked my head outside & waited to hear someone calling him. Silence. I ran back in, grabbed the phone & headed out (in the rain, in my PJs...) to find him. Trapped on our neighbors porch I called the cops to come get him - with a shoulder harness & fully tagged someone loves this little guy... but he wouldn't come to me!

I FINALLY coaxed him over & called his owner who lives a few blocks away. While waiting for her (she stayed home from work that day to look for him!) I made him do tricks & gave him the kids' graham crackers. Dogs love graham crackers. They hate cinnamon. (I know, I KNOW... I have to STOP WATCHING THAT MOVIE......)
Off he went. Covered in the stench of wet dog & a foyer instantly filled with fur & muddy footprints I can say the itch of wanting a dog has now been scratched for a good long while.
A bit later I was back at the kitchen counter, banging out yet another email and AGAIN I saw movement outside the French doors! WHAT NOW!??!
Queue Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds'
Mysterious black dog on our doorstep.... flock of black birds descending upon the house... it can only mean one thing:

Happy Halloween!

That's right kiddiepusses. Look closely at these shirts (and 2 more to follow) - we only have a few weeks to wear them & we're going to wear the devil out of them!
(No, seriously... I'm going to be doing their laundry every other day just to keep these shirts in constant rotation. I'll be surprised if you see them in anything else in the October blog!)
Back to business.... it's the first weekend in October! My little goblins & I waste no time in starting off the month with an action packed day.... Starting with a trip to Target - where else!?

Pulling out ALL the stops... it's time for Nightmare!!! We've got Jack on 24x7 these days and will until after Christmas!! Wah-hoo! Whether it's the movie or the CD in the car.... "Our man Jack is kind of the pumpkin patch, everyone hail to the Pumkin King now!"

"Hey A-dieh, think she sees us?"
"Shhh Nick! Sit back and be quiet or she'll know we're still here!"

With only a few weeks left of Greg's weekends at the track we stopped by for what might be our last visit. Usually we don't have to traverse the lawn-jockied bespeckeld median in front of the main entrance but we were going to the clubhouse today (because we're high class like that) which was on the other of the gate. The first jockey they saw they ran up & hugged! SO cute! Of course the camera was in the bottom of my bag. By the time I dug it out, the moment was long gone so I asked them to give him another hug. Adrienne hugged the jockey, Nick hugged his own hand. I guess the jockey wasn't exactly warm & fuzzy.

Ice cream!
When a spoon just doesn't cut it, use your hand!

Ready.... annnnnndddd.....

JUMP!

"Before we leave, let's go potty." "But I don't have to go!" "C'mon, Adrienne, please just go potty??!!" "No!" "OK, we're going to go to the store so it's going to be a while before we get home." "It's ok. I don't have to go."
No sooner do I get them both strapped in to the car....
"Mommy... I have to go potty." @#$%$##$!!! "Can you just wait until we get to the store?" "No. I have to go REAL BAAADDDDD."
First time for everything... the emergency porta-potty in the back of the truck. Actually, I can't believe it's taken this long to bust it out!

Yiayia wanted Adrienne to start Sunday school this year. We all went last week for her first time. Not only did she love Sunday school but it was by FAR Nick's best day in church, EVER. He was only a mild train wreck. More like a derailment.
Anyway, giving Nick a little hug goodbye as we get her ready to head off to church with Yiayia.

Poor girl kept going from window to window looking for Yiayia's car to pull up all the while asking, "Do you think Yiayia forgot about me??

Life Lesson #9924: When Yiayia says she's going to try to be here a little early that means she'll be at LEAST 15 minutes LATER than whatever time she originally told you.
With Adrienne & Yiayia off at church I took my little J-E-T-S fan out & about to get some errands done.... because errand-running with 1 child is just SO much easier than with 2.
Life Lesson #9925: Running errands with Nick is just as hard as running errands with Nick AND Adrienne. Find the common demoninator there.

Sunday is bath night & whether or not we have guests makes no difference. Everyone in the tub! Is this not the cutest?!?!?
Post-bath mani-pedi from Aunt Keri.
Winding down... a little Wiggles to wrap up the night...

If he sits ON her lap he'll crush her. So this works out much better.

Oktoberfest Outfit #2 fabulously accessorized by Natosha's dual French braids!
And no, I didn't buy the pants & socks together... I totally forgot we even had the socks when I bought the pants. Definitely loving the Hamburgler look!

And Nick's shirt... complete with bones down the arms & an apple core in his belly!
(Have I mentioned he has an apple obsession....? He does..... BIG time.)

Greg and I were lingering in the dining room after dinner... Adrienne disappeared for a little while & suddenly came bouncing in... "I'm going to the beach!"
(not for another 8 months, you ain't... but we didn't mention that...)

Move over Glenn.... Greg has mastered the REAL ah-choo!



QT with my babies....

... WHILE WE WATCH STAR WARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah!!
In addition to his apple obsession he's also all about trucks. In his truck book the tractor page (tractor baler, tractor forklift, tractor manure spreader, etc. etc.) is by far his FAVORITE.
Saturday morning I wanted to get them out & about (read: tire them out so they'll take early naps) and I needed some decorations for the house so we went to the Patterson's farm to pick up some pumpkins.
He really was excited about the tractor... except Cindy had just busted out a box of Munchkins which was trumping the tractor at the moment.

"Cheese!"
No, more like "Powered Sugar, Jelly & Chocolate Crumbs!"

Tom, Adrienne & Brenna are ready to roll on the farm tour.

But when Kaylin saw that Nick was driving she wisely decided to opt out of the golf cart ride.

Deer Spotting... "I see one!!!"

Adrienne, are you having fun??!
I'll take that as a 'yes'!

Back at the house Adrienne IMMEDIATELY hopped on the pink elephant (an icon of the Patterson Dairy Farm since the '60s).

And of course Nick followed suit.
(at which point I saw the big 'DO NOT CLIMB ON THE ELEPHANT' sign... doh!)

Kid shot!
Umm, except we're misisng Kaylin... And WHAT is with the Zoolander pose Nick is sporting!?!

My BFF since 1st, yes FIRST grade!

Tom had a football game so they headed off...
Bye Aunt Cindy!!!

I tried to get a oh-so-cute picture of them on the gigantic fall display.
This was as good as it got.

Between petting the pumpkins & getting poked by hay & corn stalks it just wasn't happening.

GET ME DOWN!! There's HAY in my golo!!!

She could care LESS about picking out pumpkins. Come hell or high water this girl wanted a pansy.

FINALLY.... we put a pansy in out pile of fall foliage & she was swayed into the pumpkin patch.

I like.....
... THIS one!
You can see how picky Nick is. The first one he walked up to he took. End of story.
Oh now THIS is a good idea.... Note the SATURATED grass just behind Adrienne & mud puddle right in front of Nick. Let's just say they didn't happen to luck out & find the only dry patch on the farm.

Hi Mommy!

Doh!
(head clunk)

Since he doesn't know any curse words yet I wonder what, exactly, is going thru his mind right now.... @#$%$#@!!!

Mommy.... is my head still humongous??
Yup.

Well if this just didn't blow them away... helping Alan with the cart. They thought they were the cat's meow. I said I'd just back the car up (you can see it's all of 30 feet away)... but no, Alan insisted on using the cart & let the kids help.
C'mon Nick! Let's go!

Ooohhhhh.... it's HEAVY!!!

I'll help you A-dieh!

A little extra leverage from Alan got them rolling...

My festive fall display which looks BEAUTIFUL... except for the fact that it can't be seen by anyone since our house sits on top of a hill & the stoop is completely blocked by shrubbery. As Adrienne says, "but that's ok..." It makes me happy that it's there.
Oh, and a little marketing for the Patterson's... Plants & decorations ALL YEAR 'ROUND... http://www.pattersongreenhouses.com/

After the Pat's we stopped off at Stewart's for lunch...
"I'll have a chili dog with sauerkraut & mustard with a side of cheese fries"
Thank heaven she's not in diapers any more!

Nick was about to pass out on the bar...

Sharing one mean chocolate milk

******burp******

And then Nick was done.

After naps we headed over to their school for the fall festival for some pumpkin painting (because picking out pumpkins this morning just wasn't enough!)...

... and the bounce house, of course!

So Nick still hasn't Christened the potty but he tooted in it & thought that was just HYSTERICAL!

I think......................... Nick's got the cuter tush...!

Nothing cracks me up more than her pucker & 47 chins when she's concentrating...

Yet another cute picture of Nick. Because you just can't ever have enough!

WHOA!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE?!?!
A minute ago everyone was decorating pumpkins, playing so calmly... then ONE LITTLE bowl of ice cream later & the crowd goes wild!!!

"A-dieh! HELP ME!"
"You want your shirt off Nick?"
"YEAH!"

Ummm... NO!!!!

She dropped him & his quest for nudity like yesterday's diapers when a killer riff came on & she had to dance...
OK, that does it. Bedtime for everyone.

Look Carrie!!! She's imitating you! How does she know you got reading glasses?!?!?
baaahahahahahaha!
(sidenote: count the headgear.... 2 ponies, a barrette, a headband & sunglasses!!!)

I swear she's making faces just to spite me because she knows it's insanely hard to take over the shoulder pictures....

Hmmmm, what else can I do to totally ruin mommy's attempt to get a cute picture of me.....

So here we are at Six Flags safari. That would be a bison outside her window.
WHY is she wearing a hat?! Because the sunglasses that she INSISTED on bringing to the park were left in my car.
Of course it's much more interesting to look at a MAP than the REAL LIVE ELEPHANTS, RHINOS and KUDUS standing just mere inches away from the car!!!

Well this giraffe was NOT going to be ignored.
**SMOOCH**

Whoa. I think that giraffe is taller than daddy!
About 1/2 way through we let the animals out of their cages. It didn't take long before they were strapped back in. They were far more interested in pushing EVERY button on the console than looking at the REAL LIVE BEARS, MONKEYS and ZEBRAS standing just mere inches away from the car!!! (are you seeing a trend here?!)

Back at Exploration Station I can't believe Nick hopped on the pony with no fuss!

He did take a moment to check his gear - make sure it was all in order before the equine beast rode off...

Here we go!

Just pleased as a peacock to be on the BIG horse.

After a few rounds she started getting brave & gave him a little lovin'.

Niiiiiiiiick.... What did you do?? Why do you look so guilty? Did you do poops?

No... but his pony did!

Lock, Shock & Barrel

They're fascinated with this lion cub & he seemed just as interested in them. They approached & they stared each other down for a few minutes.

Then the kids hopped onto the wood pilings... and so did the cub!

What's funnier? Nick laughing at the bird or the 3 people in the background all answering its squawk?

Every time the bird squawked (which was about every 10 seconds) Nick would laugh but squeeze me a little tighter, as if holding on to me for dear life... he kept saying, "He no YIKE me!"

Then Pop Pop grabbed him to get even more up close & personal but the bird wasn't thrilled with the proximity and scuttled off down the ropes. Just as well... loud & obnoxious thing that he was...

We spotted a few other (much quieter) birds to check out.

Dad, do you NOT see the signs everywhere....?
DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS!!!!!

We could've taken Nick home at this point. He just kept looking at me saying, "I'm on Pop Pop's HEEEAAAD!" That was the best ride of the day!

Well, until Pop Pop put them on the car. Crazy Pop Pop!!

Of course Adrienne wasn't getting anywhere near her carseat without getting a turn on the roof too.

SUCH ANTICIPATION!!!
THE FIRST RIDE OF THE DAY!

SO happy!

We were trying to kick Pop Pop & Nick's chair. "I bet if Daddy were with us HE could reach!" hahaha...

As I uploaded this picture I looked at my legs... something about the sneakers / jeans / socks (which look like tube socks for some reason but are really just little ankle socks...) combo ran a chill down my spine because I had but one horrid, awful image come to mind.....

.... SNL's MOM JEANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should I go down the green slide?

Nope... blue is better!

The Wiggles show... Adrienne braves up to go dance....

... a little further... is she going to do it?!?!?

Nope. Back to her seat. And now Nick's done. REAL done. He just put his head down on the seat & checked out.
So long Six Flags... we'll see you in the spring!

Dual layered tutus.. black on top this time.

Since she was tutu'd up she danced her little heart out. At the VERY end you can tell she's trying to do the moves she learned in ballet class. The rest of it.... well.... I think her only goal is to get her pumpkin bell necklace to jingle.