Bishop's Pumpkin Farm Pilgrimage 2010

Time for the annual pilgramage to Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm! This year was ESPECIALLY fun. We took off Friday, right after school and had 3 hours to play with great weather and hardly any people there. We started with some homemade corn dogs (my favorite), then played on the slides, next off to the train:



Then the petting zoo was next. All three kids LOVED it! Scott and Charlotte first started just feeding the animals from outside the fence, which was hilarious to them. Then they got really brave and went inside the goat pen and wanted to hold them. It was pretty darn adorable:





Trevor also thought the animals were hilarious. He also thinks that all animals say MOO.




Then the kids had dinner. Ice cream. How awesome it that?


Then it was time to head out to see the giant pumpkins. I went with ZERO expectations of taking cute pictures of the kids sitting on pumpkins, hence the completely not-coordinated outfits. But with the help of Grandma and Grandpa we actually did get a couple of really cute ones and lots of very silly ones. The smiley ones are at the top of the post, but here are the real-life ones. You can see Charlotte was really working the camera:






And of course we left with a load of apple cider (or apply I spy, as Charlotte calls it for some reason...), apple-pumpkin muffins, apple pie, cookies, and a new metal decorator pumpkin (Cindy will be jealous). Sure, we didn't get out of there without spending a load, but it was worth it!

Love notes from Scott

It is so fun when kids start really get holidays! I think this is the first year Scott understood Valentine's Day. He was excited to give out his SWEET Phineas and Ferb valentines to his classmates:

He was thrilled to decorate this foam Valentine's mailbox. Can you guess what his current obsession is? If not, stay tuned for his birthday party happening in 2 weeks:

He was excited to open his mailbox this morning to find some candy and love notes from Mommy and Daddy. My note to him went something like this:

I love Scott because:
1) he is such a good big brother
2) he is so good at math, reading and Wii
3) he likes to cuddle with me and play with my hair.

I love you, Scott!
~Mommy

So this morning while I was in the shower -- completely on his own -- he made a valentine for Mommy and Daddy and taped in on the wall next to our bed:

If that wasn't cute enough, then he wrote lists for each of us with the reasons why he loves us. Made my day...


I needed this because while Scott was being cute, Charlotte was throwing a major tantrum and Trevor was in agony because of an ear infection. Oh, and Drew cleaned the SUPER messy kitchen tonight, which was a way better gift than flowers. Thanks!

Charlotte has a lot to be thankful for...

In case you can't read it, my girl is grateful for:

- Blueberries, grapes and raspberries
- Mom & Dad (I made the thankful turkey this year! On Scott's turkeys he was only grateful for my hair.)
- Scott & Trevor
- Nail polish
- Soccer balls
- Churches

So she is healthy, glamorous, athletic AND spiritual!

Thanksgiving at the beach

This year we headed to the "California beach house" (as Scott and Charlotte call it) to enjoy Thanksgiving on Monterey Bay with my family. We had a wonderful time, as usual! The food was awesome, the weather was beautiful and it was so fun to hang out with family! Scott and Charlotte were more interested in feeding the ducks their Thanksgiving dinner rather than eating their own. They ate rolls and drank Martinelli's, leaving the rest for us. How thoughtful of them! Trevor got LOTS of love, especially from my Aunt Nancy and cousin Lindsey... Why is it that he will fall asleep in other peoples' arms, but not mine?


Black Friday Mom, my cousin Alisa and I hit the road at 8am (not bad for a nursing mother) and were off to Del Monte shopping center in Monterey. I know many of you reading this have been shopping there with me at some point... It really wasn't very crowded and we scored some awesome deals at Macy's, Gymboree and Loft. My favorite purchase was a winter white wool coat -- full price $280, marked down to $120, minus my $100 gift card from credit card points, and the final cost was $20! I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy!

Thanksgiving Feast

Scott had a little preview of Thanksgiving today! In anticipation of the big kindergarten feast, Scott was very nervous about the whole event because he was afraid he would have to eat a bunch of food he hates (or that he hasn't ever tried). I convinced him that it would be fun and all he would have to eat would be a roll. Bread is usually safe... I felt better as I was helping to set up and heard several other parents comment that they didn't expect their children to eat anything except the roll and maybe applesauce. So Scott isn't the only picky child in the universe!

All the cute pilgrims and Indians came into the multi-purpose room and sat down to a beautiful meal! Unfortunately most of the food was thrown away, but the rolls were a hit. Good thing I brought 36 for a class of 21!

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

I have learned when we go to the pumpkin patch NOT to have any crazy hopes of taking an adorable picture with all kids smiling. I didn't even attempt to get Scott and Charlotte in cute picture attire... And it was a good thing my expectations were low, because here's the best shot we got:

But other than these silly pictures, we did have a wonderful time! Scott loved sliding, the train ride was awesome, and both kids really enjoyed the animals. I was a little surprised about that last one, but Charlotte thought the goats eating out of her hand were hilarious! And as always, the apple cider and apple-pumpkin muffins were amazing...

And we came home with one GIGANTIC pumpkin! Check out the one Scott is sitting on:

Fun at the Notley farm

Our awesome friends Jen and Charles (who in the near future will be moving from the Bay up here - yea!) invited us to hang out for an afternoon at Charles' parents' home in Orangevale earlier in October. Drew and I both knew Jen and Charles back in our single days in Palo Alto. By the way, once they do move up here, all of you living close by HAVE to hear this girl sing...

Sorry - back to the point of the post! Scott, Charlotte and the cute Notley boys, Henry and James, went on a hay ride, picked pumpkins and watermelons, fed the goats, ate cookies and brought home tons of pomegranates and tomatoes. It was great to meet "Charlie's" parents and they were so kind to entertain us for the afternoon. We weren't that far from our house in suburbia, but it felt like we were way out in the country. Thanks, Notleys!

The Main Event!

What an exciting day! It started with Scott's soccer game at 9am, then Charlotte, Grandma and I went to see Disney Princess on Ice, then we did our annual pumpkin carving and yummy dinner in a pumpkin, and last the grand finale - trick or treating! Scott did crash on Grandpa's lap around 5pm, but he woke up, inhaled his dinner (it's a Halloween miracle!) and was ready to go get candy...


Scott of course was Mario, although he was pretty disappointed we couldn't get the black moustache to stick on his face. Lots of people commented on his awesome costume! Charlotte made a game-time decision to be the "blue princess". The alternatives were the purple princess, Snow White or Tinkerbell. And Trevor was an adorable, happy monkey. We'll see if he keeps it up for next year.

The quote of the night came from Charlotte... We were trick or treating at a house that had a ghost hanging from a wire across their entry way. Charlotte LOUDLY exclaimed, "Look! It's the Holy Ghost!" And there were lots of people around who heard and cracked up along with us.

How many days until Halloween?

My original plan for this post was to write about the seeds we have planted in hopes of enjoying lettuce and broccoli and celery in winter. But I know the first thing you are thinking looking at this picture is, "What the heck is Scott wearing?" So here's the explanation...

4 years ago, this was Scott at Halloween. His cruel mom and dad dressing him up in this ridiculous monkey costume was the absolute worst thing that he had ever experienced in his 21 months of life. It was pure torture:

Much has changed... Now we are a month and a half away from Halloween and Scott has already chosen his costume and wears it almost every day. Actually, he found the costume in a catalog last month, but I made him wait until September before we ordered it. And we had to count down the days before it arrived in the mail.


Can you tell how pumped he is? Any of his friends out there want to dress up as Luigi? Maybe Uncle Jeff?

Mad carnival skills

Every once in a while I will throw in the acronym "LOP" into conversation, and some of you have absolutely no idea to what I am referring. But I know to others of you reading this post, the mention of LOP brings back sweet summer memories of riding bikes to the main beach, swim team, and of course, the big 4th of July rager. LOP is how the locals affectionately refer to Lake of the Pines, the community where I grew up and my parents still live. I'll have to do another post some other time about all my memories of LOP, including the time when someone switched the "I" and "E" on the gigantic sign at the entrance of the lake...

So more about the annual 4th of July festivities... LOP is a a very patriotic place. Every year there is a huge event, including a fly-by (maybe an old plane and possibly a commercial airliner flying over on the way to SMF), golf-cart parade, craft fair, countless old ladies in "I heart the USA" bedazzled t-shirts and vests, snow cones, water-ski demonstrations, and of course, fireworks. Another big highlight is the carnival. We went last year and Scott could hardly wait to return this year for the games! And let me tell you, if there were such a thing as a career in playing carnival games, Scott could be very successful. I think he won just about every game he played, including that one where you have to roll a bowling ball hard enough so it goes over the first hump, but not too hard that it rolls back over it. I've never been able to do that one, and Scott was 2 for 2!