Halloween

Halloween in Iowa is a little different than the rest of the world (at least the world I know). Here they have a "Beggars' Night", which is the night or so before Halloween, where the actual trick-or-treating happens. I think this is to keep the little kids removed from the older kids Halloween parties. I don't know if that really helps any, it just creates confusion as all the towns possibly have trick-or-treating on different days, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, and I think some actually do it on Halloween, but that is the exception.
The other difference is that when kids go to the door, they have to tell a joke before they get candy. You get all types of jokes. Cole for instance is finally getting a sense of what defines humor. Last year he mainly took the first line and the punch line from different jokes and combined them, resulting in a confusing and really un-funny joke. He is doing better this year, and is able to recognize when things don't make sense. Regardless, my princess, cowboy on a horse, and Jedi got away with a good haul of candy. Even more, the weather was great, temps in the low 60s and very pleasant, for a Halloween!

Catching up

I wanted to put a couple of Kell's Soccer pictures up on the web. Here they are. The coach said he was the happiest boy on the team, he never got upset and was just happy to be bouncing around the field. And that is what he did. He didn't really follow the ball to much or really play the game more than he ran around and had fun.

DCG Soccer Fall 2007

Thanks to a mom with a real nice camera, we got some sweet shots of Colito the soccer star in action. This slideshow module is nice to get them all in one place. Sorry I don't have the same for Kell. I hope to get some pics this week and I'll put them on the blog as well.

Aloha and Mahalo

I was hoping to get in some pics of my trip to Puerto Rico, but due to camera issues, I don't have any pictures, yet...So eventually I hope to have something out there for you. Anyway, it has been long enough since I have updated things so I wanted to let you know how my trip to Hawai'i went. It is a beautiful place for sure, even if almost all my daylight hours were spent at work (6:30 - 5:00 days). I went to Kaua'i, and Oahu to work with the research centers there. I did find some time to visit the sites such as Captain Cook's landing in Hawai'i (the first European in Hawai'i), Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of Hawai'i), a little seaside action, and that is about it. I did include some pictures from Oahu including a view of Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Waikiki, and Diamond Head (all in the picture behind me), and an incredible sunset from a resort in Oahu called Ko Olina. Anyway it was a productive trip and I definitely need to go back and take Sherrie!

School Days and a New Do

We have had a lot of excitement the past couple of weeks. We have two boys in school, so here are the requisite 1st day of school pictures. Cole is in the 3rd grade, and really enjoying things.
Kell started the day after with his 3 day a week pre-school. He is really enjoying things there. It is good for him to interact with other kids and get ready to go to kindergarten next year.


And the biggest news. Sherrie finally, after much indecision and debate took Abigail to get her hair cut. Here is the preview of her in braids. She is so cute, but this doesn't show the monster hair she has in the morning as well as the mess she makes with her long hair whenever Sherrie tries to do it up nice.
The picture speaks for itself, she was very reluctant to have anyone cut her hair. This picture was taken as Sherrie was holding her down in the seat.
And the result...Our little 2 year old girl aged almost a year it seems. She looks so much older without the baby hair. She actually likes it, doesn't like to have anything in her hair still, but it stays more in control.

State Fair part 2 - Big Things

I wasn't able to squeeze all the pictures into one post, so here is part two. I thought I should show the biggest participants of the fair. Here is the Shire horse show, the mayor cart division. We got to go in the horse barn and see them getting them washed and groomed for the show. Definitely 'big'. Kell could have sat there all day and watched them, I could have to for that matter. As an aside Cole was ready to see the Butter Cow and get some ice cream.

Here is the biggest bull. All 3300 pounds of him. In each of the livestock barns they have a pen with the 'biggest' animal. They are easy to find, it is the pen with all the people crowding around it.
Here is the swine barn's biggest boar. over 1200(?) pound duroc cross. This guy doesn't get up and perform very often, in fact I think he just lies around. I mean what can you do when you weigh more than many small cars? Again, you have to be patient to even get close, there is always a crowd.
Last but not least, the big shot farmers. We can't help but go to the little hands on the farm activity, sponsored by none other than Pioneer Hi-Bred, note the super cool bright green Pioneer hats. (Consequently, I was too old to participate, but I could really use a new hat). Sterling, our friend's little guy was also helping out and going though with the kids. This is at the beginning of the little tour, passing in from of corn and soybeans. Then they get to plant seeds, harvest plastic vegetables, and go through little vingnettes of dairy barns, egg-production and such. At the end they all got a popsicle or something from the store by spending the money they earn from working on the farm.

Fun at the Fair, not Cassia, but Iowa State Part 1

Late post, but here are a few select pics of the family at the Iowa State Fair. First the boys got a picture with BIGFOOT, and it is big.
We went through Iowa's version of the commercial building and Kell got to see Curious George, a PBS favorite. Abigail was a little nervous and admired from Dad's arms.
In the swine barn there was a big corn 'sandbox'. Mom and Dad got to rest while the kids got to play in the corn.
Now for the ever popular butter sculptures. Harry Potter is immortalized in butter, along with his faithful sidekick Hedwig the owl.
And here is the most popular of them all, the butter cow. Apparently this has been going on for >40 years, and Iowa still can't get enough of this. I mean it is pretty cool to see a life size cow made out of butter. Cole is obviously entranced. I didn't show the line behind us to see the cow, really it is a big attraction.