Flashback :: Apple Picking (September 2014)

We had some awesome adventures last Fall...summer...well a long time ago that never made it onto the blog. But it is worth having these adventures memorialized. So, enjoy this flashback from when we went apple picking!

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Towards the end of September we headed up into the mountains to Riley's Farm to go apple picking. We had gone picking when we lived in Massachusetts and loved it, and upon finding out that California also had a thriving apple picking community we were excited. It was about a 2 hour drive outside of town, up into the mountains. The orchard was hilly and it was a cross between hiking and picking apples.

 

The farm had a old timey feel and a gold-rush educational theme. There was some butter churning and making of cider with apples by hand. One could make a whole day trip of just going to the farm and picking and learning about how life was like before the Industrial Revolution in California.

As usual, Ellie enjoyed eating applies more than picking them. And the fact that it was so hilly made it a little difficult for her to navigate. But she still had a great time. There was one apple called a Snow White Red that she wanted to try, but we couldn't find any trees of this variety marked for picking that had any apples left (apparently we went towards the end of the season).

Calvin was happy to just chill in the backpack. We had just gotten the backpack a week beforehand (a hand-me-down from good friends) and we weren't sure how much he would like it. He loved it (and still does) and was smiles the whole time. Nick and I took terms carrying him and he was very engaged with everything.

We ended up with 1/2 bushel of apples of which a high percentage ended up in Ellie's stomach soon after we got home. They were very yummy. I'm not sure which weighs more, a 1/2 bushel of apples or a 6-mo old Calvin.

After we did our apple picking, we drove around "apple country" to try and find some cider donuts. To our dismay there was only one (one!) place that had them. And of course there was a ridiculous line. But, we were out of town after a long drive and needed a snack to tide us over on the drive home. So we waited in line and got our donuts.

It was a fun day and Ellie certainly was happy to have some apples. Cal really enjoyed being outside and the fresh air.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Kost!

Sorry for the tardiness of this post, but the holiday craziness and then a post-holiday sickness got the best of me.

Anyway.. back in mid-December.. the whole family, all four of us, took a quick but fun trip back to Chicago to help my Grandma Kost celebrate her 90th birthday. We packed a LOT of stuff into just a short few days, but getting to spend time with family we don't see very often made it all worth it. People came in from Southern California, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, and even London for a great weekend.

The morning after we arrived on a late-night flight...


...we were up and at 'em to begin the birthday celebration. In addition to the party, this was also the first time most of my family (apart from my parents) got to meet Calvin. Not just my grandma, but also big cousin Tristan.








The party was held at an Olive Garden in suburban Chicago -- perhaps the only place that would put up with our boisterousness.







After lunch we all headed back to my grandma's place for some Christmas cookies and catching up. Several other friends of the family joined us there, as well. Ellie and Tristan had a great time playing together again.. holding some races in the hallway with me, Cindy, and Grandma Harrer.









But.. the fun did not end there! That Saturday night Cindy and I were lucky enough to be invited to The Second City -- so we headed downtown with my Uncles Glenn & Gordon, Aunts Sue & Gail, and my cousin Steve, and his wife Brooke. It was a hilariously good time -- mostly spent laughing at each other laughing at The Second City folks' brilliant improv comedy.


But.. that's still not all! The next day, Sunday, Ann and Calvin and I tagged along with the same group to see the Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames. Cal's first 'Hawks game was a winner!















The very next morning it was back to the airport to head home to SoCal. It was a crazy trip, but a great trip. It was excellent having fun with the entire Kost side of the family once again. It had been a long while.





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10 months old!

Calvin is now 10 months old. And he is full of energy and ready for adventure. He is constantly exploring, pulling up on things to see what he can reach. He doesn't sit still. He is still mild-mannered and happy most of the time. He has also been healthy since recovering from the flu over the holidays. For the past week he has been going to bed easily and sleeping through the night until about 6:30am; no eating in the middle of the night. He doesn't seem to like solids beyond his purees yet. He has a strong gag reflex and has had trouble with more solid foods. 

On Monday he will transfer from the infant baby room at daycare to the next room up, which is full of other active babies and walkers. I met with his new teacher who is very excited to have him join their group. She said that she has watched him in the infant room and thinks he will fit in well with the other, apparently very active, boys in her class. She also noted that he loves balls and made a point to tell me. Of course, we already knew that he liked to play with balls at home.

We can't wait to see what the future holds and more parts of his personality. We pulled out a toy that Ellie received on her first birthday, a walker/ride-on toy. Ellie also got a stroller for her first birthday and preferred that toy so this lion, nicknamed "Roar" didn't see much play. We pulled it out for Calvin today, and he LOVES it. He loves the song, he likes using it as a walker. It was fun watching him use it. Although, I can't help but think that getting him to practice walking may not necessarily be in our best interest...

Christmas 2014

What a whirlwind our Christmas, and the week leading up to it was. There was grad visions of sugarplums, homemade meals, hand made presents, elegant wrapping, a clean house, awesome gifts to teachers...you know all the things you dream about with creating beautiful memories and fun for you and your family. However, things did not go according to plan.

One week before Christmas (just after we got home from Chicago) Nick got sick. The sickest I have ever seen him. He fought through it for a couple days and then threw up the white flag and took a few sick days from work (which he NEVER does!). Of course the moment he decides to stay home I catch whatever he has. This is the sickest I have been in a LONG time, if not ever (and I had food poisoning earlier this year). Nick and I were running around the house in dust masks trying to protect the kids. However, it didn't totally work and over the weekend Cal caught whatever we had. Of course we quickly called in reinforcements and my mom came down to Pasadena to help while my dad took Ellie up to Santa Barbara to escape the germs for a couple days. It was a mess and threw everything off.

However, by Christmas Eve, we were all well enough to be excited about Christmas and the arrival of Aunt Susu. Ellie and my dad picked Susie up at the airport on Christmas Eve and headed over to our place. We spent the rest of the day setting up the Christmas tree and decorating it and the house, wrapping presents, and what people generally do on Christmas Eve. There was some last minute shopping as well. We opted not to make dinner and ordered in. But we did make cookies.

After dinner it was time for presents! Ellie was super excited. Cal had no idea what was going on but really seemed excited by everyone and all the wrapping paper.

Of course before we started opening presents we made the kids sit in front of the tree and the overwhelming pile of presents for a picture (which Ellie got frustrated with her brother..."site still and look at the camera Cal! Then we get to open presents!" The agony of waiting...)

Like I said, Cal had fun opening presents. I think he had more fun crawling around though and climbing into people's laps. And playing with the wrapping paper.

Ellie got lots and lots of presents. And she was really excited about them all. Even the toiletry bag that we got her! There were plenty of books, of course. And clothes (we got her more school uniforms for Christmas). But there was plenty of fun things. Including a Kate Spade bag for Ellie from me. Yep, I got my daughter a designer bag for Christmas. I couldn't help it...it was more for me anyway.

Aunt Susu made Cal a book with pictures of everyone from his family. Nick gave her pictures of everyone from the Harrer side. She did a really good job and we all enjoyed looking at it. It'll be an awesome keepsake and book for Cal to look at all his family!

After some cookies and watching of A Christmas Story, we finally convinced Ellie that Santa had already dropped off presents to Tristan in Chicago and it was time for her to head to bed. She convinced Susu to go to bed at the same time as her (Susie was sleeping in Ellie's room).

Christmas morning Ellie and Cal actually slept in till almost their normal wake-up times. I think it was around 6:30 that they both woke up and we were able to convince Ellie to stay in her room until Cal was fed and changed. So it was around 7:00 that we headed out to to the living room with Grandma and Grandpa to see what Santa had left. And oh my was he generous.

First the kids went through their stockings. Fortunately I had just barely enough time to finish Cal's stocking (done the morning of Christmas Eve) so that all four of us (and Mallie) had homemade stocking on the mantle. Ellie and Cal seemed excited by what was in their stockings. Cal also almost figured out how to get things out of his stocking.

Then it was time to check out the Santa presents. Ellie was impressed that Santa was able to read Cal's mind and brought him exactly what he wanted, a swing for the yard and plenty of peach baby food. She was also happy to see that Santa remembered what she asked for, an Easy Bake Oven and took it up a notch and brought a doll from her the movie du-jour, Big Hero 6 (apparently this doll is very hard to find, kinda like the Elsa dolls of last Christmas and it was a coup that one was procured by Santa).

Of course Santa didnt forget the adults in the house. Or maybe we are just older kids. Is that a flux capacitor? Yes, yes it is.

Of course after a nice breakfast of cornmeal mush, we packed up and headed up to Santa Barbara for more family, food, and presents! We had dinner at Auntie Claire and Uncle Buddy's. Claire and Jim cooked dinner and what everyone declared multiple times was the best turkey we had ever had. And yes, more presents...and tissue paper!

It was a blast and so much fun to have Calvin join in the Christmas celebrations. I think, despite some of us not being 100% that we all had a great time. It was nice to see family and take a couple days to take a breathe and relax. Ellie of course was super happy to have her best friend around, Susie, and hardly let Susie our of her eyesight. Good times, good times. We all need more vacation time to enjoy our presents now!