Pumpkin Patch

I'm almost caught up on my posts.  Stay with me here.

Before Halloween, the kids and I joined a bunch of other moms from church for a trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was sure crowded.  I couldn't believe how much stuff there was to do and how many people there were, and on a weekday.  We got a fabulous wagon ride too!

The spacious pumpkin fields

Piper is getting so tall.

I love the look on Simon's face here.  He had just been freed from his stroller and loved exploring the hay.

Hometown Fair

Manhattan Beach hosts a Hometown Fair every year.  I believe it even coincides with Homecoming at my Alma Mater.  Unfortunately, it's held in October so I haven't been able to go in fifteen years.  Well, this year we got to go.  They almost cancelled it at the last minute but thankfully it went off without a hitch.   

I ran into a few friends from high school and church.  The food stands brought back lots of memories for me.  The kid's section had long lines but it was all free.  Piper had a ball! 

Roadtrip and Lawrence

Rather than taking I-80 across country to our new home, Rick opted for the OH-IN-IL-MO-KS-CO-UT-NV-CA route.  It was nice because we got to go through Lawrence, Kansas - KU Jayhawk Mecca.  Rick hadn't been in years and I had never been.  In short, it rocked.  We did some serious shopping at the bookstore and even saw some basketball players outside the fieldhouse.


In the course of our trip Rick got to see his best friend from elementary school (KS) and his best friend from high school (CO).


The kids were great on the trip.  Simon only cried if he was hungry.  He was completely content with a few toys.  We had lots of toys, treats, books, and movies stashed for Piper.  Rick got unexpectedly sick overnight in KS but it was just a 24-hour bug and I drove that day.  Five days was a long trip in the car but hey, we made it.

So Long, Farewell...

We had ten days between Rick got the news about his new job and when we left Cleveland.  Thankfully we had been operating under the assumption that he would get it.  But with such a small window of time, our good friends put together a little shindig for us.  Here are some pictures of our dear friends.  WE MISS YOU!

Lexi, Jenean, and Anna

Sarah and Sara (we did a co-op preschool together last year)

Matt, Jud, and JP (Piper wanted to marry JP but she's switched her affections now to his brother Wes)

Tara and Kari

Maria holding Moses with Joanna and Chris

David and Luke

What's a party without a game of corn hole?!

Piper with her friends (she's in the white dress and pink sweater)

Terri, Sarah, and Jef

Emily holding Amelia

Em and me

Bath Time

Happy Birthday Simon!

For Simon's 1st birthday, we went to Toys R Us to get him his free balloon.  I think that that balloon was his favorite present of all.  We opened presents and went to dinner with friends.  After dinner we had cake, with Simon having his own mini-cake.

Piper got him this ball from the dollar store.  I think that between this ball and the balloon, his birthday was complete.

We got Simon this walking/riding dinosaur.  Before this he had been pushing around everything not nailed down anyway.  He was thrilled to be able to push this dinosaur which also made music when you pushed it.

Mmm, cake.

Cleaning him up was the easy part.  The high chair - not so easy.

I love the rock & roll look on his face.  Very Billy Idol.