gettin' our candy fix

Our Halloween fun started the weekend before the day of candy, when we took a little family trip to Uesugi Farms and their enormous Pumpkin Park. Yes, "park". This is no mere "patch"; it's a full-on, rides-for-everyone, at-least-twenty-different-varietals-of-pumpkins-to-choose-from Pumpkin Park. Think a 'roided up pumpkin patch.

We had a great time, taking the hayride through the beautiful grounds of the farm and riding the train around the pumpkin patches. Then we grabbed a wheelbarrow and picked out our big orange gourds -- two big ones for carving, two smaller ones for making pies (more on that later), and even a few mini white ones just for fun. Here are some pics from the day (our camera ran out of batteries early on, so some are taken from our phones -- hence the picture quality):

We got prime seating for our hayride!

This beautiful marigold field is apparently cared for by hand!

Haven's first carousel ride (Gracelyn is an old pro!)

Daddie, I want this one!

All smiles at the Pumpkin Park

Our friendly ghost says, "Boo!"

On Halloween itself, Gracelyn got to dress up in her Dora the Explorer costume for her morning dance class. I was a little concerned that she might feel self-conscious, being the only little girl not in a frilly dress, but she didn't seem to care at all! Miss Erica taught the kids a special "Halloween Dance", and parents and siblings got to go in at the end of class to watch! Aaaaaaand, being a silly emotional girl who doesn't get to dance nearly enough and who misses teaching dance to little kids, I cried!

Checkin' out the other kids' costumes

We're so gangsta, we dance with our hands in our pockets!

Halloween night, we went over to The Cooper-Allen house for some time with friends. We had dinner, went trick-or-treating, decorated cookies, and even caught a rock band show in Mt. View! It was quite a night! Max & Molly were the cutest Cowboy & Cowgirl, and Makenna had an adorable Indian Princess costume (that her mommie made! Go, Booboo!). Gracelyn rocked her Dora ensemble, and Haven lived up to her nickname as Godzilla!

While we were there, Hilary called from India, and we got to Skype with her! It was so good to see her and talk with her! We can't wait until December when she comes back home from her travels!

During our trick-or-treating, Haven was a rockstar! She walked the whole time, carrying her little pumpkin bucket. She figured out how this whole trick-or-treating thing works -- taking the candy and putting it in her bucket. Then she would try to go inside the person's house, probably to check out what else she could get her hands on to put in her bucket! Here are some pics from our fun Halloween night:

Group photos: an exercise in timing -- can you catch all of them smiling at once? Yeah, right!

Gotta love Max's smile!

Yay for trick-or-treating with friends!

Our little Godzilla -- look at how big she is!

Sisters!!

Candy -- Yummy!!!

We hope everyone had as fun a Halloween as we did!

happy first birthday, have-o da babe-o!

In what seemed to us like record timing, Haven has already reached her one-year birthday! Here are some pictures of the various festivities that took place to commemorate her special day.

Pool Party with Friends & Family:

Uncle Scott with the birthday girl

The big kids having fun

Big sister relaxing in the pool

Proud great-grandparents enjoying the party

Friends & family chatting it up...and drinking it up, too!

Birthday kisses from Molly-Moo

Haven's personal cake...stayed pretty for about two seconds after the candle was blown out

Happy Birthday to You!!

The sisters doing a great job demolishing the cake together

Opening presents the next morning

Birthday Dinner at Maggiano's:

Chillin' at the table

Yay! It's my birthday!

Playing with the new toys

elmo's (lame) birthday party

Last week, Borders advertised that they were hosting an Elmo Birthday Party on Saturday, February 21st, from 2pm to 3:30pm. We were so excited to go to this because Gracelyn absolutely loves Elmo! I mean, her favorite color is red, so of course she would be enamored of a little, red, furry, lovable monster! All week long, she kept talking about how she was gonna see Elmo and sing him "Happy Birthday". She even decided that she was going to wear her Elmo costume (from Halloween last year) to the party, so she could show Elmo how much she loves him.

The day of the party (being a Saturday, we had our usual Costco-TraderJoe's-Target trifecta of grocery shopping to do), we busted our butts to get out of the house early so as to finish our shopping and still have time to come home, unload groceries, feed Haven, and get ready for Elmo's big day. We raced over to Santana Row, and, seeing how crowded it was in that area (who has money for shopping these days?, I ask you...), we did a drop off of Daddie & BG at Borders while Mommie and Haven went in search of a parking spot. As Haven and I were walking to the bookstore, I was getting text after text from Judd, and they were not looking very positive. What basically happened was this:

Judd & Gracelyn walk up to the children's area, to find a dude reading an Elmo book to a group of kids. There is no Elmo in sight, except for Gracelyn in her costume. Upon seeing our big girl in her red-monster gear, several of the kids cry out, "Look! There's Elmo!" Once they realize that this particular Elmo is extremely shy and won't sing to, dance for, play with or even smile for them, the excitement wears off within seconds. The dude reading the Elmo book finishes up, passes out some stickers and Elmo coloring pages, then has the kids sing "Happy Birthday" to Elmo who isn't even there! He then says, "Thanks for coming to Elmo's party, everyone! Have a great day!" The whole thing lasted a whopping 25 minutes, and -- did I mention? -- Elmo wasn't there. We spent the rest of the day trying to explain that one to Gracelyn (side note: she still wonders aloud where exactly Elmo went).

I mean, yeah, the economy is crap and funds are tight these days; I completely understand that. But how are you gonna advertise a birthday party for someone and then not have them even make a cameo appearance at the bash??? How hard would it have been to dress up one of your college-kid-employees in a red suit and call him Elmo? Seriously. Kids are pretty easy to please when it comes to things like that -- a princess is anyone in a fancy dress and a tiara, a superhero is anyone with a cape and/ or mask, a clown is anyone with silly clothes and colorful hair, and an Elmo is anyone dressed in a furry red suit with a big orange nose and a smile on his face! Come on!

We didn't have our camera with us (not that there would have been much to photograph, anyways), but I did want to share some pics of Gracelyn in her Elmo costume, just because she's so darn cute. These are from Halloween last year.

the party's over

With a dinner & shopping excursion with Judd & the girls on my actual birthday (also, an awesomely historical and memorable and moving inauguration that morning), a birthday party at our house nearly two weeks later, and a family birthday brunch a week after that, I managed to stretch my birthday out to nearly a month long! Go me! :-) Since the parties are all over, I thought I'd post a few pictures from the various festivities. Thanks, everyone, for making my birthday "month" so great!

From the Birthday Party at La Casa de Jacobs:

Let's get this party started!

Dos & Coley O -- senoritas muy caliente!


Hil, Heather & Kel


Booboo & Baby Makenna


Matt entertaining Max & Molly


If you look closely, you can tell that the birthday girl is having a blast!...er, I mean, getting drunk!



From the Family Birthday Brunch:


Gracelyn playing with my old doll, Victoria


Makin' the bacon! Yum!


My grandparents came to celebrate, too!


Haven chuggin' away!


Gracelyn is delighted with these white kid gloves!


Sorry, sweetie, I don't think they'll fit Megan...

judd parties too hard with the kiddies

New Year's Eve found us at the home of Josh & Danielle, where Gracelyn got to play with their twins Taylor & Makayla till the wee hours of the morning (both Haven and Riley passed out early on). We ate gelato, watched a few funny YouTube videos, knocked back a couple of drinks and toasted the New Year at 12:01am. It was great to spend an evening with the Cohens, and Gracelyn had a blast!

Unfortunately, by the time we got back home (to Judd's mom's house), little Juddie wasn't feeling so good. Just before heading to bed myself, I peeked into the bathroom to check on him, only to find him curled up on the bath mat, passed out! I eventually was able to get him up off the floor & into bed, but not before he puked (in the sink, no less)! Apparently, he couldn't hang with the kiddies at their party!

It's always so much fun to play with someone else's toys!

Those chairs are just their size, don't you think?

Enjoying some gelato (I already scarfed mine!)

And then the sugar high...

Very busy driving to very important places

Happy New Year!!!

holiday pics 2008

Wow! Has it really been nearly 3 months since that last post? We're terrible at updating this thing, huh? Maybe we should hire someone to do it for us - right after we hire a maid, cook, chauffeur, and landscaper! :-)

This year for Christmas & Hanukah (Christmakah or Hanumas or any other combination thereof), we found our way to Arizona to enjoy some sunshine and bug Judd's mom for a couple of weeks. It was a wonderful visit, full of lots of outings, activities, gatherings of friends, and way, way, way too much food!! Here are some great pictures from the trip.

Hanging out with Gma

Gracelyn puts her own ornament on our tree

What a cozy holiday scene!

Gracelyn all dressed up for volunteering at the Chrysalis Winter Wonderland

The girls sing the Hanukah song

Sisters reading together

Painting a turtle for Gma at "Paint on Pottery"

Aren't they just so cute?