Happy Thanksgiving!

I took the kids out to my parents house on Wednesday since Samuel was scheduled to work all week. Despite the fact that it took over 3 hours to get there (usually takes 90 minutes...gotta love LA traffic), we had a fun time.

We went straight to Mark and Mariann's for dinner--the kids had a blast playing with their cousins, Ira and Emma.

And Hannah was loving her interactive baby doll (i.e. new cousin, Sean). I know she is going to think our new baby is a real dolly just for her.

My brother Mark made a delicious batch of brownies

Thanksgiving was full of lots of yummy food--all my faves: sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes w/gravy and mom's famous orange rolls. There was also this cranberry-apple dessert that was so delicious. I was too stuffed to have it after dinner, so I took some home and ate it tonight. So good!!!

Thanksgiving dinner (at the adult table--I didn't get a pic of the kids table)

Even though compared to Sammy, Hannah is a great eater. She wouldn't eat anything we were serving, so she had goldfish. She was happy to share them with Emma.

After dinner we all relaxed. Grandpa's chair is a favorite for reading...the phone book apparently...
...or just hanging out
(no comment on what a cow I am--my excuse is that I am 28 weeks pregnant)
And Hannah always loves to raid Grandma's jewelry box

We left Friday morning to be sure and get home for the Old Pasadena Holiday Celebration that evening...plus, the kids were missing Daddy. Hope everyone had a great holiday!!

Weekend report

So I attempted to take the kids out for some Halloween festivities this weekend, but seriously, it's hard to feel festive and in the mood for autumn when it's 96 degrees out (Sarah, I know you're telling me to shut up right about now since you're expecting sleet/snow by tonight).

We went to the Pumpkin Festival at Kidspace on Saturday, but it was a bit of a bust. Besides being overly crowded and unbearably hot--it was kind of overpriced. The kids really wanted to go on the bounce houses that they had, but they were having electrical problems and couldn't keep them inflated, so we weren't able to go on them.

How fun is this bouncer?!

This one looked cool too!

My attempt at a seasonal photo-op. Too bad it was right in the sun, so super hot and bright. Oh, and that is Sammy's car sitting on his shoulder...in case you were wondering.

We headed over the actual Kidspace Museum to play for a bit. It was a bit crowded as well, but it was so nice to be in the cool a/c.

The kids were swarming around the bubble machine

Sammy can always find a place to play with his car!

Hannah is very into spiders and other spooky things for Halloween!

We stayed for about an hour and then headed home where I proceeded to veg on the couch for a good two hours to recuperate--while eating Caramel Apple Moose Munch (my new addiction) and watching my favorite eye candy movie: Ocean's Eleven. Could Brad Pitt be any hotter? Gotta love him in that movie!

Anyway, I digress. Sunday was Tasha and Wendy's annual Pumpkin Carving party, we seem to keep missing this the past few years since that always seems to be the week we go to Oregon. Luckily, we were in town this year and we got to go. Now that we have two kids, I don't bother bringing a pumpkin to carve--there is no way I would have the time to carve one. But we enjoyed lots of good food (these ladies know how to entertain!!) including my favorite vegetarian chili cheese dip, brie and raspberry pastry puffs, pumpkin cupcakes, spinach and cheese dip and these other vegetarian puffs that I totally can't remember what was in them, but they were oh-so-good.

Just a portion of the yummy spread

The kids found the M&Ms

Pumpkins waiting to be carved!

The kids had fun running around (sorry Tasha!), playing with the coolers full of drinks, and camping out by the M&M bowls until we finally moved the bowls to a shelf out of reach.

Taking a break on the stairs with the mice

ummmm, how many M&Ms are in your mouth Hannah?

Who knew it was so much fun to play with coolers?

Some of the amazing designs!I filled up on lots of yummy goodness, but had to leave sooner than I would have liked because the kids were driving me crazy running around. I should have brought their computers.

Hooray for cooler weather!

WARNING: Lots of pictures (what else is new?) and lots of rambling that is really just for me to remember things for my journal.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day--total So Cal perfection. We are finally getting some cooler weather! YAY!

Jean, Dana and I made plans to go to Panera for lunch--always a favorite. I got broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl to get into the autumn mood. So yummy. All the kids did well--especially Owen considering he had the stomach flu...poor little guy. Thanks to Lucy for sharing her "little people" toys with Hannah. I have got to get some of those!


After that we headed home for a much needed nap for Hannah and I (have I mentioned the ongoing insomnia I am having with this pregnancy?) and we slept for 2 hours. YAY! Samuel left for work and I took the kids over to Lacy Park for some fresh air. I called Megan to see if she wanted to join us, but she was already there. YAY! Perfect timing!

His legs are looking better and better!

She looks just like me in my baby pictures...minus the tan.

You can't go to the park without your bike and dolly strollerWe hung out for about an hour and a half and then headed out to Burbank to take dinner to Sam. El Pollo Loco for Sam and the kids and Poquito Mas for me. Yummy. This has been a great day for food!!

Today we woke up to much cooler temps (Sam wanted the heater on when he got out of the shower this morning and I refused--we just had the a/c on two days ago!) and I was thrilled to put on jeans and a long sleeved shirt. I also realized that the only shoes that fit Sammy are his sandals, so it looks like we need to buy some tennis shoes. You know I love an excuse to do some shopping! I plan to do that next week.

I had a hard time getting motivated to get dressed and get on with our day this morning which resulted in my wasting quite a bit of time on the computer. I decided it was time to get going when Sammy said to me "I am going to take this book upstairs to read, is that okay?" I turned from the computer to see what book he had. It was the phone book. I laughed (not out loud, of course) and told him he could take it upstairs and that I was finally going to get ready.

We headed out to Vina Veija park because everyone keeps talking about how great it is...and it didn't disappoint. I think the kids were thrilled to just be at a new park instead of the same three we always go to and the equipment is newer so they had a blast! The weather was absolutely gorgeous with a nice cool breeze. It was so nice to be outside without sweating from the overwhelming heat.

He looks so tall to me in this picture. In fact, this week I actually put away all of his 2T jeans (finally) and have moved him into 3T. HOORAY! I thought this day would never come. I mean, we certainly got a ton of wear out of the 2T jeans, but it's so nice to actually see some proof of him growing!

Hannah found a little hidden table to play at. She refused to let me do her hair this morning, so I told her she would have to wear her hat since her hair was a complete rats nest. She obliged and looked so darling. She looks a lot like my niece Rachael in this picture.

I just had to include this because she is making the cutest face.

Sammy was excited that there were TWO steering wheels to drive!

...and THREE slides to choose fromSo back to the hair. I think it was a mixture of bedhead, the hat, and the wind that pulled out the tight curl from her hair and left her with some big soft curls. I just loved it! It was still a total rats nest in the back, but it was cute in the front.

This is my favorite picture of the day! They are growing up so fast!

By this time it was after 2:00 and the kids were starving so we headed to our usual lunch spot (besides El Pollo Loco): In-N-Out. It was nice to get there after the lunch crowd and actually find a parking spot in the front. We usually do the drive-thru, but Sammy and I needed a potty break. There was no line, we got our food quickly and ate in the car.

Mmmmmm...french fries

Hannah loves to eat a grilled cheese and fries too! (Yes, we've long since broken the "no food" rule in the new van). I know I keep saying this, but she looks so much older to me in this picture. Good thing there is another baby coming soon...We've had a terrific few days of great weather, yummy food, fun with friends, and visits to the park. I am trying to make up for lost time of spending days inside because it was just too hot to play outside. We're planning on the zoo next week if the weather cooperates!

Visit to the La Brea Tar Pits

I am embarrassed to say that I have lived in Los Angeles since 1993 and have never been to the La Brea Tar Pits. Since Heidi is in town visiting with her parents, they wanted to take her there to see the sights, so we met up with them on Thursday.

Fortunately, it wasn't quite as hot as it had been earlier in the week, so it was actually tolerable walking around outside. The kids had a great time walking around following the animal footprints (forgot take a pic of those).

Hanging out in front of one of the excavation pits

One of the excavation pits

It's fun to sit on a giant sloth

Goofing around...

Hannah playing hide-and-seek in the bushesThere was this giant grassy hill that you just couldn't help but roll down it. So fun!!

Not too dizzy

Having fun collecting sticks

Group picture with Heidi's parents and nephews in front of the huge lake of tar.
Can you see my big fat belly? Yeah...you can't really miss it, huh?

After the sightseeing, we headed over to the Beverly Connection for lunch at Souplantation. I have never been to this particular location and I have to say that I defintely prefer the Pasadena location. This one was really crowded, had a very poor layout/floorplan, and the people weren't helpful. Also, they didn't have those fabulous rolling highchairs that make life so much easier at a buffet. But, the food was super yummy, as always--so I can't complain too much.

I didn't have my camera on Friday, but we went to a temple session in the morning with Heidi's family and then Heidi, her sister-in-law Angie, and I headed back to Pasadena to have lunch at Cheesecake Factory and do a little shopping. We had pretty poor service at Cheesecake Factory (actually, I've never had good service there, but this was worse than usual...we sat there for 20 minutes before he even took a drink order), so lunch took forever which left us little time for shopping. Boo. Not to mention, I was so starving since it was after 2:00 by the time we got our food and I hadn't eaten since a bowl of cereal at 7:30am.

I do have to mention that we tried the Pumpkin Pecan cheesecake and it is seriously to die for. It's a seasonal item, so I highly recommend that you check it out before it's gone. So, so, so good. We also had the Raspberry Lemon cheesecake that was so yummy too.

It's been a fun few days with Heidi and nice mommy break for me on Friday since Sam watched the kids all day. YAY!

Nothing too exciting...but that's probably a good thing

So, I've been a slacker on the blog lately. Nothing new to report except that Samuel's doctor has recommended surgery so he doesn't have another issue with the scar tissue. We are scheduled to meet with the surgeon on September 3rd, so I'll know more then.

Here are a bunch of random pictures from the last week or so. I've been wanting a new camera, so I got a new Cannon Powershot that Dana recommended and I really like it! I still haven't figured out all the features, but I've decided that it must be a good camera--I saw 5 different people at Underwood Farms with the same camera. Totally funny!

Speaking of which, Underwood Farms was fun, as always. We got there an hour later than I planned and didn't stay as long as I wanted, but we're going to go back again in a few weeks anyway. Here are a few pics with the new camera!

Hannah feeding the alpacas

One of the goats demanding food

Sammy feeding the horse

The kids thought it was so funny to see the goats climbing up so high

They (surprisingly) had a great time in the sandbox.
They usually hate sand, but seemed to be enjoying it for once.Sammy loves the big tire tunnels, although he looks rather contemplative here...
Here are a few pictures from our quick getaway to my parents house. The kids love to go to this place called John's Pizza--it's like Chuck E. Cheese, but much better food and no obnoxious mouse. Hannah was LOVING the pizza, as you can tell.

Sammy was totally into Grandma's iPhone.
How is that my parents have an iPhone and I don't? They can't even figure out how to use it most of the time...and I say that with LOTS of love Mom and Dad! :)

Samuel got the kids into air hockey and they were quickly addicted!

Hannah wasn't quite tall enough

Last, these pictures are from two weeks ago when Shelley and her family were here visiting from Japan. We just had to make our customary visit to Souplantation and had a great time eating and chatting away, so there are no pictures of her visit except for when the kids were playing outside the restaurant after we ate.

And there's my update for the past week or so. Mommy and Me classes for Hannah and I start next week and Sammy starts school on the 8th. I guess summer is officially almost over. I've been spending the past few nights catching up on all the episodes of Heroes, Pushing Daisies, and How I Met Your Mother that I missed so I'll be all caught up when the new seasons start. I can't wait!

I PROMISE I'm back for Trader Joe's Tuesday tomorrow.