It's the little things that go unnoticed......

Like the blatantly obvious black and white ad that screams "ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION" on the newspaper, right under where our 3-year-old proudly displays her Halloween pumpkin!

Yes, lesson learned. Next year I will be doing newspaper "screening" before taking pictures that will be forever in our scrapbooks!

A great day at the Pumpkin Patch!

Sunday was a beautiful October day, so we headed to Stony Creek Farms for our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch with the kids. We had a great day!

Like any day out, this one had no shortage of "Ava-isms". We used the bathrooms at the farm (thank goodness for kids being potty-trained, it is wonderful!). Since it is a rather old farm, there are no modern bathroom facilities, but they've done their best with what they have. They have a glorified "bathroom" that consists of several port-a-potties enclosed in a trailer, with a nice floor, lights, and sinks... so it really seems like a normal bathroom, except it is a little... uh... "rustic". Ava and I squeezed into a stall, and she whispered into my ear "Mommy... is this a little bit dirty?" And I tried to assure her it was fine. She has random episodes at places where the bathrooms are a little scary, and she will protest and not go, thus cutting our day short immediately, and I didn't want that to be the case this day. And then she (loudly) announced to everyone within earshot, "I think this is the horseys' potty!!"

Well, there you go. Kids don't sugar coat it!

Ava loved the haystack mountain!!

LOVED it!

Loved it so much, we could barely get her out of it!

And we caught our wagon for our hayride out to the Pumpkin Patch! Can you believe how big Aidan has gotten? This cool weather really snuck up on me (I'm not sure why... it IS October, but that is beside the point...) so in a pinch, I grabbed one of Ava's hooded sweatshirts for Aidan to wear. It is a size 18 months. And it fit Ava last year (at 2 1/2 years old). And now it fits Aidan.... at 9 months old. What happened to our baby?!

The kids having a very serious discussion on whether this was a good pumpkin to take home...

Looks like they'll take it!

And we're on our way back! How come the kids can never look at the camera at the same time? Never?! I think it is an unwritten law of childhood!

Viva, Las Vegas!!

We were lucky enough to be able to take a 4-day getaway this October, just the two of us - no kids! We haven't had any time away for the two of us since.... well, before we had Ava! So this was a much-appreciated opportunity for both of us - and we decided to head to Las Vegas!

After a long day of traveling, we finally made it! We stayed in the newly "modernized" West Wing, of the MGM Grand hotel. Very nice! Notice how Chris immediately peruses the room service menu!

Our very mod bathroom. And do you see that black rectangle on the bathroom mirror? Yes, that is a TV. Inside the mirror, paper thin. Yes, a TV. Because apparently while on vacation in Vegas, you must multi-task...

We had a little luck when it came to gambling - Chris scored a $450 win on a slot machine in the Bellagio! (Yes, I know you are not supposed to take pictures in casinos. I was quick about it!)

Friday night we went to see Blue Man Group at the Venetian. It was amazing!! It is indescribable, and a great show. The odd comedy starts as soon as you sit down in your seats... they passed around endless amounts of white tissue and instructed all show-goers to "dress" themselves in it. Here we are in our creations, waiting for the show to start!

A view of the Venetian's "Canal" complete with Gondolas .... Yes, this is all inside!! Beautiful!













Of course, doesn't everyone snap a "self-portrait" in front of the Canal? Here we are!












And we could not forget the kids. No visit to FAO Schwartz is complete without sporadic dancing on the life-size piano!!















We had a wonderful time! It was a whirlwind of a trip, but also just what we needed. A huge Thank you to our parents who helped make it possible!!