All Hallow's Eve

On Saturday Abe went to his pre-schools Halloween party. There was lots of tasty food and good costumes. For group activities everyone did the Hokey Pokey. Then each class had a dance-off. After that, they had had a costume parade outside around the grass. Abe saw a few of his fellow Tots-classmates as well as other kids.

Alex as Wonderwoman and Lucy as a Lady bug - both in Abe's Tot's Class.
Caleb the Astronaut enjoying some festive snacks.
Abe, Lucy, Hana and Caleb semi-posing for a picture on a pew. This is about the best you can do when they're this age.
Abe really liked to dance to the music in the corner of the room. Here he is getting down with Dad.

On Halloween Abe dressed up like Joshua Giraffe (you know, like the Raffi song), Emily dressed up as a spider (thanks to Kaite) and Banjo as his classic Banjo-latern. We hit up just a few houses after dinner. Abe was real excited to go trick or treating and have people "put cand in bu-ket".

Everyone posing before we head for our Trick or Treating fun!

Abe getting some candy from our neighbors across the street.

Dad had to have some candy for the boy when he got home.

Abe checking out his loot. He got one piece of candy before bed. And he was nice enough that he wanted Mom and Dad to each have a piece as well. Abe chose a Twix for his piece, gave Dad a 100 Grand, and Mom ad KitKat.

Dirty mouth = satisfied boy

Pumpkin Patch--first attempt

A few weekends ago Neil went to Las Vegas with his brother, so Abe and I had a nice 3-day weekend to the two of us. On Saturday we went out to Woodinville with Sarah, Katie, and Frannie to the Hana Andersen outlet, and then to a pumpkin patch.

The weather was great! And the bees were out. We were there for about 5 minutes, when I turned to see Abe swatting a bee from his face. It ended up stinging him right below the eye, and that ended our pumpkin patch fun. He had a few hives on his body, so the consulting nurse consulted us to go to the ER. So off we went.

The little guy looked quite pathetic, and now has a fear of pumpkin patches. When we went last week it was raining so I lead him to believe that bees don't like the rain, so he would be safe. Also, he now associates bee stings with popcicles. He got two out of the experience. And, now I have a bottle of benadril on hand.

Pumpkin TIme!!!

On Friday we went to a pumpkin farm with Sarah, Katie and Frances - the same one Emily, Abe and I went to last year. It is down in Kent, so the corn maze was closed by the time we got there. But the free chocolate milk was still open, and all three of us enjoyed some farm-fresh brown moo-juice. We were going to buy two giant pumpkins, but they were over 110 pounds total. And at 33 cents/pound, that was way too much. So we just bought one, but it was still 50+ pounds!!!

It was raining, but we all had our boots and rain gear. Afterwards we had a tasty dinner of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes at IKEA. Not only was it tasty, but we picked up some stuff so we can hang up Abe's artwork around the house.

Here is Abe enjoying his chocolate milk. He drank a whole carton last year too.
On Saturday night we carved our pumpkins - the one (pictured here) we bought on Friday, and the one Great-Gramu grew Abe in her garden. That's one large pumpkin, huh?

Here's Dad carving off the top so we can clear out its guts.
This is the pumpkin Great-gramu grew for Abe. She made sure everyone would know it was his.
Here is Abe hard at work cleaning out the giant pumpkin. He throws himself all-in when he tries to do something.

Abe wanted to make a happy face on the pumpkin. Emily was the expert carver and made a great happy face. I don't know why he has such a weird look on his face though.

After we carved them up, we placed our pumpkins outside and lit them up. Too bad that silly home security system sign in the picture.

We tried to get Abe and Banjo to pose next to the pumpkins, but Abe preferred to stand infront of them. Banjo didn't help out either I guess.

Spooky, spooky Halloween pumpkins being blocked by a boy and his 'Dood.

A rare visitor

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to get a text from my old college buddy Jesse Jacka. Jacka lived with me in Marcus House, and we have had many games of Pinocle, hearts, spades, and FUBAR spades together. And don't forget the drinking. He is definitely one of my best drinking buddies.

He just got out of the army (he had been stationed in Korea) and was on a month-long road trip visiting friends and family. He was in Portland visiting some college friends, and wanted to come up and visit us. So he drove up Tuesday night and had dinner with us and slept in Abe's toy room. He made quick friends with Abe and Banjo - Abe could actually say his name by the end. It was great to spend some time with Jacka, since he haven't seen him since our wedding 5 years ago.

The Zoo, a Wedding, the sculpture park, children's museum, and family!

Our Minnesota trip has been a lot fun. The weather has been spectacular, and it was so great to see Molly and Chris, and spend time with them during their wedding festivities. And it was great to see Heidi and Brad and Katie and Emma (and their dog, Lucy) too! I wish we didn't have to wake up in 7 hours to fly home. Here are some highlights:

Abe was an all-star on the plane. We had to fly to Chicago, have a 3 hour layover, and still have a 1+ hour flight to Minneapolis. He did was very entertained on the plane with this Thomas the Tank Engine DVD, Play-Doh, and Dora coloring book. He even took a little snooze on my shoulder. He only had a big cry and fuss during the last 20 minutes of the flight when we were descending into Chicago and he wanted to color on Emily's lap instead of being stuck in his carseat.
The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were in MN. On Friday we decided to take advantage by going to the Como Park Zoo (on a suggestion from Heidi). It was a really cool zoo. They had a really neat primate exhibit, and two polar bears. And I think it is really cool that it's free (and the suggested donation is only $2 for adults, and $1 for kids). Abe, Emily, and I had a great time.
Then it was off to the rehearsal dinner in downtown Minneapolis. It was on the 22nd floor of this apartment complex with nice views of the city. Here are Abe, Emily, Molly, and Chirs' cousin Max (the ring bearer and Abe's new idol). Max is 6 and Abe enjoyed following Max around during the weekend.
Abe and Mom taking in the nightime view. The blue lights on the building behind them kept moving and changing all night, kind of like a light show. It was pretty neat.
When got home the Ressler's were busy hooking up their new 55 inch TV and making their Mii's. Then Katie showed us her dance moves on Wii. Abe got so excited he danced along with her. It was super cute.
Ahhh, the day of the wedding. It was at 11 0'clock on Saturday morning. We had to get there an hour early because Emily was an usher. It was a very elegant and heart-felt ceremony. Here Molly is walking down the isle with her dad Bruce and mom Audrey. They did not 'give' Molly away as is the custom of most weddings. And during the reception during the speeches, we found out why when Bruce read a poem, and part of it went "We do not give, we will only share". I thought that was very sweet.
Molly and Chris saying their vows. You can see Abe's best-bud Max on the far right. Molly's brother John was her Man of Honor and Chris' brother Steve was his Best Man. Quick Chris story: this guy LOVES Abe. And as Molly says, he's not really a baby person, but he thinks Abe is one of the coolest people he knows. When Emily and Abe met Chris and Molly in Washington, D.C. last summer they all went to the National Zoo. And Christ pushed Abe around in the stroller all day. And at night he was feeing Abe bread on his brother's front lawn. And he was jealous that I got to be a house-husband and hang out with Abe all day. Needless to say, I think Chris is an alright guy.
The fam enjoying the reception outside on the balcony. Can't beat champagne, bacon-wrapped-goat-cheese-and-dates, and a sunny midwest day. After the ceremony and reception Molly's parents had a dinner for out of town guests and their house. That was also a lot of fun, and little more casual (of course I forgot the camera in my jacket pocket). It was really nice to be a part of Molly and Chris' wedding day, and (it seemed to me at least) that it all went by too fast. Soon enough we were saying good-bye to Molly and Chris and heading back to our hotel, while they were leaving for Aruba on a 7am (ouch!) flight. We love you Molly and Chris!
On Sunday we hit up the Sculpture Garden, which was actually pretty close to where the wedding was. Here Abe and Emily and in front of a sculpture of a giant spoon and cherry, in case you needed some help.
Abe had a blast at this sculpture. Emily would do as above, poking her head through the slit, looking for Abe. And Abe would laugh and run, and Emily would go chase him and everything would repeat. I got in on the action too.
I don't really know how to describe this sculpture, but it's basically a bunch of one-way mirrors and mesh. That is actually a reflection of Emily (I guess you could figure that out because she is holding the camera), and you can barely see me and Abe through the glass.
After the sculpture garden, we hit up the Children's Museum in St. Paul. Again, Abe had a blast. He he is cooking up a storm in the Korean restaurant. Abe also enjoying moving the dirty dishes to the kitchen on the conveyer belt. We also shopped in the grocery store, sang songs and danced in a recording studio, delivered mail, make paper medallions out of pulp, used a crane, played with blocks, and played in water tables. We might have to get a membership the Seattle Children's Museum next year (hint hint....).
We finally made it back to the Ressler's late Sunday afternoon. Abe was so tired from all of his activities he was out by the time I pulled out from the curb (seriously), so he had a nice nap while we drove. When we got back Emma, Abe, Emily and I play with Play-Doh. This was one of the few times I could actually get Abe to smile.
Here Abe is with his new best friends Emma and her dog Lucy. I don't know who Abe liked better on this trip; Max, Lucy, or Emma. I might have to go with Emma, because she would always play with him, like in the sandbox after dinner. And she would play him songs on the piano.
Emma quickly learned that Abe has an insatiable appetite. So to appease his desire for more music and her desire to stop playing, she turned on some demo songs for Abe and hooked him up to some earphones. But I prefer to think Abe is listening back to some phat tracks he just laid. Word.

Well, now I have to get up in 6 hours. Off to bed I go.