Sonny Acres and other happenings

Sunday night we had our annual trip to Sonny Acres to pick out our pumpkins and have some fall fun. Joey and Andrew enjoyed running around, but were in heaven when they saw the train and cars that they could ride. Thank goodness we got there late enough where there was only 10 minutes left for rides! They took advantage of every second though. Jillian enjoyed playing with the pumpkins, but fell asleep shortly after getting home. Grandma, Auntie Christy, Uncle Chris, Andrew, and Emma left shortly after we got home, but Joey and Daddy stayed up to carve the big pumpkin. Of course Joey did a Mickey pumpkin! Joey helped Daddy carve the pumpkin, but when it came to pulling out the seeds, Joey took one look, actually gagged (ok, I guess no surprise there), and said "I don't like pumpkins!" and wanted no part of it!


Here is a potpourri of what else has been going on this month since the last update. We celebrated GG Joe's 88th birthdday at Grandma's house. GG Joe is the fittest 88 year old you'll ever find, always playing Mr. Fix It and always on the go. October 10 was my 9th marathon. It was my worst time overall, but my first marathon back since having 3 kids, so I was happy to have finished! Joey really seems to enjoy coming to watch me run. He will wake up early 4:30am with no problem and trek to the city with Grandma to cheer me on. Auntie Christy, Andrew, and even Emma also came down to see me at a few different spots along the course. Thanks for the cheers, it was so refreshing to see you all! I heard Emma was bopping along to Elvis singing in Lincoln Park and was having a great time at the race. Joey and Jillian came to Assumption to help me put the other "estate" back in order from fall clean up. I don't usually have my camera with me, but we were having some snacks out there and I had the camera in my diaper bag. They enjoyed being in the open, playing, blowing bubbles, and picnicking with their brother. I pointed to Josh's picture and asked Joey who it was and he said "My brother Josh." So sweet. The following weekend Auntie Trish came by to hang out with us for a while and go to lunch. It was a fun day, and Jillian loved all the attention from her Godmother! This past weekend we also had a visit from Uncle Mark, Auntie Miya, and Nathan. Watching Nathan, Joey, and Jillian playing was a lot of fun, but even better was watching Nathan pet and play with Java. He kept smiling and laughing...his laugh is so infectious, its adorable. I always seem to forget to take pictures, but we had a great time with them. Joey, Jillian, and Java really enjoyed Nathan's company (as did we!).


And finally, last but not least, Java has an update of her own. Java had a hematoma and had to have surgery on Monday. She came home with a big bandage on as well as a cone. She did not tolerate the hard cone at the vet, so they gave her a softer one, but she still seems mortified to be wearing it. She went to get her bandage off today, but they had to rebandage her because while her ear is healing nicely as soon as they took the bandage off she shook her ears and seemed interested in her new freedom. Poor Java will have to have the bandage on until Monday, and the cone is supposed to be on until November 8 when her stitches come out. I guess she'll have a costume of her own this year for Halloween! Outside of Joey telling us Java has a booboo, and Jillian attempting to free Java from the cone once in a while, they have been very gentle and patient with her while she's been recouperating.