A Sad but Happy Week

Howdy everyone - lots going on this last week. Our great-grandma G. passed away and so we had lots of family and friends around. It was sad that we won't get to spend more time with her, but fun to have everyone here.

Before everyone came in to town - - we had a few adventures . . .

Our naughty gnomes are still at it - they've been working on trying to make off with daddy's super big pumpkin but they just aren't strong enough. You can see all the effort they went to to try to get that pumpkin - ropes, shovels, work trucks . . . . silly gnomes!

Here is another picture of us reading with daddy. This is something we do every night and it is a time of the day we love!

And here we are making some dessert in preparation for everyone to come to our house. Cousin Joanne's birthday happened while they were here so we made a birthday cake for her. Of course, Sam and I helped with the official "licking of the beaters". Looks like we liked chocolate cake batter, doesn't it!

Our cousins Emma and Kody were here and made the events a little more fun for us in the younger crowd. Here is a picture of me and Kody and Emma at great-grandma's viewing.

Here are Sam and Emma at the cemetary.

Uncle Carl flew up and gave me a spot for a good view at the graveside service.

And aunt Jen Jen flew up too. She got to spend a night with us and I got some "alone time" with her to play - just us!

Grandpa and Grandma G. were here too of course. Here I am with Grandpa.

And I had a little puppet-singing time with Grandma.

Here Emma and I are playing a concert for everyone . . . . talk about "beautiful music"!

Kody and I played freeze tag before they left this morning.

And here is a picture of me with Great-Grandma G. when I was about 18 months old. And this is me with mommy, Grandpa G. and Great-Grandma G. this last January. She was my last living Great-Grandparent. Sam Alert: Hey everyone - it sure has been fun having everyone around this week, even for a sad occasion. Here is a quick picture of me with daddy. We hope everyone has a great week!

Ahhh - Fall!

Nothing says fall more than:

1. Pumpkins! We made our annual trip to our favorite pumpkin patch on Monday afternoon. We've been going here since I was a baby. It is always so much fun to wander through the fields and pick the very best pumpkin in the patch. Then we say hi to the horses and triple check our pumpkins one more time before we load them up and head for home.

Hint - take the wagon out through the field. Not only can you catch a ride, but then you don't have to carry the pumpkins the whole way.
Hint - take daddy with you so he can carry the really really big pumpkins over to the wagon. Photo op - can you find Sam? He is wearing a bright orange shirt.Pumpkins are definately heavier than they look!Here's Sam taking a break on the pumpkin search.What happens when you bring home a bunch of pumpkins and you already have gnomes living in your yard? The gnomes are very curious and it ends up that they like pumpkin pie! They found some rope and have tried to drag everyone's pumpkins away!2. T-Ball! This fall sports classic is perfect for our fall weather. Here are pictures of both Sam and I taking some batting practice.3. Working in the yard! Ok yardwork seems to be a year-round event at our house. But in the fall we rake leaves, clean up the yard, and get everything ready for winter. Here I am with Sam taking in the garbage cans.

4. Decorating for Halloween! We sure have had fun decorating the house (both inside and outside) for Halloween. Holidays are really fun! Here we are helping dad "plant" headstones in our yard.
Other random photos from this week:

Sam has learned how to get in to the dog food container. He likes to open it up and pull out some nuggets to give to Copper. The container is nearly as tall as he is so it will be fun to see how he digs out the food when it is close to the bottom of the barrel!

And here he is giving Copper the nuggets. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again) . . . this kid isn't afraid of anything - even a big dog with sharp teeth.We managed as usual to fit in some play time with the work. Here I am swinging on my swings. Sam and I having a little lunch out on the picnic table on Saturday afternoon.Me teaching Sam how to ride the 4 wheeler. Hang on Sam - I haven't actually gotten my drivers license yet!

Sam Alert: Hey everyone - Sam here . . . Checking in and saying hi. This is a great time of year with just a hint of chill in the air. I'll do anything I can to be outside - even cleaning up the leaves.And here's a quick picture of me on the slide. Ahhh - good times! Happy Fall ya'll!

Our warm, sunny, vacation!!!

Hi to all of our loyal readers . . . did you miss us last week? Yep, we didn't get a post in on the blog last week . . . we were off galavanting around the country on a vacation. Ok maybe not all around the country, but we were in Southern California visiting family and going to Uncle Carl & Aunt Francine's wedding. The weather was perfect the entire time . . . it was literally freezing cold when we flew out and mom had to strip us down and change all our warm clothes to shorts and t-shirts after we landed. We took lots of pictures and so now you all get to wade through them to see what we were up to - Enjoy . . . we sure did!

I'm an old pro at flying. I do still pay attention to the pre-flight safety instructions though - a guy can never be too careful!

This was Samuel's first trip on an airplane though. I think he liked it!
Here I am enjoying the flight - a cup full of Sprite, a bag of peanuts, and a window seat . . . you just can't ask for a better way to travel!A HUGE thank you to Aunt Jen Jen and Uncle Michael for putting us up. They are lots of fun to play with!Here is a photo that mommy and daddy were anxious to catch. They said something about this type of thing not happening too often and they wanted a picture to show that Sam and I really do like each other, at least once in awhile.Grandma kept us entertained with the marble game. I'm pretty sure Aunt Jen Jen has a few fewer marbles after we left than we started with. Those marbles just seemed to roll all over the place!Jumping on the bed is always fun! You know, simple things . . .
Here is a picture of me and Aunt Jen Jen reading - she is a good auntie!We got to do some fun things on our vacation. One day we went to the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana - a children's science museum. It was way cool! Here I am laying on a bed on nails - really! It didn't hurt at all!There were lots of fun exhibits for us to play with and learn about. Here we are walking on the log.

They had a really cool dinosaur exhibit. Here we are in the giant dinosaur's stomach. Mommy loved this part because she got to show us the dino's heart and digestive system.Here is Sam and me putting a dino puzzle together. There were fun places to play at the museum. Sam is really getting to be a pretty stable walker - most of the time. Here I am in the play kitchen. Mommy says she wishes I liked doing the real dishes as much as I did washing these play dishes.

The museum had a giant pin wall - you know the kind where you push your hand on one side and it makes a cool imprint on the other side. Can you see my face and hands and daddy's too? Pretty cool!

Sam learned about weather and rain flow. Well more about how golf balls roll maybe. But he did like this display.And I spent some time fishing - one of my favorite things to do no matter where I am. At least daddy didn't make me kiss these fish when I caught them.The museum also had an ice hockey exhibit. Here we are driving the Zamboni with daddy.And here I am as the goalie - they had this really fun section where I got to play goalie against a video hockey player who hit real padded pucks toward me. Out of 5 hits on my goal, I saved two!!!! Who knew I could be a good goalie!Then one night we went to Captain Kidds for dinner - one of my parent's favorite places. It's a seafood lovers delight! Here I am with the shark. Contrary to popular belief - his teeth weren't all that sharp!We spent a good part of Saturday at the beach. We LOVE the beach! I wanted to go back every day . . . in fact I still ask if we can go to the beach. We played in the water, built sand castles, buried each other in the sand, and just enjoyed the great weather.Funny story about building sand castles - - - we didn't happen to have any of the usual tools required to build a decent sand castle, so we stopped at Target on our way to the beach . . . but I guess it isn't the typical beach season, even for these southern Californians. There were no sand castle building supplies to be found. Thank goodness they did have some cheap kitchen tools - ladles, spoons, cups, colanders, measuring cups, bowls, etc. They worked very well!This was Sam's first trip to the ocean. He wasn't sure of it right at first, but then he got in to the swing of things.

There's not too much better than some sand between your toes . . . and behind your knees, and in all kinds of different places I didn't know sand could get to. However sand should never, and I repeat never, end up in your diaper/underwear. Trust me - sand is not your friend in those places!

More fun beach pictures!I got buried in the sand . . . it's warm and heavier than I thought it would be!Here's a picture of me and daddy playing in the waves. Did I mention that we LOVED the beach? Mommy said she's glad there is a little bit of her in her boys!

Here we are at dinner on Saturday night. A balloon guy came around and made me this really cool alien guy that was the same color as my shirt.

Sunday was the wedding. Here I am with Grandma and Grandpa G. waiting for the ceremony to start.

And of course a picture of the bride and groom right after it was official.

I managed to sneak mom's camera away for awhile. Here are a couple of my photos from the wedding. Here's Grandpa G. - up close and personal.

And here's my picture of the table. Is the glass half empty or half full? I guess if there's LOVE it doesn't really matter. It was a really nice day.

Here's daddy and Sam blowing bubbles after the wedding ceremony.

Truth be told, we probably enjoyed the party after the ceremony more than the actual ceremony. There was food and dancing. Need I say more? Here's Sam and me "cutting a rug". Honest mom, I didn't bring any scissors - so how can I cut the rug?

And what's a wedding reception without getting to dance with the bride . . . and groom?

Here's a picture of me and Sam with Emma and Kody - our cousin's on Grandpa G.'s side. They were fun to play with.

And finally . . . here we are on the airplane ride home. It was a great trip! Thank goodness Carl and Francine waited to get married until we were around so we could enjoy it to!

Sam Alert: Five words . . . Travolta, eat your heart out!Did we mention how much we LOVE the beach? Really!

Ugh . . . I think there's sand in my diaper . . . or is that a lobster?Mom - you mean you didn't take the picture when I was at the top of the wall? Mom!