We had a lazy day today; we did not get out of the house until after 11am.  Since the weather was very nice, we took the kids to the local school playground to ride bikes.  Initially Logan was not interested to ride, but he was fine once he got started.  He seemed to enjoy having the big open area; he was making rounds and racing fast at times.  Due to some uneven grounds, Logan occasionally needed some pushes to get started.  Connor was having fun too while being pushed by one of us.  He usually rested his feet on the foot stands, but occasionally had them on the peddles.  Later on, he asked not to be pushed and used his legs to peddle himself on the ground instead.  The boys actually biked for awhile before we moved on the playground.

    After nap, we went for a walk down the street while the dinner being cooked in the oven. They brought one soldier each with them and had fun stopping periodically playing on fences or rocks.  For dinner, I made a traditional turkey Thanksgiving meal with a substitution of honey baked sweet potatoes instead of the mashed potatoes for the boys.  Logan liked the turkey with gravy and sweet potatoes; he had quite a big portion of them.  Connor is not as good of an eater lately, but he managed to have some turkey and green bean casserole.  I wanted to show them the traditional meal, so I ended the dinner with a pumpkin pie too.  I did not expect them to like it, but both Logan and Connor enjoyed the pie with some whipped cream on top. 

     Yesterday, Stuart taught Logan the meaning of Thanksgiving and we have been asking him what he was thankful for.  He copied us and said that he was thankful for our family, but he added a few more things on his own, Star Wars, “Ghostie” (his new little stuffed toy), Scottie, Auntie Dora and Grandma.  With that, we ended a very nice day.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

    When I went home to New Mexico, I went through some of my family’s old albums and brought one home with me.  The album is getting very old and the pictures are fading, so I asked Stuart to scan a few of them to keep our memories.

These are a couple of pictures when my dad and my birth mom got married.

Here are a few photos of Yvonne and I. 

The following were taken at my uncle’s wedding.

This was my kindergarten picture; I was less than 5 year old when this picture was taken.  Can you find me?

These were taken at Gloria and Dora’s school birthday celebrations.  We thought it was funny that there were so many cakes for the school kids.

Lastly, these were our school pictures.

All the scanned photos are also in the photo album.

    There was a potluck at Connor’s school today, and they suggested bringing in cultural food to share.  I was not too excited for this event, especially since I have a slight cold, but I knew I had to be there for Connor.  I left work early, picked up some eggrolls and arrived at Connor’s classroom.  As soon as I walked in, I saw Connor came running from the far end of the table while screaming with joy “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy” all the way to me.  There were only a few kids (6) remaining as the other half of the class had gone home from having only partial day schedule.  Connor was not too interested in the food except the chocolate cookies sitting in front of him, but he was so thrilled to have me there, kept looking up and smiling at me.  I chatted briefly with the teachers and a couple of the parents while Connor ate a small meal there.  There wasn’t too much chatter amongst the parents or teachers, so it wasn’t too exciting.   I took a few pictures of Connor with his teachers and one of his buddies, ‘Conor L’.  His parent told me that the two boys have really bonded, and my Connor always makes her drop off ‘Conor L’ in the morning easier.  At the end, Connor helped the teachers cleaned up a bit, then we said our goodbyes.

    Since the rain stopped, we decided to make our last visit to the Gilroy Gardens for the season.  The weather was nice, sunny and not too cold, and it was sort of quiet there, so we took our time to let the kids do what they liked.  We started with the paddle boats which was fun and a workout for Stuart and I.  Afterward, Logan wanted to do the car ride and climb in the structures.  Connor was intrigued by the trains whenever it passed by, and he kept asking to ride it.  Both kids enjoyed running in the maze too.  Stuart and Logan went in there first, finished and were up on the deck.  Connor was having fun leading me through it, and at some point, Logan was directing us how to get out of the maze from the deck. 

     Later on, Connor was interested in trying some electronic rides, and Logan decided to just stay on the sideline to cheer for him.  Connor chose to ride the flying fish and when it started it was spinning quite fast while going up and down. Connor had a very shocked expression on his face that made Stuart and I a bit nervous.  However, all three of us kept cheering to Connor loudly every time he spun toward us that Connor eventually cracked up laughing and eased up.  We played a couple of the carnival games too so both kids got a stuffed toy that they liked.  We had an early lunch today in which Logan commented it as “super yummy”, and we later had dipping dots that Logan enjoyed even more.  Connor was liking only the cookie part from the “Cookies N cream”. 

     Today was a nice conclusion of this park for us.  Here are some pictures, and a video that Stuart took using his old Vado cam.

   Logan and I attended the first birthday party with his new classmates.  This was a late party (6:15pm) at Pump It Up to celebrate Arianna’s 4th birthday.  It has been awhile now since I accompanied Logan to this kind of party, and Logan’s attitude there has not changed much.  He was interested to see what the place had to offer, and he preferred the less crowded and less intimating inflatables.  He went inside a couple of them, but he was making sure that I would stand right outside of them to watch him.  He would also come ask me to go with him to another inflatable occasionally.  There were a lot of people there, and I managed to meet and talk with several Logan’s classmate parents while watching Logan.  Once I agreed to try a huge slide with Logan to encourage him, we decided to hold hands to come down the slide and his classmate Alex wanted to hold him with me too.  The three of us came down the steep slide very fast and Logan seemed to like it.  Logan convinced me to go with him another time, this time his other friend Colton wanted to hold hands too, so all four of us were up at the top getting ready.  All of the sudden, Logan got scared and did not want to go; the two boys had begun to slide, I ended up letting go of Colton’s hand, but I managed to pull Logan along with me.  It was a close call that I had to steer myself away before crashing into Colton with high speed.  Logan seemed to enjoy it again, but he did not want to go up without me afterward.

    We switched to another arena half way through the playtime.  Logan had fun playing with a couple other friends at two inflatables with basketball.  He then decided to try the large obstacle inflatable.  He climbed in and disappeared.  Logan is still not very strong in climbing, so I wanted to walk around to make sure that he was ok.  Then I saw one of his classmates having some trouble climbing, but the inflatable was so tall that I could not really help him.  I walked back and forth checking on that boy and he finally made it through.  Then I resumed my initial intention; by then I heard a cry for “Mommy, Mommy”.  The place was super loud, so it was hard to pinpoint where the noise came from, but I had a feeling it was Logan.  I rushed around the huge inflatable and tiptoeing to look for Logan; I finally found him on the opposite side of the course.  There was a dad there trying to rescue him but he did not want to receive help from him.  I was feeling so horribly when I saw how sad Logan was crying.  I picked him out of the obstacle and hugged him to comfort him.  He told me that he could not climb up the steep stairs at the end but was unable to get back out; he tried to call me but I did not respond.  I felt terribly guilty, I apologized and I sat holding him for a few minutes.  After he calmed down, he wanted to stay and play.  We walked around the arena; Logan was interested to go play at the air shooting inflatable, but there was no spots available.  He finally waited for a spot and had fun playing with his friends.  But unfortunately within a few minutes, the call to end the playing came and we were lead to the party room for pizza.  Logan was hungry and ate some pizza while sitting with a few of his classmates.  The birthday girl came sitting next to Logan too, but Logan gave her a slight cold shoulder.  Overall, Logan seemed to have fun tonight as we were talking on the way home, but I am still feeling very bad about the crying incident.

    Connor has always been a momma boy, and since our trip to New Mexico together, he is even more attached to me.  Besides taking my dad to the doctor appointment, Connor and I were inseparable during the trip.  I even allowed Connor in the bathroom with me while I showered, so he would not get scared without me.  He really enjoyed sleeping with me at night, and I loved it too.

     Nowadays at home, if he hears that I am going to shower, he will come ask if he can come with me, and he will be so happy holding my hand to the bathroom.  He just stays in the bathroom contently waiting for me.  Yesterday Connor’s school was close for Veteran Day, so Stuart took the day off to spend with him.  They had a good day together; they went to the mall and did some grocery shopping too.  Throughout the day, Connor asked for me a lot, but would be satisfied when Stuart told him that I would be home later.  When I came home with Logan at the end of the day, Connor was so happy to see us, rushing over to hug me and also Logan.  I’m sure this is just a mama phase he’s going through, but I’m really enjoying it while it lasts.