Pumpkin Man

Miles' preschool went on a field trip to the "Pumpkin Man" in Farr West. At first they were greeted by a nice lady who asked them if they liked pumpkins and scarecrows, etc. She showed them a funny scarecrow laying on the hay, with a pumpkin for a head. Then she told them to wave and say "Hello" to the scarecrow. As they did so, the scarecrow waved and said "Hello" back! He stood up and began talking to them and the kids (all 3 or 4 years old) were just amazed. Some were scared, but most just stared in awe at this talking scarecrow. Well, eventually of course the pumpkin man took off his big Jack-o-lantern head and showed the kids that he was just a man after all. He did a few magic tricks for them and let them try on the pumpkin on their heads. Most of the kids were too apprehensive to do it, but Miles was brave and he went first. After that about 2 or 3 other kids tried it and even a few moms (including me...but when he put the pumpkin on me, I think he accidentally bumped Bree's head--in the Snugli--and so she screamed. Oops.) It was a fun field trip and Miles is still talking about "the scarecrow who was alive, but was really just a guy inside!" 

Halloween 2011 JibJab

It's not Halloween at our house until I do our little JibJab Halloween video. Unfortunately they didn't have any new ones this year, but I had to include Bree, so I did the same song as last year, but we are all different characters. Silly, but fun.
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/GdPUOVluZFp6jEnz

California Trip

Bryan has had to travel for work a lot lately.  This year he's been to Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Ohio, and California many times.  (Luckily he was able to get out of a 2-week trip to Louisiana...)  Anyway, we figured that I should go with him one of these times!  So last weekend we took Tess & Miles to Papa's house to enjoy playing with cousins, and Bree & I tagged along for Bryan's trip to LA.  We didn't do any theme parks because we didn't have the older kids and Bree certainly doesn't care about Disney-anything.  It was so much fun to just be with Bryan for a few days.  Bree takes work and attention, certainly, but not the same kind of attention as the 2 older kids.  (Keeping them entertained and breaking up arguments is a full-time job!...)  So it was lovely to relax, sleep in, eat out, walk on the beach, etc. 

 Here we are, walking in the waves by Santa Monica Pier, enjoying the beautiful sea air.  (That's Bree...way behind us...neglected in her stroller...oops!)

 She was OK though, peeking out from under her blankie...

Here she is, chillin' in the hotel room.  We had a 2-room suite, which was great for Bree because we could put her to bed in a separate, dark, quiet room and we could still be in the other room.

 We went to the LA County Museum of Art, which I loved.  They had some really cool exhibits; my favorite was the Picasso exhibit.  From where I'm standing in this picture, you could see the Hollywood sign way behind me.  It doesn't really show up...but it's there!

 Here we are at Huntington Beach Pier at sunset.  Beautiful!

Bree wasn't too interested in most of our sight-seeing...but I figured that I had to at least dip her toes in the ocean!  Right as Bryan took this picture, a big wave came in and soaked the back of my shorts...

Anyway, it was a really great trip!