Happy Halloween

 For the first time in Phoenix since 1986, it rained on this spooky holiday. It never rains here, so I enjoyed it. Plus, it added to the ambiance. Unfortunately, we had fewer trick-or-treaters, but we still had fun.

We started the day by carving the pumpkins we got from the infamous AZ pumpkin patch.

 

Sammy always loves this. As soon as Andy started cutting, she got her face right in there. She loves to eat the pumpkin. Zoe could care less, though. 

I painted a pumpkin with a skeleton theme, but I forgot to take a picture. Here is Max's final jack-o'-lantern.

Max's friend and his parents came over. We had a whole driveway set up with a TV, candy, drinks and chairs. Plus, a fire pit, and pop-up due to the rain.

It was fun to hand out candy in our own driveway this year and enjoy all the costumes that came by. All the kids loved Max's Halloween decoration of the skeleton puking in the trash can. The adults got a kick out of it too.  

Andy and I dressed up as skeletons this year. It was the perfect costume to be in a one-piece, all comfortable while we sat outside enjoying the rainy weather. 

First Half of October

Entering the spooky month of October, Max saw a YouTube video to create a cool Halloween decoration. He sent it to Andy so they could make it together. This was a fun project for the two of them to build. It ended up being a skeleton puking into a trash can that glowed via black light. This decor got lots of attention from the trick-or-treaters. It was funny because the boys thought it was cool, and all the girls thought it was gross.

Max and I did our annual trip to the costume store where he tried on only one mask. My baby is growing up. In previous years he had a blast doing this and would try on many. This time, he said "Mom, only one." Ok, I will take what I can get.

We ended up back at the costume store a week later so him and his friend could pick out costumes together. This gave me a chance to get to know his friend's mom better.

We hit up the AZ "pumpkin patch." For a Halloween lover, this gets me eveyr year. It's not a pumpkin patch. It's a pumpkin stand in a parking lot. Ugh!

Fall Break: Part II

 For the second half of the trip, we rented a car and drove almost four hours to Green Bay, WI for a Packers game. It was a long car ride for some of us, but for Max it was a time to connect with his friends via FaceTime and video games. 

Once we got to Green Bay, or first stop was the stadium for some Packer gear. I was concerned about being cold, and didn't want to freeze my butt off like I did at the Cubs game. We all shopped for some warmer apparel for once the sun went down. While there, I ran into my cousin Stephanie and her little one. It was fun to see them and catch up briefly. 

We stayed at an AirBnB that had a fun putting game. Max was confident he would beat me with his golf skills, but unfortunately that did not happen because I won!

The next day, Grandpa T and Grandma S arrived for lunch and then tailgating prior to the game. Max got the freshly made cheese curds that he wanted. He also got Andy to buy him a Mountain Dew. This is something he has only had at Packers games, so he was looking forward to it. 

Max thought it was fun that I could balance his water bottle on my head. I told him it was all in the core muscles. 

Here we are at another bar for Max's second Mountain Dew.

We made it to the stadium and the weather is still nice.

I thought our seats were pretty good. We could see everything.

Max had a great time, and I stayed warm, so that was a huge win even though it was a depressing loss that night.

It was nice to be able to leave the stadium and walk a few blocks back to the AirBnB because that traffic looked insane.

In the morning, we drove back to Madison as we all piled into Grandpa and Grandma's car. Our first stop was to see Grandma L and have lunch. Max had fun hanging out and playing with Barb and Shirley.

We then headed to SP to see Grandpa J and Grandma V, where we had tacos at one of the SP favorite local joints. Of course, we had to play a couple of hands of UNO, where Max kicked our butts with one massive win!

Fall break was not spent on a beach this year, but we all had a great time exploring Chicago and seeing family in WI.

Fall Break: Part I

 This year, for Fall break, Max picked Chicago, or you could call it a tour of the Midwest. I tried to convince him to go to an island so I could relax on a beach, but he really wanted to see Chicago. We spent a few days in the Windy City, then drove up to Green Bay for a Packers game, then a little drive to Madison for a night. It was a very busy week, but Max did pick a fun Fall break trip. 

The first day we arrived it was a rainy day. It was a light rain, but very cloudy and cold with the wind. A typical Midwest rainy day. Us Arizona people loved the rainy day. Once we got settled in at the Westin, we walked to Nike's flagship store on Michigan Avenue so Max could do some shopping. To my surprise, he only bought one pair of shoes and one hoodie, but the store was not as exciting as we had hoped. 

We headed back to the hotel in the windstorm.

The guys had deep-dish pizza at Grandpa T's favorite Chicago pizza place, Gino's East. They were out of gluten-free crust, so I had a bowl of iceberg lettuce with grilled chicken on top. 

The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium.

We spent a few hours there and saw tons of fish. My favorite was the beluga whales. 

Next up was lunch at Eatily. Max loved this place in New York, so he wanted to go to the one in Chicago and get Alfredo prepared at the table. This boy was very happy!

We headed to the Ice Cream Museum. This was meant to be something different to do in Chicago and something for Max. Throughout the self-guided tour we tasted eight different ice cream flavors. My favorite was the cherry sorbet and Max's favorite was the chocolate with chocolate chunks that was made with oat milk.

For dinner, we went to Gibson's. This place was fantastic. Our waiter was amazing, and you could tell he'd worked there a really long time. Max and I shared an order of oysters for the appetizer. This is one of our favorite things to eat together. Andy declined the oysters.

The next day we went to show Max the Bean. He thought it was cool. It was nice that the sun was out and the weather was really nice. 

After the Bean, we walked around, and Max did a little shopping. He found a fun Chicago T-shirt before we took a picture on the bridge.

Next up was one of the things I wanted to do. We visited the Cloud Bar at the top of the building formerly known as the Hancock Building. This is also where I did the leaning experience. This is where you lean on the glass, and it moves forward away from the building, and you are looking straight down. It was crazy. I was a bit scared, but I am glad I did it. Max chickened out right before they started leaning the glass, and Andy said "no way" before we even went up. Besides that, the bar at the top was pretty cool to just chill and enjoy the view.

It wouldn't be a trip to Chicago without seeing a Cubs game. The best thing is that Ryan drove down to meet up with us and go to the game. The genes are strong in this picture!

It was a night game in the Windy City. This meant it was cold. I was freezing!!! I couldn't get warm. It was so cold that it almost ruined the experience for me. Max stayed warm with a hot chocolate. I kept going to the bathroom to stay warm. The highlight for me is that this stadium has a dedicated gluten-free food stand. It was AMAZING! I ordered a hot dog, and it was the first time in ten years. I was happy! More stadiums should do this.

The first part of Fall break is over. I went shopping in the morning for a little bit, and then we packed up and drove 3.5 hours to Green Bay.

August Roundup

 The month of August went by fast even though we didn't do much. This month in my annual photo book is pretty bare. I don't even have many photos to include in it. After a quick Summer break and a busy July, we really just chilled all month long. We went to two of Stella's plays. Max started golf again. No pictures from either golf or the plays. 

We did get to see our extended framily, Brian and Amber, a few different times throughout the month. That was a highlight since we don't see them much anymore. I only have photos to share from one of our dinners with them this month. We had a great time and I tried my first dirty martini. I learned dirty martinis are not my thing. There was a lot of laughter and plenty of drinks that resulted in an Uber ride home. 

Like I said, August was a chill month but a fast month. Not many photos to share with everyone, but September will be much busier with Fall break and hopefully many photos to share.