Pumpkin time!

Last week, I took the day off to take help Alya's class out with a pumpkin farm field trip. Lots of fun as I minded Alya and her friend Sydney, who was also at the birthday party.

They had a great time, and special thanks to the hat that Grandma Nida got Alya for her birthday - it was toasty goodness for the little squirrel.

Riding the wagon having a good time, that's what the pumpkin farm is all about.

Alya and Sydney are... the Children of the Corn!

Marcus might not be a climbing boy, but Alya makes up for it in spades. She must have went up and down this wall five times - at a minimum!

The group photo!

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Well I hope you enjoyed this week of pictures. I'm sure I won't post again until after Thanksgiving, but I'm glad to get this batch out at the least.

Thanks much!

Jon

On Sasha's birthday we went to Elegant Farmer with her Mom and Fran. Good time for all, with lots of yummy snacks.

Sorry there aren't any pictures from Victor's the night before. That was a hoot, in that Victor's sort of way.

On the tractor ride. We take it around the fields every year, but we never actually get off to get apples or pumpkins. Weird.

Marcus and the apple cider donut. Yummers!

Alya on the rocking horse getting assistance from Franpa.

And here we have Marcus being.... Well we can just call him being Marcus.

Monkey Business as usual

Just a few odd shots from around the end of September to the beginning of October.

 

Alya doing her best Monty Python impression.

 

And now Alya is the diva being driven around town.

 

Marcus takes top goofball on the cat post.

 

Football, how it's meant to be played.

Alya's Birthday Extravaganza!

Here's a whole stack of pictures from Alya's birthday weekend. Two parties, multiple cakes and a bunch of Disney Princess dresses.

Enjoy!

Flipping for Ribs

 

Marcus is known for being a picky eater. Sometimes he'll eat nothing but bananas and waffles for the entire day. However, this day in September was one in which he not only ate the rice and gandules I had made, but gnawed on the bones of the ribs Sasha had made for her first time. I don't blame him either, as those ribs were really good.

 

Meanwhile, Alya decided that doing flips off the bed was a good thing. Head down on the foot and kick the feet over - Boom! I brought more pillows down as she was just landing on her butt at first. Crazy girl.

Adventure Awaits!

In the old arcade game, Dragon's Lair, the attract mode would describe how fantastic of a game it was and wrap up with, "Play Dragon's Lair - Your adventure awaits!" Naturally, this phrase stuck with me.

But who'd of thought that a nature walk would turn into a genuine adventure?

Sasha had taken the kids into Brown Deer Park for a walk through the woods before, and this time we all went for the hike. We walked on logs, picked up sticks, climbed hills, interfered with disc golf games, and Alya had her first outdoor bathroom experience. Standard stuff for a walk in the woods.

Then our trail met this bridge:

True adventure!

And that kind of changed things. Alya was a little scared to cross it. I was nervous that some of the boards were weak. And the gaps were large enough that either of the kids could have fit through and there was some water under that bridge. A thrilling crossing, indeed.

Yes, we made it without incident. Yeah, it probably wasn't a big deal. But we still didn't take that route back.

Instead, we follow a trail that would "complete" the circuit and bring us out on the other side. Except that pesky stream the bridge had crossed was still around and still containing water. So this trail sort of gave up the ghost at a bend in the stream. No bridge in sight, nor stones to make an attempt at keeping dry.

It all kind of reminded me of Blair Witch Project. But neither Sasha, nor I are that stupid.

So she slowly herded the kids in the direction there "should" be a bridge, while I scouted ahead to make sure it was there.

I scampered along the stream bed, trying to spot our way out when I think I see salvation - a golf cart bridge that was perhaps 30 yards away. And then I saw what lay between us and the way out. The stream had forked, and this fork was cutting off the way out.

As I got closer, I could see the bed of the fork did not have any obvious water, but the question of mud remained. So I grabbed a nearby stick and started prodding the leaf covered bed. It was soft in spots, but otherwise dry enough.

However, when we had regrouped to cross it together, Alya balked and didn't want to walk along it. Maybe my speech about how to cross these things made it a little scary, but it was another experience that she didn't want to do along. So she was held and Marcus carried, and we made it across the bridge, out of the woods, and into the clear blue sky.

With two tired little children who couldn't bear to walk anymore.



We found adventure and triumphed. And it was good.

***

So, I've been really bad about blogging lately, and a lot has been going on with the family.

Alya had her 3rd birthday party, which was a three day celebration filled with cakes, princess outfits, and a few presents too. Good times for the little squirrel.

Sasha also had her birthday, which was a celebration that started after her brother's birthday party the day previous and ran off to a round of golf and a trip to Elegant Farmer for fall goodies.

And I went with Alya on a Pumpkin Farm trip with her school. Lots of fun for her and I, even if I forgot the rule of "Don't let the kids pick a pumpkin they can't carry."

Since all of this was neglected, I'm going to cheat for the following week.

Starting after this post on Sunday, there will be a picture (or two) and a short blog entry every day this week. Really. I mean it. I'm doing it right after I publish this one.

So come back and see the BSer thought of the day. I will not promise a big week wrap-up at the end, but the thought is nice.

Be seeing you,

Jon

Take a good hard look, 'cause we're sailin' on a boat!

Ah, Labor Day.

Since we do not have kids in school proper yet, it is merely the end of a season and an extended weekend. But we made the most of it, that's for certain.

The picture above, was taken Sunday morning on a lake near East Troy, WI. Sasha's Aunt Debi and Uncle Neal have a house there that they opened up to the entire Fuller family for Labor Day weekend. So we scheduled a time (the Fuller family is that big) and got ready to go.

But that's not the beginning of the story.

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Sometimes life gets a little funny. Not funny "ha-ha", but funny "strange". I saw some new friends leave the immediate part of my life, and saw a bunch of old friends that I haven't seen in quite a while. This wasn't an "Out with the new, in with the old" plan - I didn't have much say beyond attending events, but it was weird.

The Battiste's (Ben and Jen) left Milwaukee this past Tuesday for Germany, as Ben was just posted there by the US Army. They've been a part of my gaming life for the past year, and have come over for get togethers as well. They had an hasta la vista (my term, not theirs) dinner on Thursday, but with Alya still under the weather, BSer representation was limited to me and Marcus walking into California Pizza Kitchen to say "Farewell" and wave a bag of burgers from Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Very brief, which is a bummer but thanks to the internet, contact need not be lost.

But in with the old! In this case, it was a Friday wedding for a co-worker friend of Sasha and I. It was a nifty ceremony, and a nice dinner, but the highlights for us were.... Conversations with Peter and Ann Marie, a couple that we used to get together with during my previous stint at Manpower. They had since moved out to Colorado and we had not really kept in touch beyond Facebook.

Then throw in a bunch of dancing (the wedding trifecta - Electric Slide, Cha-Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle - back to back to back) and it being a date night as my Mom watched the kids all added up to a fantastic evening.

And that lead to the next day and a lake house party!

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This is what vacation living is all about.

Now I know I kind of lead up to this being the meat of the post. A Saturday through Sunday stay at one of the nicest homes I've ever stayed in, but the events were so laid back that in some ways there's not much to tell.

We all were able to chill out and enjoy the day. Alya and Marcus loved running around on the grass and hanging out on the pier watching the lake. We've been told our children are very mellow, and they certainly know how to take it easy.

Saturday's antics included, a big group bath for all the little (read under 5 years old) cousins in a large, whirlpool tub. Highlights include little cousin Devon (18 mo.) standing up to show how he can pee in the water. -Bath reset!- And the "swim off" between Alya and cousin Jack (4). Each of them were trying to out do the other. Very fun for all that were involved.

This bath time was followed up with a nice outside fire with around ten family that had lots of sparks and some roasting of marshmallows, which then became smores. Alya and Marcus shared a rocking bench for a brief stint until it was impossible to ignore bedtime any longer.

And both of them slept solidly through the night. Which was good because Alya took the top bunk in a room with two of her second cousins who were probably worried they would have middle of the night wakes ups. Instead, they were serenaded by Alya's morning song, which is a quite gentle way to be woken up.

Once we were all moving (and none too hurriedly, mind) the BSers and the Ratajczyks (Jenni and her two sons Jack and Devon) went out on the pontoon boat for a slow ride around the lake. A somewhat calm cruise - kids fine, water skiers a little less calm - that let us see the sailboats get out for the weekly race - probably the last of the season. We even tried to feed the fish, but they weren't that interested in tortilla chips.

Then we came back to shore - had a little lunch - and then the kids ended up taking a 3 hour nap! That's the kind of chillin' I'm talkin' about. Heck, I even grabbed 20 minutes for myself.

By the time we got home, the sun had set, our bodies were tired, and our day wasn't over.

Yep, Holly came by to watch the kids while Sasha and I went out for a second wedding of the weekend.

---

Wai-ken married Maggie this past weekend in a small ceremony at the Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee. Sasha and I managed to show up late to the reception thanks to a bonus trip up and down in the hotel elevators.

Anyway, I've know Wai since the fifth grade and we've been trying to get together a few times a year at minimum - plus lunches at El Farol. But also at the reception was two friends from high school (Chris and Mike) and one from the first grade! (Hey Eric!)

Since we were coming in at the tail end of a long day for everyone, we only got to chat a little bit, but it was good to actually talk with these guys that I hadn't seen in several years.

But one of the odd things that I came away with was that we all have changed. But sometimes it's hard to shake the memory of how things were, compared to where we're at now. I am fairly certain that I'm a different person now, and so are they. It's both interesting and a little sad that we don't know the changes we've all gone through.

But that is the nature of life, unless you keep your friends to a minimum, it is impossible to keep up with everyone. Lives change, we cross paths or journey together only to part at some point. And one can hope to meet up again and have things return to that level of comfort you once had.

A funny thing about meeting these friends again, I could find a parallel for each one in my current batch of "newer" friends. Maybe it's a gamer thing (and all of them were/are gamers) but it's like a group cannot abide with two people of the same personality type - but we're drawn to people who share a type of personality we've known in the past. Very strange.

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Morning... BSer style

After all the crazy events, Monday was the calm we all needed.

Sasha, which help from the kids, put together a really nice breakfast. Then she mowed the lawn while I did house clean up and kid watching.

This was followed by another long nap by the kids and Sasha, which I did not partake in.

Then the evening was a gathering with Peter and Ann Marie (remember them?) and some of their friends, including my old boss from Manpower. It was a great, relaxing evening. Peter took the role of Grill Master to heart and whipped up some good sources of protein. Ann Marie took care of the logistics behind the scenes and we and another couple with their nearly-two-year-old waxed and relaxed.

It was a fine way to wrap up the weekend and a time of nostalgia, remembering days when we were in the same city and could visit more often. I guess we have a very good reason to see Colorado now.

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Now if I was better at this kind of stuff, I'd re-read the post tomorrow before putting it up, but I'm not that kind of guy. It's late, I'm rambling, and I'm missing some of my friends.

Be seeing you,

Jon