Summer's First Halloween! (Not for the faint of heart)

Here are some shots from Summer's first Halloween in the wild. We cruised the downtown Mountain View neighborhood, scored some candy, and Summer seemed to enjoy all the strange sights. She was a butterfly.

Here she is riding the good ship Mommy.

Here's a scary ghost thing in front of someone's house.

I think I know how they made this skeleton fly.

More random cuteness.

I think Ron would have been scarier without Summer's pink fuzzy butterfly hat.

Julia looking very un-scary.

Happy Halloween!!

It was Summer and mommy's turn to host our playgroups' monthly 'Lunch and Play'. Lucky for me because Halloween is my favorite holiday! Ron and I had the best time decorating and carving pumpkins. I made some yummy autumn-inspired soups and salads and other mommies brought delicious cupcakes, cookies and gift bags. All the babies looked so cute in costume including Summer, the butterfly. They had a fun time playing together and we got some great photos!


Little Julia and Summer

Group Photo: from left- Rose the witch, Larkin the 49er cheerleader, Emily the bee, Julia the cheerleader, Summer the butterfly, Chatanya the bear, Madeline the Danish girl, Devon the Donald Duck and Chance the monkey.


mmmm......soup

Let's Slide!

Summer's... ummm... slide.

Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Summer went to her first pumpkin patch with her friends Larkin and Emily. We arrived at Farmer John's Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay. We gathered the babies in the wagon and proceeded to pick out our perfect pumpkins: one tall, thin pumpkin and one big and fat. There were so many to choose from it was hard to pick! Summer enjoyed the bumpy wagon ride that was just like the bumpy jeep. Farmer John, himself, took us on a hayride through the patch which all the babies enjoyed. The moms took advatage of every photo op. We purchased our pumpkins from Farmer John's wife and squeezed all the babes in the car just beating the rainstorm. It was a very fun adventure!

Summer being gently sprinkled with tiny raindrops ( :

Me and Hitler's Globe

I've been busy as of late writing about a man who is parting ways with a bit of history. I'll remember meeting this fine gentleman from Oakland, holding this odd piece of history in my hands and running a finger along the border of "Italian East Africa" (as it was then known) and being fairly glad I didn't drop the whole thing on my toe. That would have been the very definition of a "Day of Infamy."

For the unitiated, ABC is nice enough to keep my byline...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3731826

The New York Times stiffs me yet again... sigh
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Hitlers-Globe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

- Ron

New York Cousins

Julia's NY Cousins, Chloe and Lauren (livin' in LA by way of NY) came to visit last weekend. We enjoyed lunch in downtown Mountain View, squeezed into our tiny apartment with the entire Calyer clan for pizza and drank many a bubble tea. Julia even got to have a girls' night out with the help of her wonderful husband who insisted she went out and have fun while he watched Summer. Here's some pics sent by the lovely cousin Chloe. Julia borrowed some of Chloe's captions that cracked her up! ( : Chloe and Summer at lunch

"Buster loves Lauren"

" Summer loves Grammy"

Summer with the Ross Family

"Schuyler/ Calyer/ Walsh"

"(Chloe and Lauren) love each other"

"Lauren with coconut snow bubble"

"mmmm...bubble tea"

"bubble tea and designer bags"

Halloween poll.

I've added a poll question on the right side of this page. "Is Halloween a `holiday?'
Please feel free to vote.

- Ron

S.F. @ Night

I had an event to attend in the city after work. It got late... night fell... and things caught my eye.

Stand Up Girl

Summer's favorite place to stand is along the bathtub. She has started to lift her leg as to climb in it. That's our water baby!

Laughs

There are many things that make Summer laugh. It all began with her first laugh ever from watching Buster. Now she is a professional laugher:

Ummm.... yeah.

Summer: "Daddy? Can I play Halo 3 on XBox 360?"

Daddy: "Try walking first, then we'll talk."

Summer: "OK. FYI, I'm poopy."

Gadgets!

I like gadgets. Thankfully, I get to write about gadgets. Here's the latest: a professional grade turntable with direct USB out to your PC, so you can rip vinyl-to-MP3 on the fly. Suh-weet!

- Ron

Santa Cruz

We went to Santa Cruz for a few days, my home town.

- Ron