Recovering (and Lessons Learned)

As it seems to be in many other places, this year, Halloween was celebrated last night instead of today. Both the city and post designated official trick-or-treating times. We had originally planned to go on post, but after a long day of waiting, suddenly it was getting dark, the doorbell was ringing, and none of us were ready. So we threw on costumes and went out in our own neighborhood.

Bean Dip was Anakin Skywalker. And at the first house, the guy correctly guessed who he was (we got a lot of "Lukes" later on). He was right too, with Bean Dip's current shaggy hairstyle, he really looks like him. We did a couple streets and walked down the big hill to more houses, and soon after, Bean Dip started saying he was ready to go home. Meanwhile, Baby G, who cried when I dressed her in a ballerina outfit that morning, and then cried some more when I put her in a bear costume before we left, was having a ball in her stroller with Bunny. But it was fine, I gave little Anakin a piggy back ride home, and then we indulged in the long awaited candy. Even G got to have a sucker.

And then, after the sugar kicked in, we loaded up and drove over to Rocky's house for his annual Halloween party. We had to go, it is his favorite holiday, his costume was top secret, and his wife had been working on it for two months. He was the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp style). He had special contacts in, fake eyelashes, the works. It was really amazing.

We got to see a few other costumes before BD crashed, and then it was time to go. One guy was a pirate, complete with a crutch and wooden leg. And another guy was Captain America -- a costume that involved 5 hours of latex paint painting and red rubber boots. We missed Pat's Blue Ribbon beer can costume, but I'm sure it was pretty awesome.

So today we are recovering. As luck would have it, BD woke up yesterday with a cold. On top of that, he was so excited he absolutely refused to take a nap or even have some quiet time, so of course he was exhausted by the time the fun started. Next year we will have mandatory quiet time.

Also, we only stayed at the part for about an hour. The kids go to bed pretty regularly at 7:30-8 p.m., which is great. However, that also means they cannot hang when we have a night out. Both were yawning and rubbing their eyes the whole time. Oh, well. We still had fun, and no one's costume was scary this year.

Fun with Knives

Happy Halloween!

Jake

On Wednesday, Win "met" Jake. Well, to be more accurate, he did a fly-by of Jake during training.

So who is Jake? Jake is a giant alligator that lives in a backwoods swamp somewhere near a remote training area. I guess he has been around for years, and all the instructors know him. Someone saw him out, and the chatter on the radio when up, and everyone was saying, "Jake's out! Jake's out!"

Win said Jake was massive. He said he looked monstrous even from 300 feet up. I think it's crazy that there are monster alligators just hanging out in the wilds not too far from us.

Pumpkin Picking

Last Sunday, with Doc and Caroline, we ventured out into the Alabama countryside to a pumpkin patch. The farm was the place to be -- cars were lined up in the fields and crowds surrounded the pretty little farmhouse. There was a corn maze, which we ventured into at the request of Bean Dip. It was hot and dusty, but he found the way back out. We visited the farm animals, watched Bean Dip play on the bounce house slide (this was the first time he climbed up himself, and I didn't have to help him), took a tractor "train" ride, and browsed the market area. After the train ride, we decided we didn't need a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch, and we chose a pumpkin from the bins. Bean Dip, of course, went for the largest one. Baby G picked out a pretty little green and white pumpkin.


On Tuesday, Bean Dip had a field trip to the commissary to pick out a pumpkin. He picked one out, but then informed his teacher he didn't want one, because we already had one. So I told him to give it to Baby G. He did, unceremoniously dropping it into her lap in the stroller. He perked up a bit when they got surprise treat bags from the commissary lady.

Guess ...

... what this is ...

It's giant. And super cool.

It's not just any helicopter, it's a sky crane.

One of the perks of being at the helicopter training center ... the Aviation Museum and seeing helicopters up close. (Top two photos by Bean Dip.)

We had a great weekend last week with some visitors: Win's dad and his youngest sister. We showed them the top sites in the area, namely, the Aviation Museum. The kids always love it, and Bean Dip liked telling Doc all the things he knows about helicopters. We also went to our favorite place ("That place we always go, with the games," according to Bean Dip), Beef'o'Brady's. We watch Alabama football and then went out for ice cream after. Baby G choose the Dark Chocolate Truffle and loved it. She even let me have some.

The Last Taps

The morning of my last real post, Oct. 7, I received a phone call from my mom. A phone call I wasn't expecting. And so, instead of my parents coming down for the weekend, I packed up the kids and drove north for the funeral of my grandfather.

I don't really know what to say. Papa was a wonderful, amazing man. I miss him everyday. He had a beautiful funeral, and it was comforting to have all the family together (Minus Win, stupid flight school. But I know Papa understands.). The kids went to everything with me -- the visitation, the funeral Mass, and the burial. I think having the kids running around reminded everyone that life goes on.

On another sad note, my parents' dog, Rudy, died the week after we were home in August. He is buried on the Farm, overlooking the lake. I had explained to Bean Dip that Rudy had died, and when we got home, my mom showed him where he was buried. I think it helped prepare Bean Dip for Papa's funeral.

On a lighter note, I had explained to Bean Dip that when you die, we bury your body, but your soul goes to heaven. So BD kept asking if Papa was in heaven, but he calls heaven, "Kevin." So he'd say, "Is Papa going to Kevin?"

Bunny Wearing

Getting Schooled

I have been having problems lately. I have been messing up two things I never mess up -- cooking rice and hard boiling eggs. Two things, so simple, and yet, they keep ending up undercooked.

I haven't been doing anything different. At least, I don't think I have. Yesterday, I got a tutorial on the egg front from the one whom I taught how to hard boil eggs. He has tweaked my recipe, and now he is the expert.

So, I'm using his recipe with success. And happily, both the kids will eat my perfectly cooked eggs. However. I don't think I was doing anything wrong. I don't think I'm losing my mind.

I'm blaming the back burner.

A Casual Weaning

So ... I think we might be done with nursing. Two weeks ago I cut her off from nursing at night, and since then we have been getting lots more sleep and only nursing at bedtime. The last couple nights we haven't even done that, so I guess that means we are finished. She is not interested anymore, and I've been forgetting to do it, too.

It's a little sad, but it is kind of nice, too. She is still cuddly as ever, and I kind of like having my body back to myself. I finally get to wear non-nursing clothes.

But it also means we are going through more milk than ever. This past weekend the Shoppette had a tent sale for alcohol, and Win said, "What we need is tent sale for milk." We go through about four gallons a week.

That's a lot of milk.