Happy Halloween

Whew! What a day! Well, more like night. Things weren't too crazy during the day. In fact, it was sort of nice, because I think there were many families in the same boat as us this morning, trying to get their kids to school dressed in costumes, or take care of other stuff involving Halloween. Everyone seemed to be focused on their thing. The 5 freeway was even kind of empty after I dropped Tyler off. Usually, it's pretty slow going. 

Vincent went to school as a race car driver. Tyler opted not to wear a costume to daycare. He did, however, wear his new shirt from Disneyland. I don't have pictures of them from the morning, but I do have a couple of Vincent from when I picked him up after school.

Vincent checking out his Halloween treat bag from school.

During my alone time this morning, I went to the gym and "wogged" 3 miles. I mostly jogged, and it felt good. While on the treadmill, I thought of two things: 1) I decided I wanted to be a witch for Halloween so I'll go to Value Village after the gym, and 2) while up on Capitol Hill, I'll call my friend, Jared, to stop by his office and say "hi," since it's just around the corner.

And, that's just what I did. I went looking for a witch's hat at Value Village and didn't find what I was looking for. I think I may have found it had, I looked on one particular rack before this other lady, as she took the last hat there. Oh well. I did, however, find a pair of size 2T overalls for $2.99, for Tyler's train engineer costume. He already had a pair in mind for tonight, but it's a size 18 months. He can still fit it, except that they're about 2-3 inches too short.

While at Jared's office, I got to see his super cool DIY treadmill desk. I need me one of these.

Seriously impressive.

Then, I had a little lunch at Odd Fellows. I had a pretty yummy grilled gruyere sandwich with caramelized onions and pears. Too soon, it was time to pick up the first of my kids.

Vincent and I had a really nice afternoon together, actually. He was happy that I let him look through his Halloween bag. Then, he was happy that I let him have a treat in the car. We went to Walgreens to see if I could find my witch's hat. Bingo! And, we needed half and half, so we went to QFC. He was so well behaved at both places. When we got home, I let him play a new game on my iPhone while I got stuff ready for our evening. Then, it was time to pick up Tyler.

From the moment we got home, the evening got busy. I needed to make dinner, the boys needed to get dressed, Audrey came over to borrow something, and the boys were excited to go trick or treating. David arrived home shortly after, and the excitement intensified. 

After dinner, David and I got dressed and we headed out. It was already dark. Our first stop was our neighbor, Melissa's house. Then, we ran into a friend of Vincent's, and we all had the same destination of going to our neighborhood "trick or treat street," as they call it. It's a few blocks away, so we stopped at a few houses along the way. 

One of the houses was too scary for Tyler, but it was actually a really fun house. The kids had to earn their treats by either singing a song or telling a joke. Vincent told a joke. Here's Tyler hanging back with Daddy.

Okay, I mostly just wanted you to see David's costume. And, he almost didn't wear the whole thing.

Here's Vincent telling his joke.

This Trick or Treat Street was pretty intense. Hundreds of people. We weren't quite prepared for it, and I sort of freaked out. Vincent wanted to stay with his friend the whole time, and they were faster than Tyler. We finally had to set up some ground rules for Vincent. Well, just one: after each house, he needs to locate one of us first before running off to the next. I mean, at one point, I felt like I was going to push people over to catch up to him. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but there was lots of me shouting, "VINCENT, WAIT!!"

All-in-all, it was a lot of fun. We all eventually got into a groove and all the kids stayed together and had a great time. Check out the loot.

Each boy was promised two pieces of candy. They shared some with us, too. Even Stella wanted to get in on the action.

Together Again

Today, was our first full day back as a family. But, more importantly, it was Vincent and Tyler's first full day back as brothers. Oy. Lucky for me, I got to sleep in this morning, and missed some of the commotion. I could hear them while I was in bed, but I just ignored it. When I finally got up, they had all eaten already, and I just took my time eating my own breakfast and drinking coffee. I have a very nice husband.

We basically lounged around the house all morning. I took a shower while David gave Tyler a bath. Then, we all walked over to the ale house for lunch and to watch football. 

After that, we came home, Tyler took a nap, Vincent had quiet time, and David and I stressed over how to sync up my phone to my computer without losing all my stuff. We figured it out, mostly, but Apple does not do a very good job of letting you know how to do all this. I feel like they basically want you to open your new box of tech toy, plug it in, go through their basic set up, and be happy. There's nothing more to be done except enough the beautiful new product you just bought. Unless, of course, you are like many many people out there, and don't want to lose any of the content you previously had on your devices and such. Anyway, that's all blah, blah, boring stuff. In the end, we figured it out, and I mostly just need to decide how best to transition from Windows to Lion now.

The only major plan we had for our day was to take the boys to this Halloween haunted house hosted by Vincent's karate studio. The boys got dressed up in their ninja costumes, acted like wild creatures, got loaded into the car, and we arrived there all in one piece. 

Unfortunately, the event was basically just a haunted house, with one other little activity. The haunted house was said to be "black belt level scary," so we didn't take the boys through. Vincent did participate in the other activity, which was to break a wooden board. Cool, huh? Here he is with his broken board in two pieces.

I think, for the most part, this is a pretty easy skill to master, but not all the kids were getting it, so we feel pretty proud of our little karate kid.


Since this event didn't last long for us, we just went back home to have dinner. I made us spaghetti noodles with broccoli and chicken sausage. Vincent was totally misbehaving before dinner, and was sent up to his room to calm down. I tell you, the boy sure has a tough time with transitions. Anytime his regular home life is changed, he seems to be tough the first day. I guess he wasn't bad for David when we left, but having us back seemed to throw him for a loop or something. After a long (stern) talk from David, he was able to turn himself around. But, his craziness went on all day. We just had about enough by the time dinner rolled around.


The night ended well, with all of us playing a few rounds of UNO, and Vincent winning the final round.

Last Day In HH

Time to head home today.

First, we went to the Mattel factory outlet. All the years I lived in my parents' home, I new about this place, but never went. I guess I had no need for toys by the time we moved there. Now, this is like a gold mine. I mean, if you like Barbie's and Lightning McQueen. They have some other stuff, like Little People, Toys Story, and Thomas. I found a pretty good deal on a Thomas laptop for Tyler for Christmas. Mom also got him a couple of other Thomas things for Christmas. The tricky thing is that many of these things are huge, like the Geotrax train set. Not so convenient to take back to Seattle.

We also stopped and got a Yoshinoya beef bowl. If you think about it, they're disgusting. But, if you don't think about it, they're tasty. We don't have them here in Seattle, so I indulge while in L.A. I only really have about a 1-2 times a year quota on these anyway.

Soon, it was time to head to the airport. Tyler fell alseep in the car about 5 minutes from the airport. Great. He did transfer into the stroller, stayed asleep through check-in, made it through the security scanner, but woke up as I put him back into the stroller. Doh! Over all, he was good, though. He's not as interested in plopping in front of a screen the whole time, so there's more need to keep him entertained. Nonetheless, I was able to get through several pages of my book.

David and Vincent picked us up at SeaTac. It was time for dinner. The plan was for Z Pizza in Capitol Hill. We had forgotten it's Halloween weekend on the hill. Luckily, we found a parking spot right up front. Vincent had brought his stack of flyers for the Halloween haunted house his karate school is hosting tomorrow. He ended up passing a few of them out to the other patrons at the pizza joint. They kind of got a kick out of him. Two were dressed up, and so was he! While the boys finished up their food, I went next door to Yogurtland to get us dessert. So stinkin' cute that place. We each got a different Sanrio character spoon: Kerroppi for Ty (green), Hello Kitty for V (red), Chococat for David and My Melody for me.

Oh, and this morning, Vincent had a Halloween parade at Chinese school.

Tonight, I got to play with my new computer. It's so pretty.

While We Were Away Part 3

Today, David and Vincent spent the full day together. David took him to the science center to see Reel Steel. They said it was a good movie. They had gotten down to the Seattle Center a little early and went to grab a bite to eat in the Center House. Vincent said something about how I just get them a snack pack and pack us food to bring into the theater (which they totally allow, thank you very much). Hehehe. Not Mommy today, kiddo.

On their way home, they got stuck in really bad traffic on Mercer. Vincent had to pee, so he went in a cup!

My new computer showed up today.

Outing With A-ma & Family Gathering

We spent the morning with my mom. We had Taiwanese breakfast at Four Seas, then went to the nearby mall. I wanted to do a little shopping at Macy's. Oh darn! I forgot to get a coffee maker! Oh well, that's alright, I found a couple of shirts for David.

We stopped inside this pet store at the mall. It made me sick. First off, the kittens were kept in the back away from customers, but you could still see their sad little faces. The dogs were in their small, glass cubbies, all looking pretty somber, or desperately trying to get out. The signs on the glass said something about adopting the dogs. ADOPT?! Oh, excuse me, with the price tag of $699.99! Come. On. There were also large banners for a layaway plan. You just need to make a $300 deposit. But, they'll train your dog for you while you pay it off.

Needless to say, we didn't "adopt" a dog.

We walked around the mall a little bit, and discovered they had recently opened a bowling alley inside. It was more like Dave And Busters on crack. Yeah, there were bowling lanes way in the back, but it was mostly really loud, really obnoxious, brightly lit video games. Okay, okay, I love this stuff, and so does Tyler. But, it's a bit insane. I did load a game card for us and we played 3 games. Tyler won like 31 tickets. It's nice that you can load your tickets on to the same card as your credits, and you don't have to spend it all at once. Ty picked out a lollipop for 10 tickets.

Tyler also went on a couple of coin operated rides. Up until very recently (and I'm sure Disneyland helped change this), he didn't want to go on these rides, unless they were motionless. Hey, that saved us money. Today, he was ready.

After the mall, we went grocery shopping at 99 Ranch Market. Love that place. We got dinner fixins for hot pot. We were having the extended family over tonight.

We had lunch at home, then Tyler and I took a nap together. Nice.

This evening, Tyler had a blast playing with his cousins. To start out, they all just kind of played on their own. Eventually, they were wrestling, piling on top of each other with pillows, laughing, screeching...having a great time!

Ashton and Anabelle's parents got our boys a couple of new shirts each. Tyler modelled one off for us.

Yup, it's a train.





While We Were Away Part 2

Vincent had school today. This was my good morning text. Breakfast.

After school, David and Vincent went to Lowes. On their way back, they stopped at a playground, as per Vincent's request, and ran into a couple of school friends.

This afternoon, Vincent had his first karate test. David sent me a video, but I'll have to figure out a way to post it, as it didn't transfer to my computer. He did well, and here's a picture of of him stretching.

They had dinner at MOD Pizza afterwards. Vincent could have picked any toppings he wanted on his, but opted for just cheese. That surprised me, since he usually like salami/pepperoni, or pineapples.

Oh, I just now noticed that Ding Dong!

Disneyland!!

The plan was to go to Disneyland with my cousin, as per her request. When she couldn't make it, my sister thought it would be good for us to still go. So, we went with my mom! We didn't go on a ton of rides, as expected, but we had a wonderful time. We even stayed until the sun went down.

It was sort of unplanned, though. Tyler had his mind set on going on Casey Jr. but the first time he asked, we needed to get lunch. The second time he asked, he fell asleep in the stroller right as we got to the ride. Finally, when it was time to go home, he said, "But, I wanted to go on the train!" We were actually at California Adventure, so we had to go back over to Disney, walked down Main Street, go through the castle, and then wait in line for Casey Jr. There's only one, you see, so even though the line was short, it still took about 20 minutes. Nonetheless, he (mostly) patiently waited, and was even happier when we got to ride in the caboose, like he hoped. By the time we left, it was 8pm. We got there at 11am - a full day!

Here's what we did:

-the tram from the parking lot to the entrance counts as the 1st ride

-took the "steam locamotive," as Tyler calls it, around the whole park

-walked down Main Street, tried to go on Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters, but it closed down halfway through our wait. UGH!

-went on Peter Pan. Too scary for Ty. We came out and he said, "Daddy and Vincent needed to go on that one!"

-went on the carousel

-lunch at Toon Town

-tried to go on the little roller coaster in Toon Town, but Tyler changed his mind

-walked all the way to Bear Country and went on Winnie The Pooh ride

-got to see Tigger and Rabbit, and take pictures with them!

-walked back to Fantasy Land for Casey Jr. but Ty fell asleep

-walked over to California Adventure, and Ty continued to nap while Ma and I rested on a bench

-once awake, Ty wanted to go on the ferris wheel, but changed his mind and had to pee instead.

-spotted another carousel next to the restrooms and went on that (no ferris wheel at all)

-ran into Woody, waved hello

-bought a little Disney swag

-met Buzz Lightyear (Ty's favorite) and took pictures with him

-ate super yummy soft-serve ice cream

-went on all 4 rides in "A Bug's Land," all perfectly sized for Tyler

-went back to Disney for Casey Jr.

Now, just a few pictures...there were many...

While We Were Away Part 1

I chatted with David after Tyler went to bed.

It sounds like David and Vincent had a nice afternoon/evening together. He said that it seemed so quiet in the house without us. Gotta love technology...we text messaged each other all afternoon/evening. We even did some FaceTime on our phones (David got his new iPhone 4S today!).

Vincent had some quiet time while David worked on switching over his phone to the new one. In the evening, they played battle with ninjas, and I received a text asking about Vincent's letter bag for school. They found it.

Vincent went right to bed tonight. It could've been that he didn't take a nap, or that he was just so bored with just Daddy in the house! Just kidding. They had a great time together.





Anny & Tyler Go To Los Angeles

David is working from home, half-day today, tomorrow, and taking Friday off, in order to take care of Vincent while Tyler and I spend a few days in L.A. with my family. The plan was to go to see my cousin, but she had a change of plans. We had gotten our tickets with miles, and since it's been since February when we were last there, we kept with our plans.

It's the first time Vincent and Tyler have been apart for more than a few hours. When I dropped Vincent off at school, I felt as if I was going to cry. He was excited for his next few days with Daddy. I gave him extra long hugs and extra kisses, to which I think were a little much for him, especially when he just can't wait to start his school day.

David dropped us off at the airport, and even walked us in. **FYI, kids under 12 years of age no longer need to take their shoes off going through security. I had Tyler get his own bin to put his little bag in, and slide it down the table and on to the belt and into the scanner. He loved it.

Then, he was super excited to get on the "airport train" to our gate.

Lunch was at Burger King. BTW, I ordered a Whopper Jr. and said only pickles, ketchup and lettuce. Instead, I got all the other stuff I didn't want. I didn't realize it until I'd taken a bite. Sigh. At least they fixed it mistake. Although, either way, it didn't taste good.

This was also the first flight that Tyler got to have his very own seat. That's nifty!

We sat next to a (much) older gentleman who seemed to get a kick out of Tyler. He was very nice to us, and told us how he had 6 children of his own. He was also quite amazed at seeing Tyler playing with my iPhone.

After Tyler ate a little more of his lunch, it took a little convincing, but I did manage to get him to take a nap for about an hour.

Made it to LAX.

Since there was going to be so much traffic anyway, we decided to stop at my sister's house first. I wasn't sure when I'd be able to see the addition my dad put on their house this summer, so this was pretty much our chance. She was just getting off work, too. Unfortunately, it took over an hour to get there. But, like I said, there wouldn've been traffic go to Hacienda Heights, too. We had dinner at their place. Tyler loved watching their dog, Frodo, chase around a spot with their laser pointer.

And, at last, Hacienda Heights. It didn't take long for Tyler to discover this little friend.

He got to bed late, but Ty was happy to be able to share a bed with me. 

Morning Outing with Tyler

It's been nice this school year to have so much extra time with Tyler. We pretty much had this time together last year, but Vincent got out of school 1.5 hours earlier, so it always sort of felt like we were rushing around. Now, we have more time to do stuff after we go to the gym, and with the extra day Vincent's in school, we even have a free day.

Today, we did our usual trip to the gym. This part is annoying. Tyler is always excited to go, wonders who he's going to see there, if Eva will be there, and when we get there, he acts like he hates it there. Today, he even did a little pretend phone call in the car to Eva. It went like this: "Hi, Eva! You go to Pro club today? I go." And, when we pulled into the garage and he saw their car, he exclaimed, "Eva IS here!" But, like I said, we walked into the daycare and he clung on to me,  and gave everyone else the cold shoulder. I finally said, "You know what? I guess you don't want to be here. Let's go home." I picked him up and walked out the door. We did have a conversation in the lobby, and he said he really wanted to stay. Sheesh! Once he's there, he's happy as a clam.

So, I had my workout, then picked him up, and we went to U Village so I can get some facial wash and hair goop. But, first, we went to Fran's for some hot chocolate. When we walked in, they offered us each a piece of their dark chocolate salted caramel. Um, okay! And, yes, I still got the cocoa.

Here's Tyler chewing on the caramel. He stuffed the whole piece in his mouth.

Their hot chocolate is so rich, you can only have a little. Mine was 8 oz. and they had a little left over to make Tyler a mini cup, but he didn't finish. Alice Hunt, I know you can't believe this, but he was a little chocolated out, I guess. Is this really your grandson?

We then got the stuff I needed at Kiehl's. The ladies there loved him. Then, we did a little window shopping, and he played in the kids' area. We rushed to World Wrapps to grab small wraps to nosh on in the car on the way to pick up Vincent. He finished just about all of his, which was the same size as mine.



Catering

I helped John with a catering event this evening out on the eastside in a beautiful, brand new, custom built home. We did hors d'oeuvres: steak tartine with carmelized ones, smoked white beans tartine with truffled kale, duck rillettes with quince preserve, and a camambert cheese with mostarda di uva and marcona almond, and hazelnut browned butter financier cake. I enjoy these events. The people dining are usually so excited about the food being from Lark. The hostess of the party told John how she got to say to her foodie friends, "Guess who's cooking in my kitchen tonight?" One of her friends recently had Anthony Bourdain cook in her kitchen. Maybe one day people will be bragging about Anny Hunt cooking in their kitchen.  Right.

David took care of the boys, once again, tonight. They had our very last meal cooked by Hannah and the ladies of Panacea. Hannah has decided to close up shop for various reasons, but she feels good about this. We will definitely miss their delicious meals. This morning, I had coffee with an old Lark friend. Afterwards, I stopped at Cupcake Royale and bought some cupcakes to take to Hannah and JM (and some for the family). It was just a small token of my appreciation to them for making Monday evenings a tiny bit less stressful the past two years. The meal was beef daube, which is a French beef stew. Mmmmm, so good. I had my portion when I got home from the party...along with my cupcakes (half a tiramisu and half a chocolate salted caramel).

Takin' It Easy

That was our theme for today.

David's now a little under the weather, too. The boys woke up a little later this morning, and we did what seems to be our typical Sunday thing now: turned on the T.V. for them and fell back to sleep. They're good about stopping when the show is over and getting us up. Vincent knows how to use the remotes, but he comes and checks with us if it's okay to watch more. "No" was the answer, even though we probably could've slept some more!

We all had breakfast, then headed out to QFC for a little bit of groceries. The boys went into the daycare. Tyler quietly protested, but eventually gave in. David and I got coffee at Starbucks, then shopped.

Vincent suggested we get lunch at the Blue C Sushi for lunch, so we obliged. It was okay, as usual, but the kids enjoyed it and ate decently.

Tyler, excited for sushi.

The rest of the day we spent at home. Tyler napped, Vincent rested, David worked in the yard, and I piddled around in the house. I made meatloaf and potato/leek soup for dinner. My soup needed more potatoes, and my meatloaf was great. It did take a while, so we had a late dinner.

Oh, here's a video of Tyler dancing this morning. It's a long video, but he danced even longer than what I actually got footage of. It took me a few minutes to remember to grab the camera. I wish I got it sooner, as he started to get tired and his moves here were not nearly as impressive as the ones prior. And, what's even more awesome is that he sang in Mandarin the whole time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwgoQxo7FPI

And, of course, Vincent was playing with Lego Ninjago.

Another Busy Saturday

Okay, I wasn't as busy, but as a family unit, we were busy. I have been under the weather, so David gave me the morning off.

I got to stay in bed this morning while David took Tyler with him to drop Vincent off at Chinese school. Then, he took Tyler to Bellevue Square. He was able to get the boys out the door so quickly because he didn't have breakfast himself. Instead, he and Tyler went to McDonalds. They shared a cinnamon roll, and Tyler ate all of David's hashbrown. Tyler apparently also really enjoyed the Musak playing.

After I finally got myself out of bed, I basically lounged around until the boys came home. I drank instant coffee and worked on our 2010 family album. David even brought home lunch.

I had to go to work tonight. This is where I was busy. While I was there, David took the boys to a Halloween pumpkin carving party. It's about 3-4 blocks away, so they walked, but didn't bring a pumpkin to carve. They did, however, get dressed up. Vincent wore a race car costume I picked up at the Goodwill, while Tyler decided he wanted to wear his overalls and Vincent's train engineer hat.

I'm not sure what's happening here, but by the looks of it, the boys must be pouting.

I sent the boys this picture with a text message saying "Good night" from work.

Rocky Mountain Express

They boys and I went to the gym this morning. Afterwards, I had reserved tickets for us to see "Rocky Mountain Express" at the science center's IMAX theater. It's a documentary about the Canadian Pacific Railroad, but I was under the impression it was about the train itself. Not to worry, there was plenty of train footage. The one they used in the film must be the Rocky Mountain Express, or so I'm guessing. It was a beautiful and very interesting film.

It was a little bit of a struggle to get the boys there, though. I left the gym earlier than usual, but with parking, getting our tickets, then making our way to the theater, and buying them popcorn (cuz yeah, they had to have some!), we got into the theater just as the show started. It was super dark, and loud, which scared them both. I finally did convince them that it was okay to go inside, but the Vincent tripped and spilled some popcorn. I ushered him into a seat, still weepy, but soon as he sat, he saw the train and was golden. Tyler was mesmerized.

As we walked out of the theater, Vincent said, "Mommy, I really liked that movie. This was so fun." Awwwwww.

Thomas Yearbook

I was able to get my flu shot rescheduled today. They were actually so nice to me, even though I no-showed two days prior. And, it was not busy at all in the office, so I was seen right away. I think this is the first time I've ever been able to stay within the 30 minute free validated parking at UWMedical Center. Woohoo! Tyler was so worried for me about getting a shot. He wanted to make sure that I got a sticker when I was done. They didn't have any out, so I had to ask. He was happy that I let him have my sticker, and even happier that they let him take home two. He was dead set on giving his other sticker to Daddy, not Vincent. Ha!

Afterwards, I took us up to Greenwood to Top Ten Toys. I thought, with it being a yucky rainy day, he would like to do something fun indoors. It's a huge toy store, for being locally owned, etc. I was able to get a small tub of Lego bricks to stash for Vincent for Christmas. Tyler didn't even notice me buying it, and never asked about it. I did get him two sheets of $.15 and $.35 stickers. He was satisfied with that. More stickers!

On our way out the door, I spotted these (I assumed, free) Thomas and Friends catalogs. They call it their "Yearbook." It's small, but pretty thick. I grabbed one and gave it to Tyler. He was surprised I was giving it to him, and thrilled. He perused the whole thing on our drive back to pick up Vincent from school. Sweet. I was so afraid he'd fall asleep on the way, but this defintely kept him up. He read it the way Vincent has been reading his Lego catalogs. He was so cute.

David and I had a date tonight. We had a parents' night party for Secret Garden. We're not entirely sure what went wrong, but when it came time to leave the boys with Tessa, their sitter, they had a fit. I was so distraught from all this, I had to spend about 30 minutes in the car, after we parked, to compose myself and get into party mode. They ended up having a great time with Tessa. Whew!

Not-So-Farm Farm Tour

Today was Vincent's school annual visit to Remlinger Farms out in Carnation. Seriously, please click on the link. From the website, it seems as though this is a full-fledged working farm. But, once there, I'm not so sure about that. I mean, did you see the rides they have available? There's even a rollercoaster. Okay, the mini steam train is super. I mean, who doesn't love a steam train?

Anyway, I didn't take the kids to this event last year because David and I had taken them there about a month prior. I have a one time a year quota for that place. This year, I thought, yeah, why not?

Oh, yeah, here's why not...

When you are there on a weekend, without the school tours, it's crazy packed, but just about all the rides are open. You pay your $11 a person, and the kids get to ride to their hearts' content. Yes, it's intense there, and the kids are delirious, but if you tackle the adventure with another grown-up, it can be quite fun, even if it's not really a farm. Here's a photo from last year...

So cute, huh?

BUT, when you go with a school group, they don't open up all the rides. The only ride you get to go on is the train. And, unfortunately, you don't get to go on it right away, even though the kids can all hear it hooting it's horn, and are super excited about getting on. Of course, my Tyler couldn't wait. And, he couldn't understand why we weren't going on the train, yet. Cuz, with a school group, you have to go through a "tour." Basically, what that means is that some guy dressed up as a scarecrow takes you to different attractions, and you get to experience it for about 10 minutes. When you are with a big group, there's lots of waiting time for everyone to arrive at the next spot (because they aren't real close to each other) before we can begin. My kids are impatient. Not to mention, they can see the rides available, and wonder "why aren't they opened?"

In the end, I think Vincent enjoyed it, Tyler sort of enjoyed it, and I loathed it. Okay, that's harsh. Part of my reason for not liking it is that the boys were a pain to deal with.

AND, to top it all off, as we were about to leave, Tyler started to complain about his ear hurting. Since his ears are right about at the top of the chairs in their restaurant, I figured he bumped his ear on the chair. But, as we were driving home, it became very clear that he may have an ear infection.

He fell asleep in the car, and did not transfer into his bed, which is totally not normal for him. I mean, he has only not transfered to his bed, probably less than 3 times in the last two years. I was able to set him in bed in order to call the pediatrician, but soon as I made an appointment, I heard him crying upstairs. So, we all headed back out the door, and to the clinic.

Sure enough, he has an ear infection in his right ear. A pretty good one, too. The good thing was that while we were there, I was able to get the boys' flu vaccines taken care of. Sweet.

And, oddly enough, while waiting for Ty's prescription, he suddenly seemed all better. As quickly as the infection came on and upset him, it stopped bothering him.

How about a couple of pics from today's "farm tour"?





Another Donut and Some Yard Work

Tyler didn't finish his donut the other day. I don't know why I didn't just throw it way, but it's been sitting on our kitchen counter since Sunday afternoon. This morning, he spotted it, and wanted it for breakfast. It was dry and stale. David told him it's probably not any good, but he insisted on having it. Did he actually eat it? Not really. Finally, when it was time to get out the door, I told him it's time to toss out the donut. This brought him to tears.

Now, normally, I don't cave like this, but he barely ate that donut in the first place, so I quietly told him that after the gym this morning, we will stop at Top Pot and he can get another donut. One without any sprinkles, though. This pleased him.

Unfortunately, in my excitement to get make my child happy, I forgot that I had an appointment for my flu shot at noon. Doh! And, I didn't remember until way later. Ugh. Now, I'll need to reschedule. Not usually a big deal, but actually, it is. It's tough for me to get a moment to make the phone call, and possibly wait on the line for my call to "be answered momentarily."

Anyway, Tyler had a donut for lunch, and we went to the playground for a little while since it was sunny. We didn't have to pick Vincent up from school, so we went home and I got him down for an early nap. Tylie picked out a powder cake, by the way. He also picked one out for Vincent.

 My favorite one.

Once he was down, I headed outside and worked on the front yard. We've had about 50 tulip bulbs to put in the ground that were still in a bag in the garage. We also had some anemones and renunculas to plant. I'm pretty proud of myself for all the work I did. First, I put some of the flower seeds into small pots. I figured I'd start there and see if I could get into gardening today. That felt good, so I did a little weeding. That was good, too. So, then I pulled out a big shovel and started to turn some soil, and pull up more unwanted stuff. I decided that I wanted to define where one of the beds are, so I took some of the logs my dad cut up from trimming the trees, and used them for my edge. Sort of like you would with rocks or bricks, etc. It looks alright. A bit rustic. Then, I spread some grass seed around the outside of that bed. Then, I put down some bulbs and seeds. That was the biggest part of my gardening. I still had some seeds left, so I cleaned the area around the very front and put some of them there. We still have about 20 tulip bulbs, though. Sigh. Another day.

Thank goodness for a sunny day in Seattle.

Tyler woke shortly after I was done, and Vincent arrived home soon after. He was at a playdate at Henry's house. Vincent and Tyler watched a terrible cars video we found on Netflix for 33 minutes, and then it was time for Vincent to head to karate.

As for karate, he's slowly getting better at staying focused and following directions. He has stopped falling down on purpose, and is getting a couple of the moves *sort of* down. I'm not too worried about the technique, but more about the class behavior. He is probably second to the youngest in class, and some of the older kids still have some trouble with the moves.

Dinner tonight, we had Paul over. His family is in Hungary for 6 weeks, so we thought he could use a little company.