Elburn Forest Preserve...

This past weekend was such a beautiful weekend for it being November. The sun was out and the air was a crisp 60-65 degrees. So, on Sunday we decided to take advantage of such a nice day and head out to the Elburn Forest Preserve, which is a park area in the nearby town of Elburn. We always pass it when heading out to Geneva to go shopping, so we decided it would be a good day to go and check it out. It turned out to be a very relaxing and serene area; we wish we lived closer to it.

A picture of Kaila from beyond my belly...
We need to do something with that hair. She's getting better at having it put up, but obviously not on this day...
Even Sadie got to join in on the fun...

So here's a cute story. I asked Kaila if she was having fun and as usual her answer is always, "noooo." So after I asked her that, she got this idea that she wanted fries. She kept saying "fries," so finally I told her, "I'm sorry honey, but there's no McDonalds out here in the woods." Of course she looked at me dumbfounded, but then Cisco goes on to answer, "But we do have 3G (Internet)!"

So here is a picture of him and what he usually does everywhere we go. I don't know what he would do without his iphone...
A beautiful November day in Illinois...

Free Burritos!

While Halloween means free candy for kids, Halloween also means free food for adults! At Chipotle, if you dress up as a burrito, you get a free burrito, and if you know the burritos at Chipotle, they're huge! How do you dress up as a burrito? It's as simple as wrapping yourself up in aluminum foil, as if you were a freshly made burrito. Now it's gotten to the point that people just put a piece of aluminum foil on their head, and it counts. So with the Gilson's, we headed down to Chipotle at night to get our free burrito.

So as you can see, it's pretty easy to get a free burrito. Kaui had foil wrapped around her pregnant belly, Todd had a piece on his head, Cisco wore a foil "bandana," and Mel had a legit costume, being wrapped from shoulders to feet.

Mel with Kaila.

Kaila with foil wrapped around her torso, and it worked!! We got a free burrito with her too!

Taco Bell also was giving out free Black Jack Taco's, but by the time we finished our huge burritos, we were so full. Ah, the things we do for free food!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween Kaila dressed up as an angel, the "angel" that she is...just kidding! She's our little angel, but she does have her moments like all kids her age do. You could tell she knew it was a special day because she got all dressed up for her music class in the morning (even though she was the only kid dressed up for Halloween...c'mon parents :) After music class, we headed over to Michaels where they had a special workshop for kids to make some Halloween crafts. We figured she didn't need any candy, so this would be her Trick-or-Treat "treat" for Halloween. Plus it was frigid out and her parents didn't want to brave the cold weather. So, we ended up staying in for the night handing out candy to the neighborhood kids, which she seemed to enjoy because she got to greet everyone with a "hi" and "bye-bye."

Later in the evening, we headed to Chipotle with the Gilsons to get our free burrito. For everyone who doesn't know the deal with Chipotle on Halloween: if you dress up like a burrito on Halloween between the hours of 6-10pm, you get a free burrito. So what we did, and what everyone else did, was wrap ourselves in aluminum foil and tadah you got a burrito! We scored with Kaila 'cause she got us an extra burrito ;) We had a lot of fun doing it and will post pictures in a later entry.

Oh our little angel...
Her angelic pose...
Showing off her angel wings with daddy...
Helping mommy make a spider out of Crayola Model Magic at Michaels...
Mommy's Halloween pumpkin nails...

Pumpkin picking & carving/painting...

On Saturday, we went to Kuipers Farm to go pumpkin picking. The weather was not ideal (a freezing 45 degrees with a nasty wind chill), but we put it off until the weekend before Halloween, so this was our only chance. It was a quick trip, but nonetheless we had a lot of fun choosing our pumpkins and looking at the goodies they had in the Barn Store.

Our two pumpkins...
Prepping the table for carving & painting...
Painting in progress...
Kaila & her finished product...
Cisco hard at work carving...
Before...
After...
Our finished products out on our stoop...
Happy Halloween!

Vandal Gameday!!

The big day was Saturday, or as we call it back in Idaho, "Vandal Gameday." We were hoping and praying that the weather would be nice, since the forecast called for lots of clouds and some rain. Boy, were our prayers answered. The weather was spectacular for a fall day: temps in the mid-60's, lots of sun, with a few clouds here and there. We got all decked out and headed over to the Husky Stadium.

Idaho cheerleading outfit on, ready to roll!

Before the game, we stopped by the bookstore for souvenirs for Mike and Erin. The Husky fans were very nice to us, complementing Mom, Mike and Erin for making the trip out.

Tailgating animal, with fellow UI College of Business alums.

Happy to finally have gotten to our seats, and seeing our boyz out there.

Happy Vandal family

The Boss with the sideline passes.

Getting down to the field during pre-game warm-ups.

Cisco and Mike in heaven, as Kaila is amazed by how big the people are.

Still in shock that they're down on the field.

Cisco saying hello to a player he used to work with in the weight room while still at Idaho. He was able to say hello to a few, not all of them. Didn't want to distract them.

Trying to get a pic next to Big Mike Iupati (#77 wit the long hair), an NFL-bound offensive lineman.

One last pre-game pow-wow with Coach Akey

Getting pumped before the game!!

Opening kickoff!

Our first offensive possession.

With Grandma and Grandpa.

Saying that we're #1 with Auntie Erin

"I-D-A-H-O, IDAHO, IDAHO, GO-GO-GO!" At the end of the weekend, she could say that pretty well.

Loving the fact we were leading pretty much the whole game.

Back on the sidelines in the 4th quarter. Got them backed up in their own territory.

Akey and coaches giving the offense some advice during a timeout.

It was THEIR honeymoon too.

Cisco calls this the "victory formation," take a knee to end the game.

"SCOREBOARD!!"

Players singing the fight song with the Idaho fans. *goosebumps*

"Came a tribe from the north, brave and bold....."

It was such an awesome experience. We held off a late NIU surge to win the game. This was a big win for the program, one that's been in shambles for almost a decade. We were so happy to have been able to experience a monumental win, in person. Cisco was even able to be interviewed during half-time by the Idaho radio announcers. Basically talked about being a Vandal in Husky country. Such a great time, and a great win. So proud to be a Vandal.....

The weekend came and went. It was short, but absolutely fun. Kaila had a lot of fun with her Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Erin, and Uncle Mike. Hopefully we get to see them all soon. GO VANDALS!!