Harvest Day

I got to tap into my inner 'Middle Eastern ness' on Sunday during Harvest Day at our church since I was assigned the middle eastern table for the International food part. Here's Grace helping me set-up :) Actually, this stuff was tasty!!

Grandma's Birthday and Julian

Happy birthday Grandma!!! To celebrate Grandma's b-day we took a little day trip to Julian today. Set high in the mountains above Ashley's college town, Julian was packed with lots of earthy people and their canine companions on the search for the perfect apple pie - just like us. Well we found it...and thinking we were really clever Grandma and I decided to split 1 apple and 1 boysenberry-apple pie so we could take half of each home with us. Welllllll, the guys didn't think we were so clever, but Pa did a fabulous job splitting and transferring pies with a few plastic forks along the side of the road. Grace was much better than I anticipated with the long drive and she just loved having everyone in the car together. She was too cute walking along holding Ashley and Ryan's hands. It was a fun day but we're a little bummed the Yankees/Angels game was rained out. Oh well, here's to tomorrow night. Go Yankees!!

Here Kitty Kitty

Another first to report!! Tonight Grace had her face painted for the first time....and she chose a 'kitty cat'. I was so impressed that she liked it because I kept thinking she'd back out as soon as she sat down. Nana took us to Harvest Day at her church Mariners and it was incredible - a full blown carnival packed with games, rides, ponies, petting zoo, funnel cake and everything else you'd find at a local fair. A bunch of the ministry/therapy dogs were there to greet the kids and that was a definite highlight for Grace. She is such an animal lover. We are looking forward to Harvest Day at our church on Sunday.

Oh, and I had a nice encounter with a boa constrictor which is something you don't see everyday. We were watching a snake show and one of the snake charmer peeps asked me if I wanted to hold one. For someone who hates bugs, bees and spiders, for some reason I have no fear when it comes to the big snakes (the little ones still freak me out). So as Grace had a first, I had a second. My first boa-constrictor-holding experience happened about 6 years ago in Bangkok Thailand. I thought I'd post both pics here to show the difference..and similarity I suppose.

The Pumpkin Phantom...

...came to visit us last night. He left Grace bag full of goodies and a cute little pumpkin. Mommy let Grace have too much candy so she preceded to run circles around our family room for at least 30 minutes. Daddy warned me that might happen, but hey, I'm a softy.

Uncle Jeff's Big Move

Uncle Jeff and his girlfriend Trina are off to Bozeman, MT!! They decided to embark on a fun new adventure and move to the Big Sky Country. Although we will miss seeing them often, we're excited for this new opportunity for them, and we can't wait to come visit next year once the big freeze melts away :)

Luv These 2

Pretend City

Driving around town
Setting the table and talking on the phone (like mommy?)

Playing with dolls & counting money for the grocery store

Yeah, a fun new place for kids in Irvine!! Pretend City. Today was my first visit to Pretend City which is an awesome hands-on pretend city/museum for kids. It has everything from a grocery store to a doctor's office to an arts & crafts room...to a stage and dress up area. How perfect for preschoolers. Grace has already been there twice with Nana so she was able to show me the ropes today :) We met up with my new friend from church, Christina, and two of her three adorable little girls. Here's Grace and Aliyah having some real fun.