Halloween 2008

Delightful Donuts

Kyle walked into my bedroom this morning, singing, "We thank thee, Oh God, for our donuts.."

Slightly inappropriate? Yes. Funny? Absolutely.

Donuts are the answer to all problems in Kyle's book. When allowed to pick a treat at the grocery store, it's a donut. When it's his turn to pick the FHE treat, it's donuts all around! We even potty trained with donuts. Yes, the obsession began that early.

And I hate to admit this, but the obsession is all my fault.

You see, when we lived in American Fork, we lived around the corner from a cute little bakery. I'm all for supporting local businesses, and I'm definitely all for donuts, so we started walking over there every Saturday morning (or almost every Saturday) for a little family breakfast. Everyone picked their favorite, and Kyle always chose glazed. Nothing fancy for him. It was a fun family tradition and we all loved it.

Then we moved to Salt Lake and there was no bakery around the corner. Oh, we still had grocery store bakeries, but it wasn't the same. Family Donut Day kind of fell by the wayside, but Kyle's love of donuts didn't. He still saw to it that we picked up donuts as often as possible. And they were still glazed.

Well, I'm afraid things have gone from bad to worse. We no longer even have a grocery store with a bakery. We are now forced to buy pre-packaged glazed donuts. It's an atrocity!

But Kyle doesn't mind. Apparently he hasn't yet learned the lesson of quality. He only cares that he gets his donuts. And I think I like them as much as he does. Not because of their pre-packaged taste, but because of the gigantic smile they put on his face.

Pickin' Pumpkins

We headed over to our favorite pumpkin patch to search for the perfect pumpkin.

Remember how a "pumpkin patch" used to just be a field of pumpkins? No more, my friends. Now they're full of hay rides, games, and snacks for sale. The actual pumpkins are just bonuses.

Kyle was so distracted by bounce houses and the petting zoo that he couldn't be bothered with the pumpkins. Unfortunately, the big bully kids monopolizing the bounce house "told him to leave," so we were lucky enough to have his input on the perfect pumpkin.

The owner gave Marie a free pumpkin on behalf of "her first Halloween." Kyle didn't think that was fair, so I sent him over the $1 bin to pick one out for himself. Afterwards, he slyly took Marie's larger one for himself and "gave" the smaller one to Marie. So kind of him.

But Marie didn't mind. There's not much you can do to keep this girl down when she's out and about. She loves a crowd! She just sits back and takes it all in...

4 Months

13 lbs. 10 oz.
25 inches
Has chubby, chubby legs and slender little fingers
Loves to roll around on the floor with her brother
Is learning to put herself to sleep
Has become a chatterbox and sounds like Daisy Duck
Rolls from front to back (Kyle didn't until he was seven months!)
Is happiest when standing up, she's got some seriously strong legs
Rarely lets a waking moment pass without a finger stuck in her mouth!

Weekend Vacation

In Kevin's line of work, October 1st is the end of the fiscal year, which basically means he works like crazy during the month of September. For all of you accountants out there, October 1st is synonymous with April 15th. So after an exhausting month, and not seeing a whole lot of each other, we decided it was time for a mini vacation. It was off to San Diego for a long weekend getaway.

First stop: the San Diego Zoo. The last time we were here, Kyle was about 8 months old, so it had been awhile.

The bus tour is the only way to see this zoo. After all, it's gigantic! So we take the bus first, and take note of the animals we want to take a closer look at. And we always sit on top.

Among the other highlights of the day: our visit to the snake house. For some odd reason, it was the only thing Kyle really cared about seeing. So we got to check out this lovely fella...

...And Kyle got to take about 12 million of these. No kidding, I think he took a picture of every snake in the place. And then he made me promise not to delete a single one. I'm afraid I might've already broken that promise.

All in all, it was a fabulous day, and the perfect way to start our weekend.

Relaxation

Sunday was spent in relaxation. After church (at a very unique ward in a totally awesome chapel that was definitely built by a different denomination. I wish I'd taken pictures...) we headed over to the temple.

It was beautiful, it was peaceful, it was everything a temple should be. I wish we could've gotten a family picture, but Marie was asleep the whole time, and I never wake a sleeping baby.




Oh well, I got some cute ones of Kyle.

And after the temple, we headed over to a place that is almost as peaceful as the temple: the beach. There's nothing like a walk on the beach to make you appreciate the majesty of God's creations. I never tire of it. We'd never been to La Jolla and it was beautiful.

And so is she.

Last stop: Sea World

This was our second trip here since moving to California, but we had a blast! So much better than last time.

Kyle was obsessed with the map (in his hands) and determined to lead us around the park. He actually did a pretty good job. It's sad that my 5-year-old's sense of direction is better than mine.

Excuse my scary face, but I love getting my baby girl to smile. She just started laughing and I can't get enough.

Kyle loves the starfish...

...and the Manta Rays.

The shows at Sea World are the best! I normally don't like to waste too much of time at shows, but these are a must. Worth every minute. It's amazing what they can train those animals to do...

The rides aren't bad either. Even if they are kiddie ones. I'll take what I can get.

Destination: Home

I have no pictures for this portion of the trip. I'll just leave it to your imagination:

6:00 pm: We pull out of Sea World, headed for home, and no more than 5 minutes later, Kyle starts complaining of a stomach ache (translation: he's going to vomit). At the exact same moment, Marie starts screaming at the top. of. her. lungs.

6:15 pm: We pull off the freeway, and weave through the streets of San Diego trying to find In N' Out Burger. It takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to get there. Or maybe it only seems like it because Marie is still screaming and Kyle's starting to turn green.

6:30 pm: We pull into the parking lot of In N' Out, Kyle practically falls out of the car and lays down on the sidewalk. In the parking lot. Marie's still screaming so I pull her out and rock her. Kevin heads in to get some food.

30 minutes later: Kyle's still laying on the sidewalk, dying. Marie's still screaming, and I'm trying my darndest to get her to sleep. It's now dark, but we're still loitering in that parking lot. Oh, and Kevin's eaten all of his food and doesn't seem to notice the dying children surrounding him. That's one good burger, he tells me. It's the "light onions." Seriously?

7:15 pm: I'm contemplating booking a hotel room for the night, because there's no possible way we can drive for three hours with these hysterical children. Kevin's contemplating ordering another burger (just kidding).

7:45 pm: Marie's finally given up, I rock Kyle to sleep in the 6-inch open space on the back seat of our Honda Civic, and I settle in for some delicious cold french fries. Oh, and we finally head for home.

It wouldn't be a vacation with children without a little excitement thrown in.

PS: Kevin's actually the best husband ever and tried to be very helpful, there was simply nothing that could be done for those children...

Tearin' up the field

We're smack-dab in the middle of soccer season, and Kyle's loving it.

He's made big improvements, and has really gotten the hang of dribbling and passing the ball, rather than running with the pack. Although, we still have a lot of that. Come on, they're only five!

But who wouldn't love soccer when your dad's the coach?

All of his buddies are playing, too...just on a different team.
No worries, it's just a little friendly competition!

And where's Marie during all of this? Cheering the team on from the warmth & coziness of her seat.