Halloween Part II: Pumpkins!

Tonight's "adventure" was pumpkin carving! Unfortunately, Brad was out of town for the experience, but I got a little technical support from Auntie and Uncle A. Munchkin, of course, was the biggest help of all. :o)

Weekend Update: Halloween, Part I

Munchkin was invited to his first Halloween party--and so were his parents!

But you can tell we are still new at our jobs (parenting, that is) because neither one of us left the house with a camera. Doh! But our wonderful party hosts are bloggers, so I'll include the link to photos when they post them.

A quick synopsis:
Halloween is the Gelbers' favorite holiday, and every inch of their home was decked out in Halloween splendor. From cauldrons, to strobe lights, to spider webs and more, it was a spooky place. About two hours into the super fun party, it looked like a toy factory had exploded in their family room...which led me to the conclusion that I'm not ready to be the parent of a toddler. :o) The big kids had a craft (paper plate pumpkins) and played pin the something on the something else (I never got close enough to see what it was), and everyone had a wonderful time!

When we returned home, we enjoyed a nice evening with Mimi and Munchkin's two Aunties. Mimi and Auntie N babysat Munch the night before, too, while Mom and Dad enjoyed an evening of theatre. Thanks!

It was a great weekend!

P.S. Can you tell what Brad is? (His shirt says, "Go Ceilings!")

More photos: http://gallery.me.com/hannahrae#100146

Milestone

See Munchkin's right hand?

It grabbed that giraffe's foot with no help!



The giraffe isn't very happy.



But we are!

Look Ma! No Hands!

Maybe he'll be able to skip training wheels.

Mastitis

I have it. It hurts.

Fortunately, my OB is awesome and called in a prescription immediately, so I'm already on the mend. Yesterday, Munchkin and I sat on the couch and laid in the bed...all day. It was nice to take a day off, even if I was laden with chills and flu-like symptoms.

"Mastitis is an infection of the breast tissue that causes pain, swelling and redness of the breast. Mastitis most commonly affects women who are breast-feeding, although in rare circumstances this condition can occur outside of lactation." Mayo Clinic.

"Decided"

After many weeks, I stayed true to my word:

I watched every minute of every debate, and much of the "post game" shows on CNN. The last Presidential debate sealed the deal.

So.

"Obama 08!!!"


P.S. The slogan is from SNL. The T-shirt was created at The T-Shirt Deli.You can find my original "Undecided" post here.

Gone Pickin'

Because I (we) heart fall so very much, we decided that this weekend's adventure would be to find a place where we could pick apples and pumpkins in one fell swoop. It almost worked out.

We journeyed to a magical place called "Apple Holler," just north of Kenosha, WI. What we found when we arrived were apple orchards, a pumpkin patch, hay rides, corn maze, doughnuts, cider...and the entire population of Wisconsin and most of Illinois.

Our day began when we entered the grounds and our senses were immediately overwhelmed by the sights, the people, and the reggae music. Yup, you heard me. After standing in line for 15 minutes, we were told by The Apple Folk that the trees were almost completely bare, but if we liked we could still pay $37.99 (no joke) for a plastic bag that we may or may not be able to fill up with apples. We passed.

We then went to have lunch at the restaurant, only to discover that the only dining option was a buffet of turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, etc. Now, I was okay with this but anyone who has met my darling husband (DH for you blog-savvy readers) knows that he's a tad choosy about his food. The idea that dozens of people were breathing on what he's about to consume kinda grosses him out. Come to think of it, I guess I'm not a huge fan of the buffet either.

After that, we walked to the "pick your own pumpkin" patch. Now, I've not picked my own pumpkin in a few years, but I guess I was actually expecting to cut a pumpkin off the vine with my own two hands. Really, we just selected it from a picked over patch and transported it back to the main area via tractor pull. It just goes to show you how ignorant I was about pumpkin picking. We did, however, find a lovely pumpkin.


After that, we stood in another very long line to purchase our apple cider doughnuts and a 1/2 gallon of apple cider...not manufactured at Apple Holler, I realized later. (The doughnuts were tasty.)

We deemed the afternoon to be a lovely, sunny day spent together as a family, even if the events in and of themselves were a bit of a failure. We learned a lesson: go apple picking on a Monday in September. :o)