Happy Birthday, Mom

Chris and I celebrated my birthday on Saturday night with Lucy's Moms, Hilary and Amy, at a great French bistro in Eagle Rock. The food was scrumptious, and the company even better. On the morning of my birthday (Monday), Kate surprised me with a beautiful card she made:

And then she and Chris gave me... ...TIVO! Whoo hoo! I immediately thought of all the time I would save by watching countless hours of TV more efficiently. While Kate was hard at work at preschool, Chris and I went out for a lunch of Shanghai-style steamed dumplings (xiao long bao), fried pork chops, sauteed green beans, and chicken noodle soup at Din Tai Fung. I'm still thinking about the meal... When I got to Kate's school to pick her up, her teachers greeted with me a smile and a warm hug and said, "Happy Birthday! Your daughter told the whole school it's her Mom's birthday!" Aww. After dinner, Chris asked Kate to help him with a "surprise." A few seconds later, Kate emerged from the kitchen and "whispered," "MOM! Go to the other room because we have a SURPRISE CAKE for you!" The cake was from the glorious Porto's Bakery in Glendale, and it was sooooo goooood. Kate went nuts for the chocolate ball decoration on top. Kate and I both made wishes. Kate made hers out loud: "I wish for cake and Mom and Dad." Kate got her beautifully simple wish. We'll see about mine.

Another Harvest Festival!

On Saturday, Kate and I dropped by Temple City Park where they were having a small-town harvest festival. A lot of families were there to cheer on their kids who were performing in the band.

A big fan of Toni Basil's video, "Mickey," Kate LOVED watching the high school cheerleaders do their routines.

We stopped to look at the petting zoo. Kate didn't want to go inside because she was eating her favorite food of all time, popcorn, and said, "I don't want to get my hands dirty." The lady manning the animal pen overheard her and said, "Smart girl! Those animals are really filthy."

I have no idea what this animal is. A bull?

Oh, popcorn, beautiful popcorn...

Kate got her first balloon flower.

Though she was very scared of the clown who made it for her. Kate got her hand painted, then was sucked in by a bunch of high schoolers doing comedy improv. She loved it! She laughed out loud at all their hard-earned attempts at comedy. She even shouted out suggestions when they asked for "an animal," etc. Just as I was starting to fear that Kate might want to be an actress (no!) or comedian (ah!) one day, they called out for volunteers and Kate turned to me and said, "I don't want to go up there, Mom." Phew.

Harvest Festival at A Child's Garden

Kate's preschool had a "Harvest Festival" on Saturday where there were pumpkins, games, arts & crafts, food, and prizes. Chris and I signed up to monitor the small bounce house for a couple of hours. Chris took the first shift while Kate and I walked around. Kate looked everywhere for her best buddy from school, Maya, but we didn't see her. The first thing Kate wanted to do was get her face painted. "I have a lollipop!" she told the painter Dad. Then Kate changed her mind at the last minute and opted for her hand instead. She asked for a cat. Kate threw a bean bag in the hole and won a spider ring!

Appa took a break from bounce house monitoring and we all piled on for a family photo. Kate is making an interesting face while showing off her cat.

After that, we finally spotted Maya. Kate and Maya hugged, compared prizes, and made plans for a playdate. Kate and Mom then decorated a pumpkin frame for our family photo.

While Mom took over watching the bounce house, Kate and Appa strolled around, played the fishing game, won another spider and a "web," ate cupcakes and zoned out like Prince Eric.

Then Kate decided to lick her cat...

...and play peekaboo with Appa.

Even though she was very sleepy, Kate didn't want to leave.

The next day, we set up Kate's new Big Girl Bed! Hooray!

Later on, Kate discovered Goldilocks sleeping in it. After she booted him out, she laid down and went right to sleep.

Kate O' Lantern

Kate was so excited to carve the pumpkin she picked from the Santa Fe Dam, she asked us every few minutes, "NOW can we carve the pumpkin??" Since Monday was Columbus Day (no school), we finally decided to do it. While Mom made pumpkin muffins, Kate and Appa got started. Kate wasn't sure how she felt about the pumpkin "guts." Soon after that, she grew bored of the project, and went back inside. Leaving Appa alone with the pumpkin guts. So much for all the excitement. Mom encouraged (dragged) her back outside, and we started to scoop everything out. Kate was engaged again. Briefly. She quickly grew bored again and headed back inside for a pumpkin muffin. "Oh, that smells delicious!" Leaving Mom alone with the scooping. Then Mom went back inside and Appa went back out to do the heavy yanking by himself. Kate was kind enough to provide support. "Kate's" first Jack-O'-Lantern! After dinner, Kate discovered a new favorite reading spot.

Mom joined her.

Surrey With the Black Fringe On Top

On Sunday, we took advantage of the glorious fall weather and went to the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Center with Lucy and her Moms to have a picnic, pick pumpkins, and have a screaming good time. Kate and Lucy were less interested in picnicking, and more excited about running around in the sand together. Farmer Lucy and Pumpkin Kate. Kate loved the kiddie "haunted" house. There was a small speaker strung up inside that shouted, "BWAHAHAHAHA!" every few seconds. "Mom, who is that? Why he is laughing?" We told Kate and Lucy that the ghosts were telling jokes to each other. "Oh."

If Kate could spend all her days in a bounce house, she would be the happiest girl in the world.

Kate and Lucy tried their hands at the bean bag toss and they both threw two in!

Kate with her prizes -- a purple beach ball and a tiny elephant.

Next, Kate and Lucy wanted to tackle the "super slide." Chris and Hilary bravely volunteered to accompany them. Apparently the climb up was challenging, especially at the top when the super slide started to sway.

Kate covering her eyes. Chris said the slide was a lot faster and steeper than they expected!

Chris trying to brake with his arm to prevent them from smashing into the wall.

Hilary and Lucy were next...

Towards the end, Lucy couldn't bear to watch.

Of course, thrill-seeking Kate wanted to climb back up and do it again, as did Lucy. Poor Appa and Hilary...

...They did it four more times.

After all the daredeviling, we rented surrey bikes and took a leisurely ride around the park. By this time, Kate was sleepy and even more congested. Since last week, Kate has had a Santa Ana winds-induced cold.

Kiss, Kiss!

Kate was really starting to space out in her sleepy-congested state. Whenever she zones out, I like to tease her and call her "Prince Eric." (Prince Eric from "The Little Mermaid." The evil Octopus puts him under a spell and he becomes a zombie).

This always cracks her up and snaps her out of it.

The adults took a break as Kate and Lucy roamed around a playground. Kate wanted us to pedal "really fast," turning the leisurely ride into a mini-workout. From which I'm still recovering.

A man carrying a tuba inexplicably strolled by the playground. We heard Kate and Lucy shout, "Come back, Tuba Man! Come back and play for us!" Lucy was sad he didn't heed their calls.

Kate and Lucy wanted to ride together, so they hopped into our surrey for the next leg.

The lovely view as we pedaled around the dam. In LA, even the lakes are man-made.

We stopped off at another playground where there was a giant red, cob-web climbing structure.

Kate and Lucy climbed to the center and met a Chihuahua named "Yoshi."

On the last leg, Lucy and Kate rode in Lucy's surrey. It had a bell that Kate liked ringing.

Before we headed home, we stopped to pick a pumpkin.

It was a wonderful day.