Pumpkin Patching

It's that time of the year again! Last night we headed to Pumpkin City, and then today we went to the Great Park's Pumpkin Patch. Had we known the Great Park was giving FREE pumpkins to every child we may not have dropped the $15 on a pumpkin and rides the night before!

Drew has been a little under the weather for, oh, 5 weeks now, so she's not super smiley. I'm blaming the cold and not the fact that I am sticking my camera in her face all the time.

Always a fan of the bouncy house, that was our first stop. Apparently there was some punk 5-year-old teasing her in the bouncy house, so she responded by sticking her tongue out and making faces at him. So this is what she is learning in preschool?

She loved to climb in the big pile of pumpkins, along with the rest of the kids. Only after did we see the huge sign "do not climb on the pumpkin pile." 

Wearing her authentic ski sweater Grammy brought back last year.

Lay back. This may already be her last year on the car ride (last year was her first); she doesn't get to drive, it's not very fast and she didn't have a passenger. At least Pit Crew Daddy threw her some hi-5s as she zoomed by.

This was a great event (thanks Mo for texting us!) and there was so much to do and see. The city of Irvine (or OC County?) did a great job, we paid for parking but then everything else was free and there were giveaways galore.

Here she is, making the cover of a greeting card. This tent collects all the cards made by the kids and then ships them to the troops so they can send the cards back to their families with their letters on the inside. Drew was very happy to "help the soldiers."

To my surprise, she was most excited about the garden (probably thanks to her Grammy's influence). She even stuck her hands in the dirt and asked to hold a worm in the compost pile. However, this doesn't explain why she dropped every pumpkin she picked up because they were "too dirty."

We topped off our busy afternoon with lunch at the Spectrum where she rode the Ferris Wheel and the Carousel. And thankfully, she is currently sound asleep taking a nap. Success!

Run Forrest!

I'm not going to lie, waking up at 4:30am sucks. But Mo and I put aside our preference for sleeping in on Sundays to support our hubbys who have been training for the Long Beach Half Marathon since August.

We were able to see them at Miles 1, 2 and 6 and David's family saw them at Miles 8 and 10, so they had a  lot of support, which would explain the goofy smiles while running such a tortuous distance.

Strutting David....if you haven't seen Strutting Leo, click here

Mile 2: Looking good!

At Miles 8 and 10, Kat had made big bright signs for J and D as they ran by.  Craig even jogged a few yards with them at the turn above. Scott screamed the encouraging "Dig! Dig!" at them even though they still had a good 3 miles to go. 

 Mo and I did a pretty good job at staying ahead of J and D and even spotting them at the Post Food & Fluid Line (those beach chairs were lifesavers!)

Jeremy, as usual, looked like he jumped in the ocean after the race. Even his shoelaces were soaked. 

 Great job guys, we're so proud! Now please take a shower ;)

Happy 1st Birthday Lauren!

It's no secret that Drew loves parties....the balloons, the cake, the goody bags. What's not to love? Except that someone else gets to open all the gifts while you have to patiently sit there! Lauren was a gracious guest of honor who let Drew play with her toys all day, even when she wanted them herself. 

 Quite a lot has changed in a year!

Videos!

Picking up the moves on the spot, as she missed all week of school due to a runny nose. You can't say she lacks enthusiasm!

This one is to balance out the Lady Gaga facebook post from earlier.

Jibber jabber :)

Vegas Vacation

Last week, Jeremy and I got to go on a Farmers Insurance rewards trip to Las Vegas. Despite the heat (which has now migrated to Southern California, seriously it was 108 here today and 100 in Vegas last week), we had an awesome time and had a chance to hang out with different Farmers people who have all gone through all the same things we are now.

Sunday night, we ate at craftsteak at MGM Grand and then headed to Tabu. Don't Jeremy and I look ready for the club??

On Monday, Jeremy's district manager rented a cabana for us (thankfully not at Wet Republic where we'd surely be forced to wear Ed Hardy clothes and get tramp stamps) where we could enjoy the fan and ice cold beer when we weren't enjoying the lazy river.

Monday night we had our reservation at Minus 5 in Mandalay Bay -- the only ice bar in North America! We were given heavy coats and Ugg-like boots and gloves. We had very sweet and fruity vodka drinks served in cups made out of ice. I had to exit the bar due to early on-set frostbite on my fingertips.

Jeremy's boss did buy a picture of all of us bundled up (you can't bring cameras, phones or watches into the room for fear of condensation), which I hope to have a copy of. And there may or may not be a a picture of me floating around taking a shot of Bubblegum Vodka from an ice sculpture shaped like a woman's upper body. Oh peer pressure. There may also be a picture of Jeremy doing the same shot, but with Tequila.

Iron Chef - BURGERS!

Craig and Monique- hamburger topped with avocado, bacon and fried green tomatoes- a delicious combination!

 

David and Katie- turkey burger with cheddar in the turkey and sundried tomato sauce- tasty and good for you!

 

Mike and Kimmy- the Luther Burger or Krispy Kreme burger= cheese, egg, bacon on a grilled, glazed donut bun- sweet, salty and heart attacky!

 

Vicki and Jeremy- as if we had room for anything else....the New York Prime Burger with cheddar, tomato and onion rings on a specially ordered bun!

No winner was determined as we were all so full and fat we couldn't talk after dinner. Word on the street was that the Krispy Kreme was NOT the favorite. I don't understand it.

First day of "real school"

Drew attended a 6-week summer school at Mission Lutheran Preschool in July-August and yesterday had her first day of real Preschool. She will have the same teacher (Miss Ursula) and some of the kids from Summer School will also be in class with her.

Think her backpack is big enough? She loves Princess and the Frog and really wanted a Tiana backpack.

I couldn't decide on one picture to post, she was just so darned cute yesterday!

This (below) is what happens when I say "give me a big smile!"

Daddy had an early morning meeting so we had to do some self-portraits.

Most of the morning she said she didn't want to go and wanted to stay home. Once we got to school she ran right over to her table and jumped right in with the "rolly thing."

After school, I asked her what this stuff was and she called it "glump." Any teachers know what this is actually called?