Ol' St. Nick

In spite of the fact that Bridger is sick more often than not, I love the daycare we take him to. The teachers are all great and treat everyone like family. They're always coming up with original and thoughtful gifts for the kids and their families. I was so bummed that we ran out of time to take Bridger to see mall Santa, but apparently they had a little visit from Santa at daycare. They also made a silly ornament with a giant picture of his face on it. Too bad he never smiles for pictures, cause he's so dang cute when he does.

All is Quiet on the Homefront

Usually when all is quiet, you can count on Bridger being engaged in some nefarious behavior. This one is relatively harmless, just silly.

Helping Mom clean off the dirty dishes. As of late, he has been crawling into the dishwasher.

No TP roll in a 20 mile radius is safe. Please note how unaffected he is that I caught him in the act.

Tree Time

As soon as we got back from SD, we made use of our tree permits and chopped us down a pine. We only cut down a 7 1/2 footer, because we were a little worried that our precocious child would pull it down on his head. It is now situated in the formal room where it can be mostly out of his sight, mostly out of his mind.

Supercharged

Last, but not least...the reason for the season. On Sunday we went to the Chargers v. Broncos game. Chargers missed their field goal in OT and lost the game. Sucked, but it was a great game and we had a ton of fun. San Diego was a wonderful trip. We had an amazing hotel right at the Gaslamp, where we immersed ourselves in fine dining, shopping and sightseeing. One of my more favorite parts of the trip, was going around to each shop or building on the main drag and reading all the historical placards and getting stories from the locals about the earliest origins of these old buildings. Oh, the Broncos were also conveniently located at our hotel and there was mass fanfare upon their departure for the game. We wished them ill and departed our trip. Hope we can go again after the Chargers miraculously get into the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. :)

sAfArI

We also made a stop to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It was set up to mimic the African savanna. There was a huge variety of exotic animals and safari jeeps to take you in and amongst the wild animal kingdom. The park was originally built as a rehabilitation center for animals they were trying to breed, hence its vast open spaces and natural(ish) surroundings. Lots o fun.

Other Stuff

Went a ghost huntin' at the Whaley House, touted one of America's most haunted places. Story goes, Thomas Whaley purchased the property, which was originally the city gallows, even after he had seen numerous hangings occur there. Mrs. Whaley also committed suicide in the house and it is rumored that a neighbor child or two was mysteriously killed on the property.

Visited Old Town and it's restored mansions

Spent some time enjoying the sand and surf.

Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres

Also went to the Lyceum Theater and partook of the Great American Trailer Park Musical. Funny shiz.

DINNEYLAND!

As I mentioned, Kelly and I headed off to sunny San Diego for the Thanksgiving holiday, forsaking the boy and enjoying a rousing day at Disneyland and California Adventures. Amazingly enough, we were the ONLY people in line for Splash Mountain. I understood why when I was soaked through for hours in the not so very warm California weather. It was cold, very cold. We tried on 3 occasions to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, but it kept breaking down. Finally, on the fourth attempt, we were able to get on....and it broke down again. We were stuck in the dark with the sounds of bayou crickets, soft banjo music and screaming babies, while kitchy animatronics loomed above for 20 minutes. Pretty sure we got our money's worth out of that one. I heart Disneyland and can't wait until Bridger is old enough to enjoy the rides.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, Kelly and I jetted off to sunny Cali-for-ni-a yet again, but not before we had the clan over for an early Thanksgiving feast.

Bridger noshing on deeelicious sweet taters.

And having some quality time with aunt Nae. So many things to be thankful for... where to even start. I am thankful for my beautiful, hilarious son, my amazing husband, who also doubles as the world's best dad, stable jobs, supportive family, a warm roof, and especially babysitters who are willing to watch this monkey for a whole week over the holidays. :)

Museo

After my firm retreat in Midway this year, the clan all got our Christmas tree permits and Kathy and Dennis were kind enough to share with us some of their tickets to the new Natural History Museum at the U. Bailey's helped move the exhibits, so we got the behind the scenes tour, where we could see the new state of the art storage facilities, research labs and specimen processing & storage facilities. I thought their collection of dinosaurs boasted several interesting varieties and I was impressed. We enjoyed it and there were a ton of kid friendly activities. I would recommend.

Howler-een

Halloween was fairly uneventful this year, in spite of the fact it was Bridger's first. He dressed as a monkey of the albino variety. We traveled to about two houses, visited the neighbors and thier kids and let him have his way with his candy while Grandma and Grandpa played with him. Next year, I imagine he'll be a little more into it. This year it was a little lost on him. We did attend a Halloween parade at Kelly's work and he got lots of candy, most of which, I enjoyed.

The Age of Defiance

How to classify this age. Sometimes it just feels like wanton disobedience, but at the same time, I celebrate his new found independence. This boy gets in more trouble...
Feeding time is for chumps. He can clearly do it better. I wash my hands of this.

Diaper changing time is a nightmare. No sooner do I get him out of his diaper, does he squirm around and crawl away, laughing all the while I idiotically chase him around the couch. Pajama time is unpleasant at best at brings tremendous tantrums and alligator tears.

We switched from the tooth washing cloth to an actual toothbrush and of course he can do that better too. Actually, he's pretty good at it.

Did I mention he's into every little thing? Everything. Literally. He especially loves baskets of unfolded laundry. Curtains. TV stands. Cupboards. Drawers. AND I caught him eyeballing the toilet the other day. Joy.

Golden Afternoon

There's something about the smell of decomposing plant matter and the crisp cool breath of fresh air that makes me soooo happy it's autumn. We went up to Snowbasin for a stroll yesterday to take in the beautiful fall colors and enjoy the sunshine. After which, Bridger stuffed his face full of beans and made a complete disaster of himself.

Last Days

This past weekend we received a long overdue visit from Leslie, Fraser, Ellie and Thomas. We decided to spend it at the goose park enjoying the last remaining days of good weather. Bridger is still not sold on playground equipment, but he's slowly warming up to it. His brand of entertainment involves seeing which small spaces he can cram his entire body into ie) the tv stand and locating and unplugging every cord in the house. It was wonderful to see you guys. We need to plan an adults only getaway soon!

Cornbelly's

There is nothing I won't do for a good coupon. For $2 off the price of admission, I will spend $20 in gas to drive 100 miles out of my way, $4 on a cowboy hat that Bridger will have destroyed and eaten in a week and $3 on face paint that left a ridiculous black ring around the bathtub, the likes of which took 20 minutes to scour. I will not, however, go to their pumpkin patch and spend $4 on a pumpkin the size of my fist. Because honestly, there are just some things I won't do.


Ride 'em cowboy!

The fields are ripe for harvest

Bridger held so still while getting his face painted. The lady said he was her very best customer.

He didn't even know how stinkin' cute he looked.

Perusing the maze of maize. I remember these being a lot more fun when I was in Jr. High and High School.

Deer Widow's Weekend

This year was spent crafting with Kathy and Sheryl. I attempted this very homespun yarn wreath from some cute ideas I got from Etsy. Took HOURS to wrap. I've got my eye on some suuuper cute Christmas patterns.

32?!

Congrats my love, you are now Germanium on the periodic table! Germanium has a melting point of 937.4°C, boiling point of 2830°C, specific gravity of 5.323 (25° C), with valences of 2 and 4. In pure form, the element is a grayish white metalloid. It is crystalline and brittle and retains its luster in air. Germanium and its oxide are transparent to infrared light. Also, in case you were wondering, leeches have 32 brains, Baskin Robbins still has the 32 best flavors in the world, and 32 is still the smallest non-trivial 5th power! This year, I made Kelly and Bridger matching Chargers blankets for Kelly's birthday. Kelly also got 2 tickets to the Chargers/Broncos game in San Diego over Thanksgiving, so he can bring his very most favorite person on earth...moi. Happy Birthday love, sorry this post is so late.