The L.A. Dime

When we moved to Upstate NY, everyone told us that we should plan a winter-get-away for the holidays as soon as possible since the cold, wet and dreary days would surely be getting to us by then. We listened to that advice and booked a trip to FL. Funny thing is though, we hadn’t really had super cold days in NY or snow that stuck around for more than 2 hours. Nevertheless, here we are visiting my parents and having a fun time….

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We’ve decided not to get a big tree this year as we’re heading out for a holiday get-away in a few days. But, I did try to decorate a few corners of the house just a little.

We’re having a little snow dusting right now too so it sure feels like “that time of the year”:)

Trying to beat the squirrels from eating the entire batch of pumpkins we got, Brad and the kiddos carved them on Sunday afternoon. Sophie had drawn out some “happy”, “sad” and “baby” faces that she wanted to see on the pumpkins. Clay was happy stirring up the seeds with a rainbow pencil.

There was a parade and classroom trick-or-treat at Sophie’s school which she thoroughly enjoyed. She was a ballerina during the day but to allow for extra layers for the night time outing, she was a queen (re-purposed from last year’s CHA celebration).

We spent about an hour going door to door while Brad (dressed as an 80′s zombie with some awesome make-up thanks to neighbor Ashley!!) stayed back handing out candy. We didn’t get as many kids as we expected so now we’ve got a little bit of a candy stash that we will just somehow need to get through:)

PS: Sophie’s already told us that next year, she wants to be Belle….we’ll see if she remembers that in 2012

Sophie and I joined our friends Amy and her daughter Maya, plus Manousha and her 2 daughters Ana and Alaia on Sunday for a hike at Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca. It was 3/4 miles one way…..the falls were absolutely amazing….the path full of tree roots and slippery rocks. We had a quick snack at the bottom, threw some rocks and then headed back up. All the kids did great and were treated to a yummy lunch of French Toast (yes, that’s what Sophie chose). Before driving back, we walked around Ithaca for a little while but all decided that it was somewhat of a sad little town.

…is of course to enjoy a day at a Pumpkin Patch. So we headed out to Critz Farms on Saturday and took along our neighbors for some extra fun. The kiddos enjoyed the petting zoo, climbing hay bails, Apple Fritters and choosing their perfect pumpkin. Happy Fall!

PS: I unfortunately didn’t get a pic of Clay but he’s been enjoying fall too — see him sitting/playing with our leaf piles?

Last winter we received a “save the date” wedding invite for an October 1st wedding in Cape Cod. We initially didn’t think we’d be able to fly across the country for it but after moving to NY, we decided to pack up the kiddos and make a road-trip out of it. The groom went to USC with Brad and we were fortunate to have met the bride many times in LA during Mul & Barb’s courtship. They are a fun couple, completely meant for each other and we wish them all the best!!

So here’s a recap of the weekend: After arriving on Friday afternoon, we checked out Main Street Falmouth, MA where we visited the cute little shops, stopped for ice cream and ran into the first of many USC friends from LA. Dinner that evening was a casual clam bake where we ate Lobster, Clams and Sophie danced the night away. Saturday morning was a bit overcast but we knew we wanted to take full advantage of our trip so headed to the harbor and boarded a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. The island is super cute with all these great big, fancy mansions but also these great little homes that reminded me a bit of “small world” in Disneyland. The wedding itself was on Saturday afternoon, right on the ocean in Mashpee, MA. It was a beautiful (and funny – thanks to Mul jumping the “I do” gun as soon as the preacher started the ceremony!!) ceremony where you could feel the happiness all around you and hear the waves crashing in the background. The party lasted well into the evening and the dance floor was packed all night.

While seeing these two lovebirds tie the knot was certainly special, we were also so happy to have a mini reunion with some of our dear USC/LA friends like Ama, Aaron, Harry, Lisa, Mike and Nithu. Being the “let’s take a picture” gal that I am, I made everyone walk down to the sand with me and take some pictures…..I know I’ll treasure this weekend and those memories for a long time. Thanks gang!!

We all pulled out long-sleeved shirts this morning as it seems that fall is slowly making itself known here in Upstate NY. We fondly look back at our great summer though (hover over the pictures to see a description)….

Thanks for all of you who have been checking on us!! I’ve had a few picture requests so here we are….I wanted to have everything pretty much done before taking pictures so other than finding some rugs for the kids rooms, we’re pretty much there:

A quick update…

We drove from KY to NY last Thursday and on Friday morning at 7am, the big moving truck rolled up to our new addy in Baldwinsville. Since then, we have unpacked almost every one of those boxes, taken many, many, many trips to Target and gotten things put away. We bought a new grill and patio set so are looking forward to taking advantage of those during these last few weeks of summer/fall.

We’ve met some of our neighbors and actually hung out with the ones across the street quite a bit. They have a 3 year old girl Willa and a 6-month old boy Harrison so the ages work out well. The parents are fun too and we can see ourselves becoming close….plus, the dad is super handy which, if you know us, we are going to have to use quite a bit.

We visited the PreK programs I’d researched earlier and settled on one. Sophie’s been asking to go to school every day so even though I was going to wait until after Labor Day, when the official school year starts, to start her…we’re going to have her do 2 weeks of summer camp. She seems excited and even though she still periodically asks for her old friends and teachers, she’s looking forward to making new friendships.

M&M are coming to visit this week so we’ll probably start exploring the area a bit more then. Brad will also be heading to Boston this weekend to see his 4th movie (“Crocked Arrows”) being shot!!

That’s all for now….pics to follow very soon…..

When we made the decision to move, one of my first thoughts was about how sad it would be for Sophie to have her bday party in September without really having had the chance to make new friends in B’ville yet….so we decided to have a combo bday party in July so we could celebrate Clay’s first year and also have some of Sophie’s friends attend before we move away.

It was a beautiful day and we were so grateful for all our friends who came to celebrate. The weather was warm enough for many folks to enjoy the pool, but not so hot that you couldn’t bare to be outside. We had a face-painter and an activity for the kids to decorate crowns. Oh, and an ice cream bar with Opa serving the ice cream!