Owen is Three

This year, we have decided to celebrate Chenn birthdays a little differently.....instead of inviting a bunch of friends over- and stressing over games, food, and goody bags- we decided to do 2009 a bit more calm than years past. Who knows, this could be our mantra for birthdays to come....that is how enjoyable and stress-free it was.

We spent part of the day making decorations for the party. We have a whole ream of packing paper left over from our last move.....and it has served us well.

The girls helped to make the cake. Owen loves fish. He is borderline obsessed with fish and fishing. The frosting is actually whipped cream (which makes the absolute best frosting!). The cake is not much to look at, but the girls loved putting the figurines on and dusting the sprinkles.

Making a wish.
For the "present portion" of the party we had Owen "fish" for his presents. Marc made a makeshift rod out of Owen's baseball bat with some string and a clothes pin. The girls were happy to assist with the fishing. They sat under the ocean (bed sheet) and attached the presents one at a time.
waiting........................................................
waiting......................................
"I caught one!"

Owen, examining his new magnetic fishing puzzle.

Happy Birthday Owen! We love you unbelievable amounts. I can't believe my "baby" is three! Thanks for celebrating with us Maria and Uncle Mason!

Happy Halloween!!

To kick off our Halloween festivities, we headed to a pumpkin patch in New Jersey with some of our friends.

Owen and the girls each got to pick out their very own squash.

It took a while. There were quite a few pumpkins to choose from.

There was a hayride that led to the pumpkin patch. As you can see, Owen had issue with the seating arrangements on this trip.

There were farm animals at this pumpkin patch.

And, a farm animal photo opportunity. Eva is giving us her best hound dog.

The very next Family Home Evening, we carved these beauties up. Each child drew their own face on the pumpkin, and mom and dad wielded the knife. Owen didn't draw his face, he just instructed, "I want a spooky 'O' face!" We did the best with the information provided.

On Halloween, we headed over to our church for the annual Halloween Party. The kids' costumes may seem familiar....because they are! Every one of my children insisted on wearing the same costume yet again this year- even Owen who (barely) managed to squeeze his 3 year old body into the 18-24 month dragon outfit. My wallet thanked them for their repeat costume choice. I am Peter Pan (not Robin Hood or a Christmas Elf) if you were confused. I haven't dressed up for Halloween in ages, and have my friend Kristy to thank for the needed push- and costume. Marc is a Kung Fu Master donning silky asian pjs we picked up in China.

Of course, we trick-or-treated in the evening. Buckets were filled, and a sugar high was achieved. Thankfully, I have a brother serving a mission in Brazil who loves candy....I filled him a care package with most of the sugar loot and sent it to South America. I am sure he made some Brazilian children in Maceio very happy.

The Beach

Back at the beginning of September, we took a last-minute trip to the beach, in an attempt to soak in the last bit of summer. Neither Marc or I had ever been to the beach on the Atlantic side, with the exception of Florida, so we weren't sure of what to expect. The kids had never been to the ocean- ever. Lakes? Yes, but no oceans, so this was a treat.

Maddy with her friend exploring the waves. The beach was beautiful- and the water was clear.

Owen, searching for seashells, and making sandcastles. This is a boy who could spend hours in a sandbox, so you can imagine his delight.

Burying Owen in the sand. He was a cooperative victim.

The waves were very big. I was totally surprised.

Marc, baywatching it back to the towels and snacks.

Sand creations. In addition to making sand animals, the girls and Owen collected seashells- which were surprisingly abundant- and now fill a large sack in our house. Not sure what to do with those....

Can you tell that someone is a little fearful of Melanoma? Yes, I was in stark contrast to the nearby bikini women slathering on the SPF4 and rotating every 5 minutes.

For any of you in the area....the beach was Robert Moses. It was awesome, and only about a 45 min drive from Manhattan. We will definitely be duplicating this next summer. Thanks for the suggestion (and company!) Glass Posse!

Take me out to the Ball Game....

Uncle Mason came into town last month, and this may be the only batch of pictures I have to prove it. The kids loved having him here.....he spoiled them with a trip to the candy store, and endless attention. Marc and I loved catching up.

Thanks to our good friend Duane, we were able to score some tickets to our first Mets game in the new Citi field. I can't say that I am typically a huge baseball fan, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this evening.

Owen held that glove up almost the entirety of the game- with hope in his eyes. Somehow the girls talked us into $6 ice cream cones. Not sure how that happened.

This game was big for Owen. He has been singing "Take me out to the ballgame!...." non-stop ever since. He officially knows all of the words...a true baseball fan.

Thanksgiving Point

We spent some time at Thanksgiving Point in Utah during our trip. I had never been to the gardens before, so my sister Julie gave us a grand tour. Here she is in the Monet section with my kiddos. Owen can be seen conducting an intense search for froggies on the hundreds of lily pads below. Much to his chagrin, none were to be found.

Here we are searching out another lily pad laden pond looking for frogs. Again, nada.

Here we are at the top peak of the gardens looking down at the green surrounding us.

Of course, we had to stop by the farm for some pony rides.

As luck would have it our good friends, the Theurers, were also vacationing in UT- at the same time we were. Yay! We were able to meet up with them and introduce ourselves to their latest cute addition, Peter.

Owen was quite taken by this little man. He loves his new bud in the Theurer family.

Luckily, we were also able to meet up for a short playdate at Thanksgiving Point. Even though the Theurers have been gone from NYC for more than a year, Owen still talks about his stroller buddy "Ella" non-stop- so it was so fun to see these little ones reunited.

Here is the whole gang together for a pre-horse ride fuel up. I love how hard Owen is concentrating on his thumbs-up gesture. And apparently, so does Maddy.