abc's updated

pedal, pedal!

Owen and Richard have an agreement that Owen has to wear his helmet outside, but can ride in the garage without it. Since Owen hates his helmet, he only rides in the garage, and this weekend he really did a great job pedaling from one side to the other. I captured this pass- not his best one, but he's not thrilled about the camera, so I get what I get.

but he doesn't like halloween

Halloween turned out to be a tough holiday for Owen. We usually get friends together to carve pumpkins before Halloween, but we ran short on time, everyone seemed to be sick, and Owen is apparently afraid of carved pumpkins. Owen would not let us carve the pumpkins- he was OK with us scooping out one, but he screamed and cried when we got ready to carve a face. He painted on one, and we left the others "natural."

We have been trying for a month to convince Owen to put on his Halloween costume. Both Owen and Richard were going to be Elvis this year (actually, we were all 3 going to be Elvi, but we ran out of time and inspiration and energy). Last year we had an issue getting Owen into his monkey costume, but after forcing it on him through tears, he ended up loving it. I had assumed he'd outgrow that issue by this year. Instead, he has just grown bigger and stronger and more stubborn and WOULD NOT try on his blue jumpsuit (with a cape, gold details, and gold sunglasses- sideburns attached). On Halloween afternoon Richard gave a big effort- when Owen got home from day care, Richard was there, in his Elvis jumpsuit, with Elvis playing on TV. But it didn't work. Owen would not put on his costume.

So we went to the playground instead, and took a nice walk together and later Laurel came over to trick or treat at our house. She was a very cute butterfly, and became a flying monkey girl when she tried on Owen's costume from last year.

Maybe Owen's costume will still fit next year, or maybe Laurel will want to be a flying Elvis.

i've BEND to london

So all week we've told Owen that we are going to go to Bend this weekend, and he kept reciting the line "I've been to London to visit the Queen." (It's a line from a nursery rhyme.) We tried to understand why Owen thought Bend sounded like London, then we realized it was "been to".

Anyway, we went to Bend this weekend, on our annual Anniversary trip, this time bringing a miniature chaperon with us. It wasn't a romantic weekend, but a fun family get away. Bend is on the other side of the Cascades from Corvallis- about a 2.5 or 3 hour drive. We saw Tumalo Falls, went to a great museum, drove up Pilot Butte, and walked around town. Owen said that his favorite part was the waterfall, though I suspect he also liked sleeping in a King bed together and watching TV in bed. The weather was crisp all weekend- a little too chilly this morning but perfect fall temperatures the rest of the time.

the view

Here's a couple of pictures of the view of Sisters from our porch. It has been a beautiful and clear couple of weeks, and it has been a nice treat to get to see Sisters. One is at sunrise (a small concession for having to get up so darn early now that I'm back to full time!).

san diego

We had an anxious week, listening to the news about the fires in San Diego. The area hardest hit was in Rancho Bernardo- where the HP site is located and where many of our friends and colleagues live. We kept reading emails and web sites- hoping to get word that everyone and all their houses were safe. Luckily, as far as we know today, everyone at HP appears to be safe and accounted for. Their houses are not so lucky. Several of our friends have lost everything. It is hard for us to internalize what they are going through right now- our thoughts are with them.

The first picture on this link below is Henry and Adriana D'Souza's house- our good friends who watched Owen when he was 6 months to 1 year. Their house actually didn't burn down.

http://www.pbase.com/ahuse/image/87701744

a walk on a perfect fall day