Here Comes A New Shelmet

Today is Halloween, and you can't have Halloween without a pumpkin. Seriously, is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen? So today was Halloween. It was very cold and overcast since Hurricane Sandy came through on Monday. We managed to make it up to my parent's house to say hello and eat a little candy. The three of us dressed up like Zoe's favorite song I'm a Nut where she was the acorn, Cheryl was the squirrel and I was the oak. Take a look. Zoe was super cute, but she's also super fast. This picture was taken as Joe Pop was reaching out to stop her from eating a fist full of rocks. She won't eat a bottle without fussing, but she can't wait to get rocks in her mouth. Anyway, we had a great first Halloween with Zoe. We look forward to many more. As always, Zoe's set on Flickr has all of these pictures and more.

So our trip is nearing its end and we'll be returning to Philadelphia soon. We had a lot of fun visiting John, Annie and Annabelle. On Sunday we went down to Pick Place Market. It was pretty crowded and we didn't stay very long, but there was still time to ride a pig statue. On Tuesday we went out to Wallingford to walk around some of the shops. We found a place that had some excellent cupcakes and had lunch in a nice Mexican restaurant. Zoe really seemed to enjoy it and Annabelle really seemed to like the cupcakes. Before we left, we wanted to make sure that we took another 7 month picture of Zoe. She was pretty tired, but she cooperated with our request. W cannot thank the Carusos enough for all of their hospitality and generosity. The three of us had a great time and can't wait to see you all again. Be sure to check out Zoe's set on Flickr for all of these pictures and more.

On Saturday, the plan was to go out to a pumpkin patch and get some pumpkins. The day started off with Annabelle finding my belt, which I left laying around somewhere in her reach. I'm not sure why, but she seemed very entertained by it. After that, the girls sat down to share a book with Cheryl and then read it by themselves. Needless to say, they were super cute together. Once their naps finally synced up, we were ready to head out for pumpkins. The line to actually get a pumpkin was really long, so we decided to head into their Fall Festival area to check out rides, food and farm animals. Unfortunately it started to rain and we ran out before we got any pumpkins, but we did manage to get a few good pictures while we were there. We got a little wet, but it was well worth it. Zoe's set on Flickr has all of these pictures and more.

Since John and Annie were working during the days we were visiting, we went out on our own during the day. On Annie's suggestion, today we went to the Pacific Science Center. This was already on a list of things to do because it was one of the locations that I confirmed had functional photobooths. So again, after a good breakfast, we made our way downtown. Of course the first thing we did when we got there was to go into the photobooths. I haven't had a chance to scan those pictures yet, but when I do, I'll get them posted. The two main attractions for Zoe were the tropical butterfly enclosure and a set of mirrors. In the butterfly area, you had to be careful where you stepped so that you didn't harm, or even touch, any of the butterflies. Of course, one landed on Zoe's head. One of Zoe's few tricks involves mirrors, which is why the ones in the Science Center were so great. Essentially, you hold her up in front of the mirror so she can see herself ...

We flew out of Philadelphia yesterday to visit the Carusos in Seattle. It was great to finally see where John, Annie and Annabelle live, but it was even better that they already had everything we needed waiting for us since Annabelle is 14 months old. Zoe was incredibly good on the flight. She slept for just over half of the time and only fussed a little bit. Take off and landing didn't seem to bother her much at all, which is great because Cheryl and I plan on doing as much traveling with her as possible. Before we set out for the day, we made sure to eat a hearty breakfast. As always, Zoe enjoyed the solid foods the most. Once everyone ate, we loaded up in the car and took a drive out to Fremont. We took in some of the sites and had a nice lunch. Zoe took a little nap on Cheryl once we made it to Gas Works Park. Here are some of the pictures. When we got back home, Zoe and Annabelle hung out for a bit on the couch with John. They didn't do much interacting ...