An "Udderly" Busy Halloween Week

Holy cow! Will had a busy Halloween week! On Wednesday, a dancing pumpkin appeared after Stroller Strides and played with the kids. At first, Will did not know what to make of this pumpkin and neither did most of his friends....but after Mom suggested that Will dance with the pumpkin, and the pumpkin obliged, everyone seemed a little more relaxed. Unfortunately, since the "great pumpkin" was a surprise, there are no pictures to explain exactly what Will danced with.

When we checked the mail in the afternoon, Will had a package from his Gram! He got a new pumpkin bucket, some new books, and some Halloween shirts and jammies! In honor of Halloween, he wore his glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt to Stroller Strides on Thursday morning.

On Thursday, we had a Halloween party after Stroller Strides and the kids went trick-or-treating from stroller to stroller. Will and Mom really rocked their cow costumes in honor of Ashley, Will's godmother, and Will had a fun time running around collecting treats in his pumpkin bucket and then sampling them with Jackson.

Friday brought yet another Halloween celebration...this time at Stroller Strides in Vista. Will started the day in his "I Love my Mummy" shirt (which he promptly accesorized with the standard drool spot) before making the big costume change. Once again, Mom and Will broke out the (freshly laundered) cow costumes and practiced the fine art of trick-or-treating. Since we don't have Uncle J here to instruct Will on the exact science of trick-or-treating, we skipped the official trick-or-treating night...but we think Will got his fill of Halloween fun and treats this week anyway. Perhaps we will add more pictures if our friends email us other good ones of our week.

Pumpkin Carving Fiasco

We weren't going to post about our Sunday morning activity, but, hopefully, you will learn some important lessons from our experience.


Our pumpkins have been happily living on our patio since we adopted them last week from the pumpkin patch. Or so we thought. Turns out, with the 96 degree weather all week last week, they have been slowly cooking out there. Pumpkin pie, anyone? One pumpkin was declared D.O.A by Dad as soon as our pumpkin carving adventure began. A moment of silence for that guy. ....----......------ Ok. Moving on, it was just as well we had two pumpkins left since Will can't exactly be trusted with the carving tools. I know, I know, he is a pretty responsible toddler and maybe Mom is overprotective but, we decided against handing him the mini-saws. Perhaps we should have, though, since Mom broke two of them. Will enjoyed his snack and then played with some pumpkin guts and helped clean out the only good pumpkin.

Oh, did we mention the other two pumpkins were slowly on their way to joining the first? Dad tackled his pumpkin with determination and produced a very nice skull and cross-bones. Mom attempted the haunted house design, but, with the precarious nature of the pumpkin, it was very difficult to carve such small spaces on a molding canvas. She persevered and made a much simpler bat on the reverse side of the failed haunted house...now a gaping hole in the pumpkins back side. Perhaps next year will bring about a more successful pumpkin carving adventure.

Castles in the Sand

Since it has been "unseasonably warm" here...whatever that means in California...we decided to pack up the boy and the sand toys and spend a few hours at the beach. Will hasn't been to the beach since he's really perfected his walking, so it was a lot of fun for him. He's also been learning how to really use his sand toys, so the family worked on a sand castle. Dad claims he could do much better if he had remembered to google sand castles before we left the house. Where would we be without Google, we wonder? Will enjoyed collecting rocks in his bucket and bringing up buckets of water from the ocean. Dad even took a turn with the camera while Mom made sure Will didn't get swept out to sea...a distinct possibility given his fearless nature.

A Big Day

Today is a big day! First, it is Gram's birthday! Happy Birthday, Gram! Second, Will is 14 months old today! 14 months! Wow! Some things we are learning about 14 month olds include:

1. That old saying your mom used to say when you lost something, "Well, it didn't just get up and walk away!" Yeah, well, now it does. All. the. time. We find ourselves washing socks we never wore, and searching the house for keys, remotes, cell phones, etc. Sippy Cups seem to grow out of the carpet in the strangest places, as do Cheerios.

2. Will is a little scavenger. He has a new, peculiar habit of taking whatever finger food was offered during dinner and quietly stowing it away on his lap beneath the tray, so that he has a snack when Mom and Dad start to clean up and remove his tray. Megan had a hamster that did that once. Strange.

3. The use of sign language is important, but the only signs Will deems important enough to learn are "food", "more" and "all done". "All done" is rarely used.

4. 14 months is not too young to start perfecting the art of the temper tantrum. Believe it or not, Will can throw himself to the ground with the best of 'em. If a toy is taken away or another object that is NOT a toy is removed from his little paws, he promptly flings himself backwards and combines this motion with a yell. He has yet to realize he should probably check where he is before doing this. Hard floors and sidewalks hurt. A lot.

5. He gets cuter and more lovable every day and every moment and milestone is so much fun.

As a side note here, we have almost had 10,000 visitors to our blog since starting the use of the counter. Thanks for stopping by!

Caddy Corner

We'll start with a little joke:

Golfer: (screaming) "You've got to be the worst caddy in the world!"

Caddy: "I doubt it. That would be too much of a coincidence!"

Not that Josh is a bad golfer, actually, he's pretty good, so we're told. Will, however, needs a little work on his caddy skills. He likes to carry the club and try to hit the ball, but, when he goes after the ball Josh hit, he bends over, picks it up, and promptly carries it to the nearest bush where he tosses it in. He finds all of this is endlessly amusing. So...if anyone is playing against Josh in the near future and needs a little help winning, Will is your guy.

The Great Pumpkin

This was Will's 2nd official visit to a pumpkin patch, but it was a WHOLE different experience this time around.
Last year:

This year:

Will's friend, Luciano, had his birthday party at Bates Nut Farm today. Apparently, there is nothing better than being a toddler on a farm. Especially one with tractor rides, pumpkins, ponies, a petting zoo, a straw maze, and of course, all your friends! (and cake...it WAS a birthday party, afterall!) It was a little hotter than Halloween weather we are used to. Or maybe a lot hotter. 90 degrees, anyone? Once we found shade (and cake), Will really rallied his spirits in time for the great pumpkin search.

He checked them all out.

And even hugged a few...

Made sure the pumpkins weren't rounder on the other side...

Tested the stems for strength...

and finally, found 3 perfect pumpkins to take home...but first, he had to show them to Snuggles, who waited patiently in the car.

"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." ~Linus (It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!)

Happy 6th Birthday, Joey!

It seems like just yesterday that we posted about Joey's 5th birthday party, and here we are, writing about his 6th! What a year it's been! Last year, Joey only had one cousin and zero siblings and this year, he is a big brother and he has 2 cousins! Even though Joey's actual birthday was on Tuesday, today was his celebration. The party started off with some good 'ole fashioned donut eating...donuts on a string that is-with no hands. Aunt Jackie was kind enough to provide the demo, thanks Aunt Jackie! After the donuts on a string, it was time to move on to bobbing for apples. Will didn't quite grasp the whole concept, but apples in a bucket of water looked pretty good to him. The birthday boy and his dad, however, were expert apple bobbers (is that a word?). After apples, it was time for a pinata, some cake, and finally, presents! Happy Birthday Joey!

Burning Energy

We all know that you are supposed to conserve energy, but not the kind Will has these days! This morning, we took him to his favorite park before heading to Uncle Joe and Aunt Jackie's for Joey's birthday party. Daddy dressed Will in one of Mommy's favorite outfits this morning (thanks, Luciano!) since it was actually chilly when we got up...that didn't last too long! Will and Dad played a little football (go Pats!) in the field and did plenty of walking and climbing. Will has recently mastered going down slides on his own...into Dad's waiting arms, of course!