Monday, October 31, 2016
10.31.16 - Halloween at Dad's
I never had time to actually write up all the details of our very fun Halloween at Dad's, so I am copying and pasting the FB status I made about it:
This morning Clara and I went with Dad and Jill to watch Rocket's elementary school Halloween parade, which was adorable. In particular, Rocket looked so pleased yet shy that we were all on the sidelines to cheer him on in his Mario costume.
Then from about 2pm onward the house was consumed with prepping for actual Halloween. We had maybe 10 people agree to be zombies (including Jennifer) and Dad had already ordered liquid latex and all sorts of other makeup to create the effect. Meanwhile Ellen, Sola, and I took turns watching Clara while getting everything non-zombie setup (scary music, fog machines, jack-o-lanterns lit, candy in the cauldron, etc).
During the earliest part of trick-or-treating, when it's all the really little kids, we didn't have the fog going or zombies in the yard. But once it got dark we had a whole huge production, including a 7ft tall Death (a guy in costume actually looming around) and a very creepy homemade dude covered in spider webs hanging from a tree telling people to stay away. We had enough zombies that there were several limping around the yard, some hanging over the wall snatching at people, some lying across the sidewalk, and even one hiding under our truck.
Sola, dressed as a trick or treater and not a zombie, would hang out near the street and then slip in with a big group of kids entering the yard. Then the zombies would attack her and carry her away as she screamed bloody murder. It was pretty effective. (We only did this when the kids were older, not when it was a crowd of little kids.)
The whole production was intimidating enough that Ellen, who was not dressed up so she would be un-intimidating, had to keep encouraging people to come get candy from her.
At some point I took Clara on a stroller ride to see all the other houses over the next few blocks. There were a lot of impressive houses, including one entirely decked out as the Forbidden Forest complete with Harry Potter soundtrack blasting. But Dad's house was--easily--the scariest. Easily.
When we got back I was pretty tired so I hung out with Clara in the family room watching cheerful videos, punctuated by Sola's occasional screams outside, which Clara took no notice of at all. Anyway, I'm too tired to go through it all tonight but I hope to have a lot of photos and even some video up over the next few days. A+ Halloween, would do again.
EDIT: I also have really enjoyed both Saturday and today seeing all the FB pictures of everyone's clever costumes and decorations. You guys are so creative!
Saturday, October 29, 2016
10.29.16 - Carving pumpkins
Clara slept very long - she went to bed sometime before 10pm but didn't get up until after 8pm, which is long for her. Jill was going to Walmart and I thought it would be nice for Clara and me to get out of the house for a bit, but by the time we had driven to Walmart, even though Clara had only been awake about two hours so far, she had fallen asleep! I am not sure what's going on with that but in case she was getting sick or something, I decided to just leave her sleeping and let her get as much rest as possible. She slept in her carseat in the shopping cart almost the entire time we were at Walmart.
Jill bought a few more Halloween items, amazingly enough, and a birthday gift for Harrison (who is almost 15, wow). I have somehow managed to not pack a single long-sleeved shirt for Clara for this trip, so I picked out a red sweatshirt for her that says "Sweetheart" as well as a long-sleeved black tshirt with orange and white stripes that will look good under her jack-o-lantern tshirt if it's chilly out on Halloween. I also found a pretty cute jack-o-lantern tshirt that fits me. Jill was kind enough to buy all of it alongside her own supplies.
Clara woke up while we were checking out and so of course was wide awake during what would be her normal nap time, which means I didn't have a chance to take a nap myself. But later that afternoon Dad offered to watch her so I could sleep a bit before my friend Jen came over for pumpkin carving.
Jen arrived around 2pm. I can't really carve pumpkins and watch Clara. At first I tried putting on one of her playlists and putting up a baby gate in the door to the backyard, but it didn't really work. She kept hanging out at the baby gate wanting to come outside and see what we were doing. But then Ms. Kristen kindly offered to take Clara on a stroller walk, which was really helpful. They were gone a long time and I made some great pumpkin progress alongside Dad, Jill, Jen, and sort of Rocket.
Dad scooped a lot of pumpkins so that the rest of us didn't have to, which I love. I am not into scooping pumpkins and it's pretty nice to get to carve multiple of them without the work of scooping. It's like always getting to ride the wagon downhill without having to pull it back up. Dad also scooped a few pumpkins for Rocket, and then I'd sketch some classic jack-o-lantern faces on those and do some of the big cuts so Rocket could focus on the tiny ones, then he'd finish the jack-o-lanterns off. He really enjoyed it and was very proud to show Jill and Dad each time he finished a part of the face.
At some point Dad went and got his grinder so we could try removing a thin layer of pumpkin to get a multi-layered jack-o-lantern. It was fun to try and in the daylight it looked pretty awesome.
After Ms. Kristen got back with Clara, Dad improvised some outdoor baby gates so Clara could go in and out of the family room to the backyard, but stay confined to the back porch with us and not run around to the front. That made things pretty simple. For the most part she was content to wander around and just be near us as we carved. Ms. Kristen helped with some carving too.
In the end we carved about 25 pumpkins. We separted them into "faces" and "scenes." We had all been doing mostly faces in the beginning and switched to scenes in the end (e.g. the grim reaper, bats over the moon, etc). Overall I liked the scenes more but it was all fun. By then it had gotten dark, so we added candles to everything, turned out the porch lights, and looked at our "trial run." Dad added more candles to the dimmer pumpkins and also carved some of them a little wider so the light could get through. The whole thing looked excellent and we were all pretty pleased with our work. It was a really enjoyable Halloween-themed creative outlet!
Afterward Jen had to go home because she was dog sitting, but Ms. Kristen watched Rocket and Clara so Dad, Jill, and I could get dinner at The Keg. I was very tired by then and the idea of just sitting still with no kids while someone brings me food was awesome. We sat at the bar and I got a big Caesar salad, which was what I just happened to be craving. Because I'm pregnant of course I didn't order any alcohol, but I'm also getting a little tired of milk, water, and Diet Coke all the time (yeah I said it) so I got a Shirley Temple, which was pretty delicious.
There were a lot of people dressed up in the bar. In fact the whole town was pretty decked out because apparently earlier that night they had "coffin races" which are a Halloween-themed derby.
And since I was the only one not drinking I drove us home, nice and safe, even though Dad is an amazingly bad backseat driver. He chided me to make sure I wasn't too close behind a car when I was going less than 25 mph. I think he's just not used to being a passenger.
When we got home Clara and Rocket were nearly ready for bed. Dad goofed around with Clara a lot, and she thinks he's hilarious. She was being so cuddly and playful with him that he ended up trying to leave to go to bed 2-3x but coming back and playing some more because she was so cute. It was endearing.
Overall it was a wonderful Halloween-themed day.
Clara woke up while we were checking out and so of course was wide awake during what would be her normal nap time, which means I didn't have a chance to take a nap myself. But later that afternoon Dad offered to watch her so I could sleep a bit before my friend Jen came over for pumpkin carving.
Jen arrived around 2pm. I can't really carve pumpkins and watch Clara. At first I tried putting on one of her playlists and putting up a baby gate in the door to the backyard, but it didn't really work. She kept hanging out at the baby gate wanting to come outside and see what we were doing. But then Ms. Kristen kindly offered to take Clara on a stroller walk, which was really helpful. They were gone a long time and I made some great pumpkin progress alongside Dad, Jill, Jen, and sort of Rocket.
Look at those focused artists.
Afterward Jen had to go home because she was dog sitting, but Ms. Kristen watched Rocket and Clara so Dad, Jill, and I could get dinner at The Keg. I was very tired by then and the idea of just sitting still with no kids while someone brings me food was awesome. We sat at the bar and I got a big Caesar salad, which was what I just happened to be craving. Because I'm pregnant of course I didn't order any alcohol, but I'm also getting a little tired of milk, water, and Diet Coke all the time (yeah I said it) so I got a Shirley Temple, which was pretty delicious.
There were a lot of people dressed up in the bar. In fact the whole town was pretty decked out because apparently earlier that night they had "coffin races" which are a Halloween-themed derby.
Costumed patrons getting way into singing along.
And since I was the only one not drinking I drove us home, nice and safe, even though Dad is an amazingly bad backseat driver. He chided me to make sure I wasn't too close behind a car when I was going less than 25 mph. I think he's just not used to being a passenger.
When we got home Clara and Rocket were nearly ready for bed. Dad goofed around with Clara a lot, and she thinks he's hilarious. She was being so cuddly and playful with him that he ended up trying to leave to go to bed 2-3x but coming back and playing some more because she was so cute. It was endearing.
Overall it was a wonderful Halloween-themed day.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Sunday, October 2, 2016
10.2.16 - Jack's birthday
Jack's birthday was a very pleasant day. Everything just kind of lined up.
He did work in the morning (he opted to), and he got home around 10:30am. After a quick shower and shave (since we'd probably be taking pictures, he said), he was ready and he, Clara, and I went downtown to Pieology for dinner. We found a pretty close space and walked in the (FINALLY) cool weather to the restaurant.
Even though it was right near lunch time, I guess because it's a Sunday the place was empty. We walked right up to order, which was great because I was very hungry already. I really love Pieology - it's inexpensive and it lets Jack and I satisfy our entirely different pizza tastes. I almost always get pesto, mozarrella & ricotta, black olive, pineapple, sausage, and chicken. I think the only similar things Jack gets to mine are the cheeses and the sausage, and his is spicier.
Anyway, we sat in a corner of the restaurant and managed to keep Clara preoccupied by putting bits of our pizza toppings on her stroller shelf so she was continually eating. We also gave her her own straw to play with. Even so she wanted to get out and hang out with us at the table, which is tricky because she wants to drink from the soda straw and she can't really handle it. But overall she was very well behaved and we got to eat our delicious lunch pretty peacefully.
Right when we were done and about to walk the short distance back to the car, it started raining. This sounds like a downside but I was delighted. I had been checking the weather every day for about a week to make sure it was still predicting rain for Jack's birthday. I hadn't been in or seen rain in Sacramento in months, not even sure how long. So I was very happy to get caught in the rain when it finally did happen, and it smelled wonderful. Clara stuck both of her hands out from under her stroller cover to feel it.
It wasn't raining that lightly either. Fortunately we'd parked under a huge tree that gave us some cover while we put Clara in her carseat and put the stroller away, and then it continued to rain during our drive to Gunther's ice cream. (The drive ended up being the "scenic route" as Jack initially went the wrong way and we didn't notice, but again I didn't mind because it gave us more time to be driving around in the rain.)
The rain also made Gunther's even more pleasant, because it was pretty empty. It may be the first time we've gone to Gunther's and walked right up to order--there's usually at least a line to the door, if not out the door and around the corner. I got a scoop of mocha fudge and Jack got one scoop of maple nut and one of, of course, pumpkin, which he'd been waiting for. I'm always glad I only get one scoop because the scoops are pretty large and it takes me awhile to finish even that. While we were waiting for our orders we got seats right next to the window and we could watch it continue to rain on and off. Clara fell asleep on Jack's shoulder and, if I remember right, stayed asleep the rest of the time we were at Gunther's, which made eating our ice cream easy. As usual Jack finished his two scoops before I'd finished my one. I'd been calorie counting recently and had taken the day off, so all this pizza and ice cream left me very very full. But happy.
We came back home and Jack took a nap. I dozed on the couch briefly while Clara was still asleep in her carseat, then hung out with her in the living room and let Jack sleep for about two hours or so. As a parent, I now view naps as one of the greatest gifts. :-P
Then our nanny, Beth, came to pick up Clara for some bonus Sunday hours so that Jack and I could hang out together without interruption. I had already bought us some junk food snacks (kettle cooked potato chips, candy bars, and Mom had sent Jack chocolate fudgey cookie bars) and we watched the last three episodes of the first season of The Last Kingdom, which Jack really wanted me to see. You know, we used to make food and watch a few episodes of Netflix together pretty regularly, pre-children, but now it's a special treat. Anyway it was fun.
Afterward we drove to Folsom to pick up Clara, and when we got back we Skyped with Don and Merlene for awhile.
Overall it was a very pleasant day.
He did work in the morning (he opted to), and he got home around 10:30am. After a quick shower and shave (since we'd probably be taking pictures, he said), he was ready and he, Clara, and I went downtown to Pieology for dinner. We found a pretty close space and walked in the (FINALLY) cool weather to the restaurant.
 |
| Oh and we got free parking! |
Then our nanny, Beth, came to pick up Clara for some bonus Sunday hours so that Jack and I could hang out together without interruption. I had already bought us some junk food snacks (kettle cooked potato chips, candy bars, and Mom had sent Jack chocolate fudgey cookie bars) and we watched the last three episodes of the first season of The Last Kingdom, which Jack really wanted me to see. You know, we used to make food and watch a few episodes of Netflix together pretty regularly, pre-children, but now it's a special treat. Anyway it was fun.
Afterward we drove to Folsom to pick up Clara, and when we got back we Skyped with Don and Merlene for awhile.
Overall it was a very pleasant day.
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