The Pineapple Patch

Happy Halloween! Pt 1

To sum it up - it was the perfect storybook Halloween! The leaves were changing and falling and the weather was a bit chilly. Little b definitely had his share of festivities - but at least he got a lot of use out of this year's costume.

So, this Halloween we teamed up with his best buddies Matt-Matt, Jordi, and Hannah Banana.

With 4, two-year-olds, it was difficult to get them all together in one shot so I had to break it up, but you get the idea.

And this is what they looked like as they all walked out together for trick or treating...so cute!

This pic is from a friend that happen to catch them together:

Cash for Flunkers

So, I'm sure you've heard about this already. What in the world?! I never thought in a million years this would happen. In case you didn't hear - this funny article will fill you in.

Funny thing is, I never actually ever bought any of these videos because Bri is too cheap and kept protesting, as he usually does. His annoying response to everything I have wanted to buy is "good things come to those who wait." And I have to say that a majority of the times he has unfortunately, been...(cough)...right. And so I'm sure I'm going to hear the other annoying response of "I told you so" sooner or later!

Finally!

Chicagoooo....

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Chicago for some work and play (but mostly play). Without too many words, here are a few of the highlights of our adventures. And to sum it up, let's just say that Little b is OBSESSED with Chicago. Don't believe me? He wakes up or goes to bed saying at least once a day, "Fun...Chicago!" OR "Go back Chicagooo!" And to top it off - he sleeps with his Chicago map. So, if he ever decides to run away, at least we'll know where to find him!

This is how he spent most of his trip - hooked on to his daddy like a turtle shell. And here was his favorite part of the trip...

More train spotting...and then a good cry after we got off each time.
He loved the "L."

And more sightseeing. No wonder he loved it so much...could it be he had the best seat in the house?

Off to Chinatown for some DIM SUM! Mmmm...

And more waiting for trains. Note the glazed-over trance he's in...

Proof that he does not like ice cream! And actually, it's funny because a lot of places we go to, they just give him the cone for free so we love it, too! And if you look on the right - this is a very common sight in our home. He LOVES airplanes more than anything. And so his Uncle Mitch was nice enough to send him an airplane safety card. His first one got so beat up. We carry these everywhere and I mean everywhere. Even to bed. And you may laugh now, but if you should ever have an emergency on an airplane, this is the one time you'll want to be sitting next to this two-year-old!

More exploring...

An authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. And for those of you that have never eaten here...just know that it's an hour wait to get seated and another 45 min just to cook the pizza! But it was totally worth the wait!

There was so much to do! We are definitely planning another trip!

It's Autumn Time!

We especially love this time of year. You really can't beat a true Fall season with the weather change and the beautiful scenery. Everything is so vibrant as the leaves change colors and the air is nice and crisp - it's just cold enough to wear a light jacket now. We're enjoying the weather while we can! And to officially say good-bye to Summer...we're going on our yearly hayride to the pumpkin patch tomorrow! Here are a few pics of the little man running around outside...or actually he's trying to run away from me and my camera, that is.

And we also want to wish a big Happy Birthday to Papa! Little b helped make this little pillow for his birthday. And then couldn't stop staring at himself...oh boy.

Rx Chocolate

We're better! Brian felt bad for us and baked some cookies to cheer us up. And I have to say, that we were very impressed! They weren't just any cookies - they were fancy pants "chocolate coconut oatmeal" cookies. He decided to try something new because he said he was tired of plain chocolate chip cookies. Who says that? Anyway, they were yummy and we were healed by the power of cookies!

And on a side note - while I was out yesterday, I noticed that my car finally made it to 180K! Whoo Hoo! See you at 200k!

Whoa Nellie!

Where in the world have we been, you say? Everywhere! Our schedules get busier and busier by the day. To give an idea of how our days have been lately:

And this is a long one - but that's what you get when you don't blog for months!

So...on Friday morning, it rained so I had to cancel a shoot. I thought that would have left me more time to catch up on other things (ahem, blogging maybe?) but I was wrong. Since it was early, I wasn't dressed for the day just yet and to my surprise I heard a knock at the door. I HAD to answer it because the t.v. was blaring and obviously we were home. Totally caught off-guard, it was our new neighbor (who has a 2-year-old boy). The look on her face immediately told me that she knew that I was NOT expecting any visitors. I wonder if it was the lack of make-up or frizzy hair? Then she says, "Oh we just thought we could come over and play for a bit since it's raining." "Uh....sure," I said, and told her I needed a half hour to get dressed. She agreed and then came back to play. While they were playing, another knock at the door. It was the pest control guy to do the spraying of our balcony for spiders...oh, man that's another story. They both leave, Little b and I rush to eat some lunch and then I put him down for a nap. After his nap, we were expecting his little buddies, M&J to come over, so their mom could go shopping for a while. And for the record, whenever you get three 2-year-old boys together - watch out! As I'm babysitting, I get a call from one of the counselors in the bishopric asking to swing by. I had no clue why, but at this point - the more the merrier! Finally he arrives, only to let me know that I was being extended a thankful release from my Laurels Adviser calling...and then jokingly, reminded me that I wasn't off the hook with the other calling I have =) M&J left (and Little b cried as usual) and it was finally a close to our long day.

Then at about 8am Sat. morning, a friend and I went to a huge sale they were having for kids' stuff - while she left her little girl, LC (not to be confused with the OC one) to play with Little b and Brian so generously offered to babysit. Thanks B! We in fact, had a great time shopping and scored some awesome deals! When we got back we turned around and went back out to take the kids to the Asian Art Festival at the library. They had a great time eating Asian food, doing calligraphy, listening to Asian music, playing with the zen garden, etc. It was fun for Little b to get in touch with his cultural roots.

Then we raced home to get Little b a nap. After the nap, we rushed again to get dressed for a BBQ at Brian's co-workers home. It's always fun to hang out with the other families and stuff our faces with yummy food. We didn't stay long, because we rushed home again to change our clothes and we were off to another party. We stayed for about an hour, stopped by the grocery store and headed home and we were POOPED.

A funny little story about the party: The bday party was for one of Brian's co-workers who is from Nigeria. Let me just first say that we had a great time and I'm glad that we had the experience! We had no idea what to expect, but let's just say that it was a very cultural experience. The pastor preached for about 20 minutes and then they said prayers for his friend and their family, which was a very nice gesture except for the fact that everyone kept shouting and I mean SHOUTING over and over again..."AMEN!" A few times we were startled because he was using a microphone when he clearly didn't need one. It was a very nice tribute and I commend their faith, we were just caught a little off-guard. And then there was the food. Brian wanted to try Nigerian food so he got his chance. Let's just say that while it wasn't BAD as in eww...gross, Brian's plate was pretty much untouched for the most part - and if you know Brian, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. However, the weird part was that for some reason Little b kept saying, try! try! try! to all of the foods. And miraculously, he LOVED every. single. bite. I tried to derail him because I wasn't sure if he was going to get a stomach ache from all of the greasy food. I figured the cake would be a good distraction...but nope, he was like, "no cake," and keep pointing to the food saying, "try! try!" It was so funny. Brian's other co-workers sitting next to us were laughing, too. I told them how strange it was especially coming from a kid who doesn't even eat mac & cheese! And on the drive home you can probably guess what Little b kept SHOUTING! =)

We came home really late and all passed out in minutes - only to wake up this morning...SICK! So, today Little b and I stayed home from church and suffered it out together. Too much running around finally caught up with us. And that is just a snip-it of our day-to-day craziness and hence, the lack of blogging. But hopefully, things will slow down a bit and we will get back on the wagon...soon!

Sorry for the quality, I was taking these on the down-low with my phone - so you can see what I was talking about:

Note: To my Hawaii peeps - no that is not a manapua (which Brian was hoping it was)...and you can't really see the different foods so I will say that it included, rices, jerky stew, some type of pork/fishy stew and I have no clue what that white thing is. And while, it may look normal, just try to imagine it all cooked in the same fish-type broth. We didn't want to be rude, plus we actually wanted to give it a try, but we drew the line at the fish head entree. As soon as we got in the car we both said that it felt so adventurous for us that we now know how Andrew Zimmer n feels =) well, not EXACTLY.