Maryland Grandparents Visit Chicago

Benjamin has seen so much grandparent love this past month. Lucky boy! Good thing, because when he opens the family photo album I made him of all the people who love him, he always stops at the pages with both his grandmas and does a little whiney grunt like where are they? It's adorably pathetic and totally sad. Benjamin wishes his grandparents were closer, too.

But, he is quite a lucky boy to see them as frequently as he does! Benjamin's Maryland grandparents were here for a long weekend and we not only got another date night without the bambino (praise JESUS and thank you Thai restaurant for some of the best Thai we've ever had!), but Benjamin got lots of quality time pulling his grandparents wherever he wanted all weekend long. Kid heaven.

We visited Fermilab out in Batavia, IL and an awesome pumpkin patch where we pet lots of animals, ate lots of delicious fried delicacies like cider and pumpkin donuts and funnel cake, went for B's third hayride on a "kuck" which is really a tractor (he loves them) and picked pumpkins that we later carved and made pumpkin seeds from. We also suited Benjamin up in his scarecrow costume for the first (of three) times for our church's trunk'n'treat and pumpkin drop where Benjamin (and his grandpa) scored some treats and checked out some cool decorated trunks.

At Abbey Farms. This child loves petting zoos and anything he can hang from.

At Fermilab and back at home carving pumpkins. His face says it all-- he was not sticking his hand in the gooey pumpkin and happily directed us to put the contents in a bowl. This kiddo is not a fan of getting his hands covered in anything.

More photos from the Farm. They had old Radio Flyers and Benjamin enjoyed being toted around in them.

A mix of park pictures and the trunk'n'treat. More hanging from things-- these ziplines are a serious favorite.

Our adorable scarecrow, his grandparents, and our friend's daughter in that last photo. She's part of a train that her brother chose and designed.

And here are photos of the seeds we made (soy sauce/olive oil & butter/cinnamon/sugar) and the pumpkins Benjamin's grandpa and dad carved out for him! He also discovered the treats Mom pulled out for the trick-or-treaters when he woke from his nap on Halloween and promptly figured a way to get himself one of those "deets" and repeated the word for HOURS. He was sad when the trick-or-treaters knocked on the door and then promptly left. He loves people and doesn't like it when people go "bye-bye".

...and with that... Halloween is complete. Now what to do with those two rotting pumpkins on our doorstep...

Dia de los Muertos

I started seeing posts here and there about Dia de los Muertos {Day of the Dead} through blogland and it got me thinking. It takes place November 1 & 2 each year and is a celebration to honor the dead loves ones who have passed on.

Long before Andrew died, I was familiar with this holiday. I was introduced to it back in high school during the fall when Halloween rolled around, but in reality, it has nothing to do with the "holiday" of Halloween that we celebrate which decorates with dark colors, skeletons, and gore. The Spanish holiday is a celebration of people. Not scary people, but people who are loved and remembered.

In college, I shot a news story down near Union Station in Los Angeles at Olvera Street. This street is an outdoor Mexican marketplace with vendors covering narrow brick paths. They also have some interior rooms converted to museums about the Spanish culture and their rich history in Los Angeles. During October and November, they house a big exhibit on Dia de los Muertos. I remember interviewing people and cutting a story all about recognizing and celebrating the lives of very important people that I did not know. Who knew I'd be 28 years old and experience the heartbreak of losing my very own special loved one.

It's a colorful holiday-- one that is decorated well with vibrantly painted skulls, beautiful Papel picado, and hoards of food. It's a birthday party for the dead.

Having a loved one I miss terribly out there, it was only fitting to recognize him today in my own little ceremony of Dia de los Muertos by creating a craft with Benjamin and celebrating with a bit of a Mexican feast in honor of his brother who should be turning 3 years old next month.

Benjamin's contribution was the top blue. I helped adjust the scissors and there were two cuts. Then he was over it.

We'll probably have tostadas tonight to celebrate our boy and maybe get wild and crazy with some virgin margaritas. Thinking of many, many loved ones today and tomorrow and celebrating.

Our Little Scarecrow...

...wishes you a very safe {and apparently serious} Halloween.

This kid is very uncertain about Halloween in general. He has been around two years of the shenanigans and he's still not buying the whole process. Remember last year? We had ourselves an angry lion. He's quite the trooper with this year's costume, however. We've done two events while wearing the costume and he'll be wearing it this evening for a final wear before all the patches fall off. For $2 and a little naptime crafting, I'd say this one was a winner.

Palm Desert, CA Trip

Well, this was already three weeks ago, but here are some photos! The husband had a business conference in Palm Desert, which is about 2 hours from where my parents live in Southern California. We flew out a day early to spend time with my parents and then we were off to Palm Desert the next day for the rest of the weekend. My parents joined us out there and we had a great time exploring the area.

The conference kept Ray quite busy, so Benjamin and I were with my parents most of the time during our Palm Desert stay. Luckily, we had a nice hotel room and an enormous hotel area to roam about. We also explored the Living Desert (zoo), a large Farmer's Market at the local college, ate lots of delicious food I miss so much and took advantage of some hotel perks.

Before heading to Palm Desert during Benjamin's naptime (he's a great car sleeper), we visited Grandpa at work and got to go in a "kuck!" Basically the highlight of Benjamin's life right there.

The Living Desert was fun to visit and we each were able to feed a real, live giraffe! My dad shot a video of the feeding, too.

Our hotel had boats that took you out into the marina area and we went on that a few times. Lots of shoulder rides from grandpa.

We played some mini golf at our hotel, rode the boat with Dad when he was off work for the weekend and did a little swimming before heading back to LA to catch our flight.

Another California trip down. Another couple plane flights on the books. I really wish I would've kept track of all Benjamin's traveling... would've been cool to count up the hours and note that in his journal. Our next flight will be in 1.5 weeks! We're off to Puerto Rico for what will be Benjamin's final flight as a kid under 2 (otherwise known as his last free flight). Traveling will be a lot less frequent now that our plane costs are increasing 33%. Gulp.

Broke & Yuck

Two of Benjamin’s favorite words right now are broke and yuck. He intentionally chooses to break things just so he can say the word broke.

I bet you can imagine just how fun that it is for us. I recently posted on IG that I bought Benjamin some of those Halloween window clings from the Target dollar spot. I broke them out after naptime that day and He was smitten. The skeleton heads and spiders all took a ride in his hand-me-down blue truck from his Dad’s childhood toys. He loves that truck. He also loves the word truck and says it loudly and excitedly when playing with one of his trucks.

Once they were done taking a ride in the truck, I found the window clings on many different windows over the course of a few days. He moved them, toted them, and took them for rides.

The mail arrived one day last week and his CA grandparents sent him a Halloween package with his first magazine subscription (so advanced!) to Highlights and a few fun Halloween items. One being more window clings. This time, pumpkins. I opened the package and gave them to him right away.

Within a minute, he pulled the face apart on one of them, brought it to me and told me it was broke. I don’t think he meant to, but now he learned that he could and was determined to make sure the others were put to the same quality tests. One-by-one, each pumpkin gel cling earned its death sentence. I stuck them up high on the glass sliding doors on ones that weren't too far gone. Each day he points and tells me they are broke, like he has no idea how that happened. Just like the books he manages to ruin on a regular basis. He calls those broke, too.

Another favorite word? Yuck. Usually pronounced uck.

I’ll randomly catch him pulling out the garbage drawer in our kitchen, proclaiming something is yuck and then dropping it into the trash. We’ve had a variety of things found in the trashcan recently: Sharpie markers, food he didn’t want, plastic teacups from his play kitchen and random containers for Playdough and other toys.

This kid.

p.s. Who knew so many of you would purchase a second crib (and who knew so few of you cared about the tree in the middle of our deck. Hah! I get it, I'm no DIY blogger...taking the hint)! I'd say 75% commented on my last post that you'd buy an additional crib. You people love your sleep. I recently lost understanding of what sleep is like because pregnancy insomnia has struck once again...dum...dum...dum. Will keep you posted on our progress/decisions!