A Night (ok, afternoon) at the Museum

Here's some fun from the zoo's really great playground which was a just short walk from our afternoon at the children's museum:

The girls caught a ride to the playground

We practiced our swinging skills

Brian took Bella to the tallest "mountain"

We had a great time at the Childrens' Museum; and since the girls have passes there, they knew all the best things to show us:

Brian had his arm checked by Dr. G

Melissa & Brian both climbed a two story climbing spiral at the center of the museum - there were some tight spots for the big kids to squeeze through!

Then we went grocery shopping

Off to the Bubble Room!

Hmmm, maybe the big kids had more fun in this room, but the girls definitely loved it!

Pics from our first few days

No troubles on our flight out this year - phew! Hopefully that's a sign of no issues all trip...

We look happy in these photos from the van, but it took a lot of negotiating to see who got to sit in the back seat with Melissa....

And we forgot how much FUN those rubber punching balloons could be!And Andy's so big now! Not a baby any more.

Birthday Boy Brian

Brian's birthday started with some gifts under the "birthday tree" (a tradition we started in California).
He opened gifts from Mel, family, and friends. (Awwww... somebody knows him pretty well - $ and a special spoon for a birthday gelato treat)
We ate dinner together with the parents and then dove into the tasty part of the night: Sue's cake (half chocolate/half white) with her special homemade frosting!
And a surprise assortment of Brian's favorite flavors from the Gelato Fiasco. (Why I thought we'd need THREE pints, I don't know.... but we didn't have a problem finishing those off the rest of the week :))

Happy Birthday Brian!

....gelato anyone?

How many trick or treaters does it take to win?

We had the families over for a Halloween dinner so everyone could see our costumed visitors last night, since none of them live in neighborhoods that appeal to trick or treaters.

So we stocked up the basket
and took guesses from everyone about how many trick-or-treaters we'd have. (We've kept a count the last two years.)

Then we ate, someone jumping up at each sound of little feet or the doorbell.


And at the end of the night the final count was: 116, and our winner was Joe with a guess of 105! You win all the leftover candy! (Please come pick it up soon. We are not responsible to any prize candy that goes "missing.")