Let me tell you about...

... these two:
they are a dynamic duo. Only 20 months apart, they are the closest in age of any of my kids. Both highly imaginative, talkative, and just plain fun. I am enjoying having them both home this year (apart from preschool and playgroup). Although I probably field about 4,083 questions a day from the two of them. How come...? How come...? How come...? Why...? How...? Where...? How come...? How come...? How come...? They're totally in the question phase. Isabel is just enough older that Lucas is generally chill with letting her be the leader, and him the follower. They are buckets of fun together.

... eggplant. It is NOT good. Not even fried. Isabel said it smelled like an old stuffed animal and refused to even take a bite. So now we know. But it's still a pretty purple. :)

... how freakishly flexible my kiddos are. They can bend, twist and contort themselves into rather interesting positions. Veritable rubber bands, they are. I sometimes feel as though I'm living in a circus. What's really interesting is when they play frogs in a pond and leap around the house. Drives me insane. And then I go from feeling like I'm in a circus, to feeling like I'm in a pond.

... how much I'm having fun with my dessert of the month service. September's turned out so pretty! Delicate pear cake with caramel sauce (recipe courtesy Monique - thanks!). I didn't get a picture of the sauce, but as you slice the cake you drizzle each piece with a sinfully rich and amazing caramel sauce. Love how the papers I used for the September poem so fabulously match my Fall cake stand. Did you know I'm a girl of simple pleasures?
So what to do about October? Obviously something pumpkin, but pumpkin bars w/cream cheese frosting? Pumpkin delight? A pumpkin roll? Pumpkin cookie ice cream sandwiches? Pumpkin cheesecake?

Wild Times

Connor, Brian and Brian's dad attended an all-day event at a local state park on Saturday called "Wild Times." By all reports, it was an awesome day. They enjoyed five activity stations: nature and wildlife hike; fishing (which included making a bottle fish, and then the real thing); canoeing; rifle shooting; and bow-and-arrow shooting. Connor loves fishing and hiking, but had never shot a gun or bow and arrow. I grew up with a dad and brothers who hunt, but was a bit nervous about Connor and a gun. Fortunately, they had all the safety equipment and trained park rangers running the stations, and all went well. He loved it.

There were a lot of event sponsors, thus the entire day cost only $5/person. For that they got to do each activity, have lunch, enter prize drawings (Brian won a gift card to a sporting goods store) and take home a fishing pole. A deal of a day! And male bonding time, to boot. And they brought me some rainbow trout to cook up, yum!

The day in pictures-

There's nothing like...

... a pair of shoes that makes your heart leap with joy
...snuggling up in your favorite corner with a good book
...bringing home your very own eggplant from preschool, one that looks just like the eggplant on your very favorite pasta bowl, and searching for a recipe to make something with your new eggplant (you think I jest, but no). I've never actually had eggplant. I hope she's not disappointed. Because it's such a pretty, purple veggie

... living with your own, live superhero
... getting a Bumbo seat for $1. And being able to sit up and watch all the craziness that happens around you.

Changing of the leaves

After stake conference this morning, we headed to the mountains on a drive to look at the aspens in their stunning fall colors. We packed a picnic lunch of chicken salad sandwiches, apples, and homemade caramel corn, listened to hymns, and had a most lovely time. The sky... sapphires. The leaves...golds and burnt oranges and quaking ever so gently on the wind.

I thought it would be fun to try to get some fun fall pictures of the children, but - the clothing...partly left at home. Connor's and Lucas' eyes...swollen and itching (darn allergies) and making for some most grumpy boys (Lucas especially). The time of day...too mid-day and brightly sunlit, making sun-washed and sun-spotted pictures. So, I left with 2 bad shots of the kids, and several OK ones of Isabel, who was at least willing to post, albeit with her new chipmunk smile. Sigh. You win some, you lose some.

The eyes cleared after a while and we had a fun picnic lunch while the kids played squirrel family. Don't ask. And then Brian and I played photographer. I think we managed to get some pretty shots.

I left my heart...

It took about an hour for Brian to tell me he was traveling to the CU/Cal-Berkeley game, me convince him to let me and Mason tag along, find a (steal of a) ticket, and book it. Signed, sealed, delivered, San Francisco here we come! One of my favorite cities.

It was a very quick - but action packed - trip. But completely fabulous. Since we've both been there before, we just focused on seeing a few sights with our short window of time.

Day 1
Brian flew out at 6 a.m. and spent the entire day at the game in Berkeley. This left me alone to get all the children up, fed, dressed, packed up and out the door at 7:45 for the 40-minute drive to my brother and sis-in-law's (who watched the kids for 2 days/1 night). Then they drove Mason and I to the airport. I had a connection in SLC with a layover long enough to have lunch with my cute cousin Colleen. Was fun to see her and catch up on all kinds of family news, and for her to meet Mason.
I arrived in San Fran late in the afternoon, and spent the evening relaxing in the hotel. Let me just say now that Mason was a SUPER traveler pretty much the entire weekend. So yes, I really did get to relax, read and watch TV. And not clean up toys. Or make dinner. Or answer a bazillion questions. Or do laundry. Or drive anyone anywhere. Just relax. Heaven. Brian and I met up at the hotel that night.

Day 2
We got up early and shuttled to the airport, where we caught the Bart (train) to downtown. Here's Mason all ready to go-
Me and Mason on the Bart-

We caught a trolley to Pier 39, where we walked around and breakfasted on clam chowder in sourdough breadbowls at Boudins. Oh, serious yum!

We walked all around Fisherman's Wharf-
This seal had just caught a fish and was violently thrashing it against the water's surface. Very Nature-esque.

These are for my boys, who are all about "pirates, bad guys and danger" these days-Beautiful views of the spectacular Golden Gate Bridge-
and Alcatraz-
Mason at Fort Mason
Ghirardelli Square-

Brian and I loooooved having some alone time with Mason. Brian couldn't get enough of snuggling Mason; he was often lovin' on him-
I had my first ever In-N-Out burger (it was pretty good), while Brian revisited an old favorite-
Beautiful Lombard Street, the crookedest street in America. The homes in that area were amazing. A-maze-ing. And the views from Russian Hill... TDF. Yes, Brian pushed the stroller all the way up that hill.

We had a long, windy, cold wait for our cable car ride. We had to bundle a bit. Ohhhhh, that face!
The ride was definitely a highlight, a very neat experience. The views were incredible, I just loved it.

Our cable car operator was a bit interesting, certainly memorable. He was a tall, very built, Middle Eastern man with some of the most amazing light green eyes I have ever seen. With his turban he had to be 6 foot 5 or so. And he yelled loudly - in a very strong accent - at anyone who didn't hold on with 2 hands, or leaned too far to the outside, or leaned too far to the inside (as in my case, where I was twice scolded and he actually moved my head where he wanted it). When someone didn't abide by the rules, they got a stern, accented "you no follow rules, I TAKE YOU OFF!" Serious stuff. And then when we got off at our Chinatown stop, he leaned over to Brian and I, and in a very kind, not-so-accented voice, said, "take your time getting the stroller, and be careful with that baby." Totally threw us for a loop! We found it really hilarious.

Chinatown was also very interesting. Loved all the color and paper lanterns.

We ate dim sum for dinner at the Four Seas restaurant. Brian did not care for some of the stuff we ordered. I thought some was really tasty, some was OK. The dumpling texture takes some getting used to. I am really wind-blown and somewhat sunburned.
Speak no, see no, hear no... ;)

Had to get a palm tree shot-
Day 3
I really wanted to get to the coast, but we realized we just didn't have enough time, so we slept in ('til almost 9:00 - that NEVER happens. Thanks Mason!), and just relaxed for the morning before heading to the airport to catch flights. Thanks to Brian's mom for coming to our house to care for the kids the 2nd night.

We calculated that we walked at least 6 miles around the city, plus all the airport walking. Helped reduce the guilt from our meal splurges! It was a really quick trip, but a great chance for a quick getaway to a fabulous city. Brian and I love to travel, wish we could do it more. But I'll take what I can get. It was a perfect weekend.