Thanksgiving in California!

We went to CA to visit my family for Thanksgiving and had lots of fun.

We visited friends and enjoyed being outside without heavy coats on. We had dinner at the restaurant where Charles works, AND IT WAS AWESOME! I could happily go broke eating there!

We hung out at the house with all my family (and I must confess, it is possibly my favorite part of growing up, that my brothers & I were all in the same room for extended periods of time and we not once felt like causing bodily harm to one another...) Seeing them interact with Alex was enough to make my heart melt too. All my boys together!

I still have some of the pictures to download, but here's the bulk of them.



John & Shera invited us to join them horseback riding Friday, which was so much fun. (even though I fell off... I'm telling you, don't zig when your horse zags.) But what's life without adventure?!

My Dad gave Alex horsey rides and my Mom pulled out toy after toy for Alex's entertainment pleasure. Mickey Mouse and the tent were big hits... then there were Cars stickers and magic markers and all sorts of goodies!

And then Auntie Valerie arrived and it just got better! Giggle fests ensued and we joked, "that's what you get when you put 2 two year olds together!" They're just adorable. Val gets down to his level and they just soak each other up.

And Friday night my BFF kidnapped me and took me to see Wicked - which was AWESOMENESS x10. I came home doing Glinda impersonations, that's how good it was! If you haven't seen it yet, go. now.

So - we had quite the adventures. And when we got home Saturday evening it was snowing. Alex looked out the window at the airport and said "woooowwww". It was just adorable. We left for Thanksgiving and came home to Christmas, what a treat!

Astronaut

Pictures of Alex in his flight suit:


We had lots of fun! Thanks again to Auntie Valerie - you continue to spoil us!

My little pumpkin...

I tried my best to stage a re-take of this favorite:


This is what I got instead:



This is his "pumpkin friend". A pumpkin patch came to his school and all the kids got to pick one out (note his name written in sharpie on the bottom).

Alex informed me that it was his "pumpkin friend with a brown hat":

It was adorable. He's adorable... he just can't help it!

His pumpkin friend has been on the floor next to the coat hooks, on the table next to Alex's big thinking chair, in the garage, on the mantle, and carried around the front yard... Who knew so much enjoyment could come from a $4.25 pumpkin!?

Space Man!

Our little boy is SO loved... Auntie Valerie just *happens* to work at JPL and did a little shopping on our behalf. Behold! The coolest astronaut costume EVER (oh, yeah, and Alex was really excited about it too):


We laid out his clothes for school. I thought I should prep him up for it - since he hasn't dressed up before.


In the morning, as I was getting him dressed, he kept saying "Mommy hide Alex?" It's really funny, he calls it "hiding"... which I guess makes sense... especially to a 2-1/2 year old.

The teachers at his school thought it was really cool, and really appreciated the practicality of it! (me too) So now, we're just hoping it will fit him next year too! :)

Photos of him actually in it to follow! Stay tuned!

80 years, with a cherry on top!

If there's anything you should be able to do when you turn 80, it's eat your favorite food!

The whole family got together and took Grandmother out to Strouds "Famous for Fried Chicken". We had lots of fun... and oh-so-much good food. We ate, and ate, and ate! And then they brought out the cinnamon rolls!! (and we ate some more) Alex loved the chunky applesauce and we all had plenty of tasty leftovers to enjoy later. It was awesome!

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we can hardly wait for your 81st b'day so we can go back and do it all over again!!

Red Friday

Here in Kansas City, we have a little team called the Kansas City Chiefs. Maybe you've heard of them - maybe not, they haven't been doing so well lately... Regardless, having a local NFL team brings with it some local traditions. Every Friday that there's a home game, people wear red. It's called "Red Friday" (their colors are red & gold).

Last week at school, their focus was on colors. So, on Red Friday the kids all decorated red footballs. Now, most of the kid's said KC, KU or MSU, or some other local team, college or pro - but not our Alex. His favorite red thing is Lightning McQueen!



Considering how little interest Stan has in sports, it seemed only fitting that Alex's craft would have no more to do with football than the paper it was crafted on!

Sasquatch & Elephant

Last weekend we picked up a grab bag of small toy animals at a yard sale.

There's a strange looking ape that Stan decided was really Sasquatch... and promptly began the propaganda campaign, so that's the only thing Alex would call it. It worked, and Stan grins every time Alex says it. Alex grins too, so I think he's totally in on the joke.

I think it's beyond adorable that Alex says "Ephalunt"!

And, realizing that none of this will last very long... we decided to stage a little chat session. Enjoy:

From Alex animal video