The night Max wore his wolf suit

Happy Halloween! For the first time, we completed a full circuit of the neighborhood - even through some spitting rain. Both boys did great at knocking on doors and ringing doorbells. About half of Z's candy collection ended up getting placed into O's bag; I'm not sure if he was self-selecting the candy he didn't want or if he didn't want his bag getting too heavy. Anyway, Z was even a minor celebrity: at school today, they had a parade of costumed kids, and many other parents (not us; Z tends to get concerned when he sees us at school if it isn't the end of the school day) had attended -- several adults and kids alike from the neighborhood recognized him during the evening trick or treating. A little first grade girl who apparently sits near him at lunch even helped her mom open the door at one house, she was very cute in recognizing and asking about him.


Both the boys' costumes were excellent, and I thought Meh's Mary Poppins outfit was great (even though she was bummed she couldn't find an appropriate umbrella). My own Bert (the Mary Poppins one, not Sesame Street) was basically a vest and a derby, and with the jacket on, mildly indistinguishable from being dressed as a parent taking his kids trick or treating), but it was great fun all around.

And Z's mind was mildly blown when we went to our backyard-adjacent neighbors' house: as we learned a few weeks ago, Z's kindergarten teacher's parents live there -- and his teacher grew up there and went to his same elementary school! When we got to their door and knocked, who should answer but Ms. H! Meh and O were invited in for a quick visit to our-house- through-the-looking-glass (aka same construction/layout but without some of the more "interesting" modifications subsequent owners have made to our house) while Z elected to continue to practice his "trick or treating!" (yes, with the '-ing') on the porch. We wrapped up the night back at our house, where each boy was entitled to one piece of candy before bath time, and before the older trick-or-treaters started making their own rounds of the neighborhood.

Class Photo

I really don't think words are even necessary on this post -- except to indicate the excellent outfit Meh had originally intended for this summer's Baltimore wedding has finally gotten worn and captured on film.

Northwest Correspondent

San Francisco has been a nice trip thus far, though we of course miss the boys a ton. We did get to get several kid fixes: we got to visit with friends A and E with their cute kids (they just moved here from Atlanta) on the day we arrived, and Meh visited friend S and her kids I and E (they just moved here from our neck of the woods) the next day in Sunnyvale (which she kept calling Sunnydale, to many teasing Buffy references from me). We've also gotten to do a small amount of exploring, including a nice walk along Lands End that featured multiple fly-bys by synchronized fighter jets (barely visible in the top right of the picture). Of course there's also been the prerequisite shopping and much tasty food (mostly of the excellent breakfast/brunch variety)

-- my favorite was actually a spot that I must've been near dozens of times but had never realized existed before, a fabulous place serving no less than seven kinds of formal tea service. I had Moorish service and Meh enjoyed the Russian -- which included a trip to the eponymous samovar for an orientation on mixing proper zavarka. Our favorite meal thus far.

Mima has continued an excellent tradition of sending us daily correspondences of her adventures with the boys. I always look forward to them, though I'm also a bit sad when I see some of them timestamped before 6 am -- thank you again so so much, mima, papa, and Uncle J! Highlights from the first few days:

O: Which is your favorite cup?
Mima: The green one, I like green and the princess one.
O: Mommy likes the princess one.
Mima: That is because she is a princess.
O: No, she is a womans.

[At Target] O spotted Cars Slippers, only 2 pair left and they happened to be their sizes. Small battle getting O to put his shoes back on to come home.

Zachary's idea of a fun game, pulling off Uncle Josh's hat

O and I had Sushi in Bothell; after 2.5 cucumber rolls he came home and slept for 2.5 hours. He asked for the leftover sushi for dinner but tried it and told me that "it isn't delicious anymore".

Making pancakes at 5 am - reasonable
Making pasta at 7 am - not

Nailed It / Halloween Preview

We got a fingernail scrubber brush months ago. Occasionally one or both of the boys thought it was funny to put in their mouths, or to use to brush their hair. We of course use it to clean fingers that seem to get impossibly dirty considering they're not playing in the mud or anything. O decided it was time to test this contraption's correct use out, and we now have a young manicurist in the family.

The boys' Halloween costumes are all picked out (and Meh has impressively slaved away at custom creations for both boys) -- but no, these aren't them! The approach of Halloween, in addition to getting both boys talking about going trick or treating and getting candy, has got O even more into costumes and playacting than previously. Here's one that's a particular favorite with the boys' newfound discovery (and now love) of Toy Story's cowboy, Woody. Draw, pardner!

Later this week, Meh and I will be taking a short trip down the coast where I've got two conferences to present at. We're looking forward to a mostly quiet few days to recharge and visit a few local friends in between my work activities. Mima, Papa, and Uncle J will be keeping the boys company - as always a huge thanks and we're so lucky to have such supportive family!

Can I take your order

Several firsts today when mima and I took the boys out to lunch after a trip to the local park:

1. Owen ordered his entire meal by himself, directly engaging with the server. He was very cute in specifying "grilled cheese with french fries", [and to drink?] "a milkshake", [what flavor?] "vanilla". We just have to work a bit more on the please and thank you's, but go O!

2. More tremendously, both boys cleared their plates! This is huge; Z hadn't even taken more than a bite on previous occasions, but we found the magic menu option of straight up spaghetti noodles, and he was delighted to twirl them on his fork (mima helped) and wolf them all down. Tremendous! O was also impressive in polishing off his entire grilled cheese sandwich and all of the fries (except one or two that were "for daddy").