Halloween!!

Auggie could barely sleep the night before Halloween due to excitement.  He woke up early next morning, ready with his fireman outfit and Halloween pail. By the time school ended, however, the buildup and excitement had been too much.  Auggie decided he didn't want to be a Fireman or go Trick or Treating.  He finally agreed on wearing last year's Spiderman costume. Kristen used her creativity to dress Ella as a pumpkin.  When Agnieszka came home from work, the whole family went Trick or Treating at all the neighbor's houses before going to Katy and Jeff's house in Albany, where Trick or Treating is done on a completely different level. After all the kids filled their buckets full of candy. there was some intense trading going on. We are pretty sure that Auggie - the youngest kid and also the one who did not know what most of the candy in his bucket was - may have unknowingly given away his best stash.  He managed to still come home with a large amount of candy.

Weekend before Halloween

We had a fun weekend before Halloween, since Auggie is finally at the age where he (sort of) understands time and can get excited about something several days in advance. 

Saturday started with family play in the house, and Daniel took Ella on a misty morning walk in the hills.

Afterwards, Daniel and Ella stayed home for nap(s), while Auggie and Agnieszka got to go to the El Cerrito Halloween Carnival.  We got there just as they opened, since Agnieszka is not a fan of crowds. Auggie dressed up as a fireman.  We found out on arrival that the carnival consisted of multiple games and after each game, the child got to pick a prize (usually candy).  Since we were some of the first few people, we managed to go through all the games without standing in line. Auggie proved to be a powerful (and fairly accurate) lefty with some balls, righty with others. Afterwards, we bumped into Auggie's friend Colin and went through all the games again. Needless to say, there was a lot of candy...and Halloween was still four days away!

The evening ended with a beautiful sunset view.

The next day, we went to Babcia and Dziadek's house for pumpkin carving.  Each year, the pumpking carving gets a little more adventurous.  This year, Jeff brought a pumpkin carving drill attachment.  Can you guess which kid loved that the most?  Afterwards, kids had their picture taken with the pumpkins. Evan renewed his disdain for posed photos, so the one below is the best of the three.

Thursday Picnic Dinner at Indian Rock

We had a great, spontaneous dinner in the Berkeley hills one Thursday night. We picked up Auggie from school early, ordered a pizza to go and went to Indian Rock Park.  This is a local favorite for rock climbers, with dozens of established bouldering routes.  We had our picnic near the top of the park, with easy access to the slab of the main boulder.  Auggie likes scrambling on rocks (like his Mama), and so as soon as he saw this giant boulder, he dashed up it as fast as he could.  Agnieszka followed in a panic, and had to explain to him that this rock was so large that falls could be very dangerous.  "Like I could get dead?"  "Yep."  

We had a beautiful evening picnic, with Auggie dashing up and down the rock many times (spotted closely by Agnieszka this time) and chatting up all the people who came to enjoy the solitude of the view and sunset. Ella was quite happy sitting with Papa and enjoying all the pineapple from the pizza. 

Sunday Family Day

We took advantage of an extra Sunday "family day" (whole family at home on a weekend) by having a wonderful California fall day. The morning started early thanks to two well rested kids waking up by 6:30am, with lots of house and outside play (and yard work).  Once Ella fell asleep for her morning nap, Daniel had a rare chance to watch an hour of football, while Agnieszka and Auggie listened to Frank  Sinatra and made beaded necklaces & bracelets, followed by constructing little people figurines out toilet paper rolls.

Next came a trip to local Alvarado Park to go chestnut and acorn hunting. Auggie came prepared with a big bucket. Ella giggled at every face we passed. We grabbed lunch at a local favorite Vietnamese restaurant and then returned home for lego building and chocolate chip cookie baking. Daniel learned to exercise Ella by putting baby puffs on the couch cushions above her (so she would have to stand up to reach one).  The evening ended with babcia coming over for sushi dinner and to help Daniel with bedtime routine while Agnieszka went to work the night shift.

Ella is 9 months old!

Ella is 9 months old already!  Within the last month, she went from army crawling to crawling on all fours and, a week later, pulling up to furniture.  She already has 6 teeth, and her interest in food has also exploded. She loves sampling anything we eat, with lentil soup, carrots, pineapple, and mango being some of her favorite foods. She loves looking at herself on the phone camera and the bathroom mirror.  Baths have become big splashing affairs and she is now quite good at playing with several bath toys (and tries to stand up and look for them whenever she accidentally throws them out of the bathtub!)

She adores her big brother and giggles whenever he smiles at her. Auggie is patient with her, loves to entertain her with funny faces or dances, and even puts his hair near her hands so she can play with it (which she loves).  Whenever we go on drives in the car, Auggie is often entertaining Ella with funny sounds and faces.  If she becomes fussy, he reminds us to sing the "Apples and Bananas" song, which always makes her laugh.