happy halloween!!!

jack + I spotted this creepy stretch of fog on our way to the grocery store.... it's going to be a fun day!!

have a great one, everyone!!

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so long, long hair!!

*comingsoon*

figs...mmmm.

we picked a few figs from one of the trees in our yard and made this delectable dish - figs sauteed with toasted walnuts + honey. soooo yummy. we are LOVING our new house + yard with fruit trees galore.

up next in our pick + eat adventures: persimmons.

apple hill 2009

the family tradition continues... we took a quick road trip to our apple country on sunday. we love this fall family tradition! jack ran around like a maniac - such a different experience than our 2007 + 2008 visits to apple hill.

we were joined by the willis fam: jason, kristin, autumn, + austin. they represented our 2008 trip, snuggled in their stroller and enjoying the scenery. next year will be CRAZY with three kids running around!

heading to apple hill...

Jack's ready! Juice, goldfish, scary monster blanket. It's a beautiful day, so we're heading to the foothills to partake in fresh apple juice + cider, caramel covered marshmallows, candied apples, + warm apple pie a la mode. We're meeting up with the Willis fam.

(We have a new camera so posts to come as soon as I can get it together! My life, that is...not the camera...)

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andy's visit

andy ventured to northern cali after visiting his girlfriend's family in canada before returning to hawaii. it was great having him here for a few days. mostly we chilled at the house + bbqed. the boys put together a basketball hoop + jet skiid in between these activities:

the boys were pumped to head to the nut tree airport in vacaville for a p51 mustang show. here they are drooling over a cessna - all three made great plane noises throughout the day. it amazes me how much of a 'boy' jack is - ridiculous.

we went wine tasting with andy's parents in suisun valley at wooden valley winery. andy + pete bought cheeses, breads, crackers, and fruit to enjoy. jack + i took this picture from the car (with the phone) -- we went smack-dab in the middle of jack's usuall afternoon nap time. jack needed a rest in the car before we were able to return to the festivities. great wine, snacks, and company!

jack's eventful morning...

snuggling in his big boy bed walking around in mommy's shoe

catching up on current events

painting the floor + tv

picture project

*photo disclaimer - my camera kicked the bucket (again!) - camera phone is all i have*

i've been decorating (yay!) + was super excited to get up our family photos. i really enjoy a mixture of pics, all in black frames, from various times of our lives together. surprisingly, there's not a ton of wall space in our new home, but the hallway was perfect for the grouping. my process:

after measuring the wall space, i used craft paper to create a layout

traced + labeled where frames were placed

leveled craft paper on wall, nailed holes

put the puzzle together, voila!

our favorite song

this is the green family fave right now (besides this great diddy, which we made a dance routine to :)):

Morning Snack

We picked this delicious green apple from the remaining apple tree next to out house on our morning walk - perfectly yummy!
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donner lake

pete, jack, + i drove up to donner lake to spend the weekend with the willis family. jason is a rock-crawler, so pete wanted to watch him compete. they had a dirty time while kristin, the twins, jack, + i went grocery shopping and started cooking + relaxing. the kids were great the entire time! naps galore, swimming, sunning, + eating for all :) we love the lake and thank the willis for such a great time at the cabin... when's the next trip?!?!?

crab apple jam!

we made it with these from my front yard:

we boiled...
we juiced...
we boiled again (with sugar this time)...
we canned (jarred?)...
taste test pending...not sure how long it sits? any other crab apple ideas? do you can?

our bounty!

right or left?

as mentioned, jack and i have been frequenting local veggie patches. loving larry's produce (we also get pumpkins here) with les was a blast! laughing at the vegetable patch was great, too. i told les that i can leave my new circle, take one turn, either left or right, and visit a ton of great places. by turning left, i run into my parents' house, kerry's house (gf from hs), a convenient store with all the necessities, gas, hiking, a great walking trail, etc. with a right turn i'm able to visit a winery, a strawberry farm, cherry farm, + kiwi farm, a few vegetable stands, a little art, and if i keep going (no turns still), hamilton house, big italian pizza, the canepa deli, a great burger joint, sushi place, donuts, and eventually a raleys and texas roadhouse. there are soooo many other stops to be made along the way - pete only takes the right out of our court and a right on one street to get to work everyday! anyhoo, les + i took to exploring one of the many suisun valley wonders last weekend... here are our pics:

*updated for l+d* the vegetable patch

me: tell me about these lemon cucumbers...

owner: they're burpless.

jack: *adrhhh* (fake burp)

** les + dev... don't cucumbers make you burp? they make me burp. anyway, this was only the first of a few benefits of the fabulous lemon cucumber. jack just interrupted the list. other benefits include:
*no peeling necessary (like the english, as les taught me last weekend)
*excellent, mild flavor
*easy to marinade (take up flavor quickly), but marinading not necessary (due to 'excellent, mild flavor')

pics of our bounty later!