Boys And Pumpkins

This year we decided to carve our pumpkins rather than do our usual pumpkin painting.  It was pretty fun.  First I cut and cleaned them out, then I let Dave get to work on his own while I sat down with the boys and had them both tell me exactly what they wanted their pumpkins to look like.  It worked out great, and I got a lot of yummy pumpkin seeds to roast since I opened 4 pumpkins instead of only 2!

 

 

Other Stuff That Happened Last September

On the anniversary of September 11, Dave had the special honor of being invited onto the field at Angel's Stadium as one of the heroes who would unfurl the flag for a ceremony before the start of the game.  I was so proud of him (and just a little jealous that he got to go down on the field!).  Lucky for me, though, one of Dave's buddies who was also chosen to hold the flag had already bought tickets for his whole family to watch the game and he let me have his since he was getting into the game for free.  I was really excited to get to watch him strut about in his uniform!

Coming onto the field (that's his friend walking next to him)

Getting ready...

Handsomest guy in the world up on the Jumbotron!

Aaaaaand FLAG!

It was a nice ceremony... even if I can't seem to recall who sang the National Anthem.  The sight of my hubby in uniform tends to make me forget anything else ;) 

Our next September event was pretty dang exciting (and somewhat patriotic), too!  We were so excited that the Space Shuttle Endeavour was going to pass by on its final flight.  I was disappointed that Jack was going to be at school during it and that I wouldn't get to share that amazing historical event with him, but Sam and I had picked out what we thought was a pretty great place to watch the shuttle from.  We headed to the park and waited up in the walkover for it.  

And we waited, and we waited and we waited.  Then Sam pulled out his "No pictures, please!" pose and we waited some more.

We played dodge-the-cars, we counted how many big trucks would honk their horns for us...

...we even met a stranger who had the same idea as us and unwillingly learned all about her family history until I couldn't wait any longer and I had to leave in order to get Sam some lunch before it was time to pick up Jack from school.  So I packed Sam up into the car and I had just set my camera down on the passenger seat and started my engine when I looked up and saw it flying towards LAX from Long Beach, exactly where it was supposed to be (though it was obviously behind schedule!).  It was pretty cool, and I was stoked that I saw it though I was bummed that it wasn't quite as close as I thought it would be and Sam missed it.  So I started driving and my phone rang... it was my mom telling me to look up.  I started by saying "I know, I just saw it!" and she said "NO! LOOK UP NOW!!!!" So I glanced towards the sky, and then glanced out my driver's side window and it was RIGHT THERE!!!  I told Sam to look and quickly pulled over and whipped out my camera!

I knew the plan was for it to fly over our city after Long Beach and before landing at LAX, but I hadn't realized that it was going to be making a U over our city before making a U over Disneyland (where Dave was that day) and then making three passes at LAX before finally landing!  It was pretty stinkin' awesome that it was visible 5 times from our area :)  Oh, and I didn't have to be disappointed that Jack missed the shuttle... when I got to his school the first thing he said was that he had seen a space shuttle flying on top of an airplane with two jets right by it!  Apparently the U turn was made right over Jack's school while all the kids were out at recess! He said everyone was screaming at it and he was so excited!  Both of my kids still talk about that shuttle and I'm so excited that we were able to witness that moment in history- the last flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour!

Our last September event ended up being a patriotic one as well.  Dave and I brought the boys to check out the USS Iowa, a battleship that had recently been anchored in San Pedro and opened for tours!  Dave and I were excited to see it and we knew the boys would be too.  We had a really great time!  

I couldn't help but transform the photos I took of the ship itself... I couldn't picture it any other way.  

 

I even transformed this photo I took of the phone by FDR's throne.  Classy, huh?

Here are some other fun photos from our day

 

 

 

 

And More Bad Luck!

Two days after Reed was born we got the call that the boat was finally ready to be picked up... a month after we dropped it off!  Dave quickly made some reservations and we dropped the boys off at my mom's and picked up my dad for a trip back up to Lake Nacimiento.  I was trying hard not to miss my boys too much, which was proving very difficult... especially since the birth of my nephew was making me crave time with my littles!  So, I decided to make the best of it and since I rarely don't have my kids with me I figured I could not only leave my big camera at home (I only brought my iPhone and my underwater camera), but I'd also take full advantage of not having to worry about Jack's allergies ;)

We headed straight to the boat shop to check things out and then immediately hopped on the road to the lake to test out the boat.  It seemed to be running well!  We were stoked and we immediately pulled out Dave's wakeboard and tossed him in the water.  

And during the first run, this happened:

Which really sucked.  And just totally figured, with the way our luck had been running.  So instead, Dave got to try out my board!

Then I got to go, and then dad got to go!

 

It was so nice to be able to use the boat again... we played around for about 2 hours until all of the sudden the boat died again.  We were having the same issues and we were not happy about it!  We immediately loaded the boat back onto the trailer and hopped on the road to take it back to the shop, where we were told that there was one last thing that they could try, but if that didn't work then they were stumped and would wash their hands of it!  Unfortunately they didn't have a computer for diagnostics, and we weren't going to leave the boat up there again anyway, so we had them change that one last part and then headed back to the lake.  Again.  It was seriously getting to the point that we could have driven that road blindfolded!  Anyway, we put the boat back on the lake and tried again, but we were still having the same problem.  LAME.  We decided to give up, so we put the boat back on the trailer and headed to our cabin, where Dave googled boat problems and places that we could take the boat while my dad and I decided to walk down the steps behind the cabin to swim in the lake.  It was beautiful, and we couldn't resist!

The view from our swim spot.

The trip wasn't entirely wasted, though... as I was reading my book on the balcony of the cabin I noticed a man on the balcony of the next cabin over who was alternating between taking pictures of something towards the lake and turning his head to try to get my attention. I stood up to let him know I saw him, and he very quietly told me to look at the tallest tree overhanging the lake.  So I did, and I was thrilled to see a bald eagle perched there!  I had never seen one in the wild before (not that I can remember, anyway)!

We had a pretty uneventful trip home, and I was so thrilled to see the boys and to bring baby Reed a souvenir that I just couldn't help buying for him.

And if you're wondering if we ever figured out what was wrong with the boat, well... not really.  We brought it to a local place, and they ran diagnostics and tests and they basically told us that they could not get the problem to duplicate and as far as they were concerned there isn't anything wrong with the boat!  Sooooo, it might work, but it also might not.  Their best guess was that there was air or water in the fuel line and that it has worked its way out.  So, I guess we'll see next time we get around to taking it out!  It's hard to plan a boat day when we don't know if the boat works, huh?

 

Pool Party Time!

We were so excited to get to go swimming with our friends!  Ang had recently moved and acquired pool access, so she planned a playdate at their pool!  A lot of our friends were able to come, and since Dave had just gotten home from a very long shift and we wanted to spend time with him, he came, too!  

Gotta love my underwater camera!

Ever the curious kid, Jack discovered that he could use the jet from the pool to squirt water through the pool noodle!  He got us pretty wet with that one!