Where Do I Start...

Where do I start? So much has happened since the last post. Well, I guess an update on the pumpkins is in order. We gutted them, as is the custom, and carved faces in them. Desmond wasn't much help.

The photo is of Desmond communicating to me that he would rather not participate due to the fact that it requires getting his hands dirty. Desmond, you see, does not care for anything that gets his hands dirty. He's very adamant on this point; even to the extent that he insists on having his own napkin at meals to keep his 'ands (as he calls them) clean. So, anyway, Pops cleaned D's pumpkin. Overall, D was not impressed with this seasonal tradition. Likely he got bored, but he was pretty whiny. Accordingly, Desmond's pumpkin's face included a carved tear to accurately depict the event.
You can't really see the tear in the photo above, but the pumpkins are Jen's, D's, and Pop's from left to right.

Let's see, what else...

Desmond's Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle and Aunt from Nebraska came for a weekend visit a couple weeks ago. It was very fun. There was no specific occasion, just a nice leisurely visit; those sort of visits are the best because there is no real time schedule or obligations. So we just found fun things to do. For instance, on Saturday afternoon we took D to a Halloween fair that was on the WSU campus. Of course, the kids were all in their costumes (Desmond included), and they had lots of stuff to do. The petting zoo was D's clear favorite, but there was also pumpkin painting, games, and inflatable jumping thingys. It was all pretty cool, but they were playing music really loud, and that was pretty unnerving. We stayed there long enough to check everything out, and Desmond had a pretty good time, but he could have been a year or two older to get full enjoyment out of the event.

Also with our visitors, we had some good meals, and Jen took us to show us her office at work. We were all very impressed. On Sunday the boys took the motorcycle and the 3-wheeler to the track while the girls went shopping. Clearly the boys had more fun; everyone got to take turns on the tracks, and Desmond got to be pulled around in his wagon to watch. I've started taking D's wagon to the track when we go and he loves it.

After the visitors left we went to another Halloween fair at Jen's church. Here's a photo of me and Desmond as we were waiting for the festivities to begin.

After the meal, and some pie-eating contests, everyone went out to the parking lot for trick-or-treating. Everyone that came had decorated the truck of their car and when the kids came around to see, candy was passed out. Desmond took to passing out candy with vigor...even giving kids two or three pieces because he enjoyed it so much.

A few days later was the actual Halloween. We dressed Desmond and Kevin in their costumes (both spiders), and went to the neighbors' houses early in the night. D was kind of pissy...he didn't really want to be in his costume, and didn't really see the point of it all. We went home. And then the kids started to come to our house...and it all started to click for D! He managed to figure out what candy was, and that it was his for the taking door-to-door! He insisted that we go out for a second round, so just he and I went to several more of the neighborhood houses. He thought this was fan-freaking-tastic! And when we got home took stock of his booty...

If you look closely, you can see that D is sprinkling the contents of a pixie stick that he managed to break open. He didn't understand that rather than some sort of magic pixie dust it is essentially pure sugar, and I wasn't going to clarify that for him so close to bedtime. So Halloween was fun, and Desmond spent the next several days sorting and re-sorting his candy for fun.

This weekend Desmond and I met up with a friend of mine from work who was out flying some of his kites. He had many, and even let me fly a few. They are all much more sophisticated than your everyday kite, and lots of fun to fly. One that he let me fly was very big and looked like a parachute. When the wind would hit it right, the kite would pull very, very hard, and pull you across the field. It was kinda scary at first. Anyway, I posted some video of the kites HERE and HERE if anyone cares to watch. I was surprised at how closely Desmond would watch the kites and how they would move in the air. I guess I figured that he would get bored quickly, but that was not the case.

Here's a photo of what Desmond wants for Christmas:
...but seriously, no one buy this sort of thing for him.

Finally, an announcement: Jen's having a girl.