Pumpkins By Papa

John's Halloween Pumpkins for the boys.

Cox Farm

Another year, another visit to Cox Farm for their Fall Festival. I'd have to say i'm pretty disappointed that it was exactly the same as last year. On a positive note, Khai enjoyed himself much more than he did last year - no doubt because he is older. We'll most likely go again next year and most likely nothing will have changed except for Khai's age and ability to go on more rides..which likely will make it a good time overall. We spent a good four hours there - the weather was sunny and breezy - a huge difference from last years heat. Khai really enjoyed the big slides this year and was overly anxious to pick out his pumpkin at the end of the day. I'm not sure why, but he insisted that he get a small pumpkin, not a big one. We got three, which he planted right by his train tracks at home and had his trains circle around the "pumpkin patch". The corn maze was muddy and slack, we ventured into the vortex tunnel which scared the bejeezus out of Khai. We bought some local honey with the comb, we ate a huge bag of kettle corn, drank fresh cider, had hot dogs and nachos, checked out cows and pigs and roosters, stuck our faces in silly cut outs, and climbed thru hay mazes. Everyone was exhausted by the time we walked out of there and no doubt we all slept well.

More Cox Farm Pics: Click Here

Packages from Afar

Oh wonderful packages from our favorite Canadians, Cooper, Jen, and Nev. Every year we wait impatiently for what surprises will arrive in the Halloween/Birthday package and we are never disappointed. This years box was wonderful! Transformers, amazing soaps created by Nev, Khai's super cool Frankie tshirt, cars, candy, Diego Legos, Jack Skellington nightlight, stickers, coloring book, .... I could go on and on. I'd say the hit of the night for Khai was the Diego Lego backpack. For me, the soaps without a doubt. I could seriously eat them they smell SO good ( I have already licked one, no kidding). Thanks guys, so very, very much! We Love You!




Nothing beats getting presents when you least expect it. Especially when you think your birthday is all over and done with and the buildup to the big day has long passed and it'll be another full year until the excitement of YOU returns. We came home a full week after Khai's birthday to find a package sitting by the front door from none other than Zach, Auntie Trish, and James, filled with extra awesome goodies. Top gift hands down: Speed Racer cars. All the cars that Khai has wanted and we couldn't find here in VA. PERFECT!! This package definitely made Khai's day. A big, big thank you and lots of love to Zach, his Mommy and Daddy!

Two Weeks Left!!

Halloween is almost here!

Rainy Saturday

The weather has been cold and rain for a week now. Miserable. I don't mind the cold, but I hate, hate, hate the rain. And what's worse, a rainy weekend. I was hoping we could take Khai to the pumpkin patch this weekend but its far too wet. Instead we spent almost our entire day at Fair Oaks Mall. Khai and I met up with Kara (Khai's Godmother and one of my closest friends) at 10am and Khai immediately wanted to go to the play area. Within an hour, the madness began when the place was flooded with crazed, overly energetic kids who have been cooped up due to the rain. Far too much visual stimulation as Kara and I said several times.... Someone was constantly screaming, crying, pushing, falling, bumping. We saw these two kids roughly Khai's age, brothers I think, in an all out brawl. As in straight up beat down. Nuts!!
Khai had a blast though and towards the end, his best buddy from school, Zack, showed up with his Mommy and Daddy. Khai talks about Zack often and so he was quite happy to see him there. The boys ran around for a good hour or so before we left. Met up with John for lunch, where Khai had a huge meltdown over a chicken nugget, but was soon calmed thanks to yummy cinnamon pretzel sticks from Cinnabon. Mmmm. We spent the next few hours walking around the mall before calling it quits. The place was getting more and more crowded and we were feeling like zombies at that point. It was still pouring when we left and Khai passed out on the ride home, waking just in time to dive into the awesome workbench/tool set that Kara gave him as a birthday present today!! He LOVES it!! Thank you Kara!

2nd Parent/Teacher Conference

Today we had Khai's 2nd parent/teacher conference at the school. Awww. When did I start going to parent/teacher conferences?!!! It still is mind blowing. Khai is doing exceptionally well and is a smart boy, per Ms. Lily, his teacher. He got all check marks and is ready to move to the 3's room!! Yay big boy! I'm proud of you.

Three Years Old

With it being a long weekend and Khai's birthday not until Tuesday, we made this weekend a Khai Birthday Weekend. The festivities started Friday night with a little party at Mose and Sassy's house, with pizza and a Cars cake made by Papa, presents, balloons and streamers. Khai got some items from the Toy Story movie - Slinky the dog, Army men - along with a new tee-ball set and Cars race car. Somehow though, the major hit was a pocket tape measure of Sassy's. Go figure. Saturday was a big day for us all - the long awaited trip to the Western Maryland Railroad. Khai was going to get to ride on a real steam engine - a first time for all of us. We got up bright and early (more like dark and early) and left at 8am. Arrived at the station with only a few minutes to spare at 10:45am. The weather was prettty damp and cold but thankfully no rain. Train 734 pulled some 15 cars and was completely sold out. We found seats way in the back and enjoyed an hour ride into the Frostburg Depot, where we got off and spent 90 minutes hanging around town. Stopped off for some hot coffee and cocoa at the local coffee shop before heading back to our train car and heading back to our starting point.
Beautiful scenery. Friendly people waving along the way. The boys seemed to enjoy the trip, despite being restless (alot). We were all extremely tired by the time we got off the train but still had a 2 hour ride home. The boys fell asleep instantly in the car and for the first time in the entire day John and I had a little peace and quiet. Phew!! Pulled into the drive way at 8:30pm. It was a long, long day, but an enjoyable one. The boys got a few souveniers from the trip and hopefully the pictures and memories will be something the cherish for years to come.


Sunday was spent playing with Khai's new toys and resting. Monday was Khai's final birthday celebration, with presents and another home made cake by Papa. Khai requested a PINK Jack Skellington cake. Pink. Ok, pink it is. John did a pretty decent job on it and Khai was pleased, shoving his face right into the cake. He tore through the presents rapidly and I think he more so enjoyed that part of it all, versus the actual presents! Tuesday, Khai's actual birthday, we hung around the house, played with all the new toys - books, trains, Spongebob video games, Buzz Lightyear, playdough, stickers, Batman, movies and so on - and finally wound down for bedtime at the end of the day.


I think overall, Khai made out like a bandit per usual, and hopefully he had himself a good time. He insisted that yesterday was not his birthday seeing as we celebrated all the other days, but he knows that he is now officially three years old and a big boy. We are still working on the potty training and my hope is that once he moves to the 3's room, he'll be that much more encourage to soley use the potty and we can finally ditch the pull ups. Khai's crazed behavior is still ongoing - now I question if it was the Amoxycillin or what.. hard to say. The behavior started around that time.. I just thought by now it would pass. It hasn't. Its been rough on us all but we are working through it and I have confidence we'll be fine. Maybe this is just what being three is all about!

Birthday Photo Album: Click Here

Western Maryland Train Ride Pics: Click Here

Mess!

How does he make such a mess? Oh yes, he's three. I came home to this today. And this is just a small fragment of what he did...