Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkin yesterday with the kids. Young is the master artist in the house so this is one event the kids do with Daddy and they get so excited. And I think the kids are perfectly happy to just sit and watch Daddy work his magic...but who else would clean out the insides??

We hit the pumpkin sale at our local grocery store and the kids got to pick out their pumpkin...it was also game 2 of the World Series so Timo was sporting his fan ware!

The kids helping daddy with the BIG pumpkin! (bigger than the little pumpkins we've let them get at the pumpkin patches)
The kids getting their spoons ready while Daddy cuts the top off...
Cleaning out the guts...the kids dove right in with spoons...not their hands...my kids have a few issues with getting dirty! What's wrong with them??
All done! Didn't Daddy do a good job?! The kids call it the "spooky pumpkin"...spooky doesn't sound a scary as the scary pumpkin...
Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 29, 2010

World Series 2010!

I was going to try and only post Halloween related posts this whole week but then a little thing like the World Series came to San Francisco and I just have to put up pictures. We are so fortunate have have a good friend, Bobby Evans, that works for the Giants and were able to get tickets to Game 1! My birthday is next week so it was an early birthday present!! As a major sports fan, I was excited beyond what words could describe. It was such an amazing evening, full of surprises and excitement! I took tons of pictures and videos...so get ready for a play by play of the evening (and a long post).

We were able to ride over with Young's boss, who is a season ticket holder and has a parking permit...amazing thing #1, we were able to park right next to the ball park and not worry about traffic! There was such excitement in the air walking over the McCovy Cove bridge and seeing the stadium all a buzz with sights, sounds and smells. McCovy cove was already filling up with boats and kayaks just trying to be a part of it.
The outside was a mob of black and orange. I've never been in such a crowed small area before. I have friend who owns the restaurant attached to the stadium and she was standing out front trying to keep the crowd under control at her place. I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned, smiled and said, "OK, you can come in...just one?" I yelled back, "no, I have my husband." She looked at her bouncer and said "OK, let these two in." Just like that, we were in her restaurant and had a private entrance to the stadium...amazing thing #2. It was so great to just walk in the stadium and not get caught in this...
We enjoyed a drink sitting at a little table on her patio, enjoying people watching and trying to soak in the moment. We then headed up the ramp and to our seats...amazing thing #3, amazing seats!

They announced the players of each team and then got ready for the National Anthem, which was sung by John Legend. Such a beautiful, emotional moment...the tug boats spaying water and just as he finished there was a fly over and fireworks!



Opening Game 1, World Series from Sara ko on Vimeo.

The game started out a little rough...Tim Lincecum was the opening pitcher for the Giant's and I think he was having stage fright. The Rangers scored in the first two innings and Lincecum made a few mistakes...the team had a little pow-wow with him on the mound...

After the first inning, for some reason, Tony Bennett sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"...odd but very cool!

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

We were so excited to be there. Like one of my friends said...most cities know when a big event is coming to their town months/years ahead, like the super bowl, world cup or US Open. But with the World Series, you have about 4 days to prepare and the excitement is just indescribable. How many people get to live in a city that has a team playing in the World Series and then actually be able to go to the game?? We are beyond thankful to be a part of this little nugget of history!
Then the game got really exciting...the Giants bounced back and seem to always have a runner on base. We took the lead and eventually blew the Rangers away. Here are a few shots of the action...

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

The jumbotron has the score at the bottom...it's not the final, I forgot to take a picture of the final score, but this is when we really started to pull away at the end of the 5th inning.
It was a sold out crowd...wonder who that one person was that put it over...
The last inning was a little tense but closer Brian Wilson finished it up! Fear The Beard! Here is the last pitch from him and the team rushing the field. Check out the first picture...to the far left, every Giant's player is standing at the dugout and at the bottom you can see every Ranger player standing in their dugout...tense!
Game over and Giant's win 11-7! Fireworks!!
But that's not the end of our night...I had sent a text to our friend Bobby in the middle of the game just to say thank you for 1000th time and he text me back saying he had two passes to the after party for us...WHAT?!! An after party??!! Amazing thing #4! So we met him and his family after the game and we all walked over to an abandoned warehouse which was decorated to the nines for a huge party. (Thank goodness the Giant's won!) The party was put on by the MLB so it was Giant's and Ranger team/fans all together...needless to say, the folks wearing blue and red weren't celebrating as much...
Here we are with Bobby...can't say thank you enough. And our little VIP table with the Evans family and friends. What an amazing game and what an amazing evening!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Clancy Pumpkin Patch

OK, I think this is our last pumpkin patch visit...I had hoped to go to one tomorrow but it looks like rain so this more than likely was our last patch of the season. This one is a cute little one just across the park from our house and it has one things I didn't see at the bigger farm patches we visited...a hay tunnel!


Here's my Where's Waldo picture...can you find the kids?
Timo just wanted to rearrange the pumpkins...
We came to this patch last year and went out to this great Chinese place close by for hot soup afterward...so I thought we would continue the tradition and went to the same place for some good hot and sour soup! Yummy!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Happy Halloween Bread

Our good friends Claudia and Alexis brought by some Halloween bread for the kids (she knows how much Cameron loves bread). When Alexis pulled it out of the bag she said "Happy Halloween" so now the kids ask to have some of their Happy Halloween bread.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Ardenwood Pumpkin Patch

So....after a little picnic lunch, we followed the "map" over to the pumpkin patch...well, at least Timo followed the "map", which was just our schedule of events paper that he somehow thought was the map and insisted on looking at the "map" to find the pumpkin patch...a little "Dora the Explorer" influence...
We made it! (just across the parking lot) The hay pyramid was the first stop...all the way to the top and giving the King of the Mountain sign.


Cameron had to go pee-pee...a big first for us...the porta potty! She thought it was so much fun and I thought it was gross...ugh. But it was a success. Then we came back and picked out some pumpkins.

They had a great little hay maze that was just big enough for little kids. The twins went through it about 20 times before we could drag them away. At one point, they just sat down at a dead end and played in the hay...ahhh, to be a kid again...




Timo looking at his "map" while Cameron drives...a perfect team!
We hope to come back each year so this measuring pumpkin is perfect to see how the kids grow from year to year.

Leaving something fun is never easy for the kids but it helps to be hot, tired and dirty when you're done! We made it to the car and the kids were asleep within minutes of leaving the farm. I'd say a good time was had by all!