Happy Halloween!

Though this was not technically her first Halloween, this was really the first one where Cassie had any idea of what was going on. We took her around our new cul de sac to go trick-or-treating in her ladybug costume. She didn't really understand why we knocking on our neighbors doors at first, but then really got into the idea of people giving her fun crinkly things to hold. She much preferred trying to hold all of her candy in her two little hands, instead of carrying it in her pumpkin pail.

Fall and Apple Orchards

On one of their early trips together, John introduced Carrie to the Fall tradition in the midwest of going to an apple orchard to drink hot cider and eat delicious donuts. Though not entirely obvious, California apparently has apple orchards as well! We took Cassie to her first apple orchard this year up near Sacramento. They had cider and donuts, as well a petting farm, trail through the orchard, pony rides, and a little pumpkin patch you can see here where Cassie is playing.

Sippy Cups are for Babies

As you would expect, Cassie continues to learn at an exponential pace. As she approaches the magical 18 month mark, she is also starting to exhibit toddler opinions. One of the things that Cassie has developed a fondness for is drinking out of "real" cups, due in large part to that being encouraged at school. At meal time in her high chair, we will often let her drink out of a non-sippy cup despite the mess it sometimes makes. Cassie is pictured during a sick day here, drinking soup out her cup, with the chicken and noodles separated in her bowl.

Lenker Wedding

John got to be a groomsman in another wedding this fall when his friend Scott got married to Raquel. The wedding and reception were hosted at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma, a very artsy and photogenic location. The wedding party enjoyed themselves tremendously on the wine tour, the photo shoot, the awkward ice breaker game at the rehearsal dinner, and of course on the day itself.

Rice Krispy Xbox

For John's birthday this year, Carrie invited a few of our friends over for a smaller dinner and requested everybody bring a food that reminded them of John. Most everyone brought a pork product, some brought pork products wrapped in pork products. Ryan brought over custom made rice krispy treats shaped like Xbox controllers. The joysticks are made out of Hershey kisses, and the buttons are made out of M&Ms. They're even the right color!

Chloe and Cassie

There are several kids at Cassie's daycare, but she spends far away the most time with Chloe. They both started at similar times and have been there since the very beginning. Now that they're both running around and talking, they've become great friends and are always having new adventures that the teachers share with us each day. Here you can see them both peeking into the "teacher's area" one day at school.