National Lampoons take St. Louis

As most of you may know by now, my family chooses to celebrate our holidays a week earlier to avoid any and all family conflicts. This past week was no different. Last Thursday evening we set off in the I44 East sunset filled with antique shops, liquor stores, firework stands, and naughty shops.  Fortunately, our road trip routine has gotten pretty predictable (knock on wood...seriously...knock on it). As Kori strums away on the iPad and Stacey does whatever she can to NOT talk to me, my options are limited to memorizing Baby Genius DVDs or vetoing any purchase Stacey tries to submit from the passenger seat. These are simply observations I find funny.  Like last week, I was in the shower and noticed I had the smallest loofah out of our family of three. And yes, I loofah and it's frickin' epic when you have one that's bigger than a Christmas ornament.

Back to the trip, my friends. Friday, our day was spent at a photo shoot that was NOT so innovative at Portrait Innovations. I've yet to be impressed with the photographers they produce. I swear that training manual is titled close to the following, "It's their time but it's your agenda." Again, it's an observation. You can't go too wrong with my niece and daughter in their Christmas best.

Saturday brought few surprises which made for a relaxing day. We deep fried our turkey and had a buffet of food to compliment. Minus some Oklahoma football, it was a pretty great weekend. Hope to visit with some of the friends next trip.

As for the ride back Sunday, the girls napped, watched movies, and played on their phone while I struggled to keep my eyes open/fought the down pour...and the multiple reminders to "get new windshield wipers."  Would I have it any other way? Nah.


You know how in a fairy tale there's always a potion that makes the princess fall asleep and then the guys start kissing her? Well, this is like that except you don't wake up in a castle - you wake up in a frat house with a bad reputation.
~Phil Dunphy

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on our trip to St. Louis....so here are some recent ones

High fiving on the swings

Kori's new favorite pass time

Trick or Treat: Season Two

We all know there is only so much you can do with a 16 month old on Halloween. What some might NOT know is that there is plenty a 16 month old can do or say on Halloween. Last year Kori was about 4 months old so we dressed her up as a Bumble Bee and carried her to a few houses. Simple enough right? Not much to talk about here. What a difference a year makes. For the most part, she walked to 6 houses, grabbed her own candy (tricked her own treat), and screamed “DIE!” at the top of lungs to several neighborhood unknowns.

Back Story:
Kori has mastered the art of saying “hi” to just about anyone. If it’s NOT your kid, it’s probably annoying. That’s the level we’re on. With that said, she’s also trying other words such as hot (ot), shoe/sit (shat), ice (aye), etc. Well, her interpretation of sky sounds like die, and that’s exactly what she said most of the night. She was looking and pointing towards the “die” but it was dark out so who knows what others were thinking. Can you imagine though? I did. Picture skipping right along to that next house with you and your kids, and out of nowhere you hear a baby’s voice telling you to “DIE!” DIE!”
Haha! Guess you had to be there. I’ll tell you what though. Through the years, I’ve built up a pretty hilarious network of friends, but Kori gets the “Last Comic Standing” award. As most of you can say about your kids, they can make you laugh harder than you ever imagined. I don’t have many bad days, but when I do they only last til 6:30 p.m. or when I walk in the door after work. Whatever comes first.

Flash forward to the following Friday and you’ll get something just as a scary, a few hours out and about with dad. Believe it or not, I don’t get to take Kori too many places by myself. Stacey had a dentist appointment and I had to run errands. So I put my dad boots on and out the door we went. Yeah right? It took me longer to get out the house than it did to run errands. First off, know that I cannot put together any type of outfit that meets the “mom approval.” At first glance, I usually get a laugh and “that doesn’t go together.” If any existing or future dads read this blog, know that your margin for failure will be less if you go for comfort versus aiming to please. In case you were wondering what I went with…I went with a sure fire, can’t miss outfit that would succeed on all comfort levels: Cardinal hoodie, black leggings, fuzzy black boots, and a white bow. Boom! Let’s do this girl. Wait! I got to get the diapers, wipes, a snack, and bevy.

Next up:
Dry cleaners, gas station, the mall, photo booth, Disney store, Orange Julius, and play area. FACE!
“Sorry I fell asleep while you were describing the most boring party ever.”
~Phil Dunphy

 

 

Since the Halloween pictures were posted on the last blog here is what this past weekend was like for the Cowley Family

Just going to walmart with dad

Always a great time with dad's in charge

Pulling the grocery's out of the bag

Anxiously awaiting for the football game to start

Sunday Funday at the park

 

Ouch! That's my face.

Hope we still have an audience out there. These blogs can really get
away from you. One day you're turning a blog into the boss (wife) about one
holiday and poof...the next is here already and you're defending
yourself against a table of old college buddies at Oktoberfest on why you haven't updated the story in awhile(wink).
Since I last reported on the wondering mind of our 15+ month old
daughter, we've ventured on a few excursions. One inparticular was the
Carmichael Pumpkin Patch which sems to be a must-do this time of year in
Tulsa. After seeing pics of Stacey and Kori's trip last year to some
random tent that specialized in carrying wart covered pumpkins, I
decided to interven.
I was pretty impressed with the patch to be honest. Great selection of
pumpkins in all sizes, reasonable prices, very photo friendly, petting
zoo (we decided to spare the animals on this occassion), hayrides,
homemade jelly, and plenty of good people watching.
Personally, it could be looked at as a wasted trip cause our pumpkin
masterpieces have already started to rot and Kori spent most of the
time trying to steal my knife, eat the pumpkin guts, and splatter the
pumpkin of Mr. Riggles as if it was his own head. One might look at this as a Halloween celebration gone terribly
wrong but what "classic" family stories end with everything in one
piece and no mess. Pick me!!! (Hand Raised) The correct answer is
none. Tell me a story about the most perfect family outing where
everyone gets along all day, nobody gets hurt, you're on time for
everything, and a frickin rainbow followed you around all day. Tell me
that story and I'll show you a liar. Ha. I love the challenge of
getting from A to B and all the Tom Foolery that comes with it. So
yeah, our pumpkin patch weekend wasn't filled with turtlenecks and
pumpkin cider but it was ours. And now, I have a story to tell. Thanks
Kori for being dangerously curious about all the things you shouldn't
touch and all the things you shouldn't eat. We probably watch too much
YouTube and act inappropriately in restaurants but we have a good time. If I can just get her to stop slapping me in the face, we'll be good. The other night she snuck up behind me while I was laying on the floor belly up watching TV and she brought the thunder clap down on my face with both hands. No joke...that frickin hurt, and just as I was convincing myself to NOT laugh she brought the encore. Note to self, don't laugh when you get club punched by your kid unless you want another one.

If you wanna fly I'm not gonna hold your feet to the ground, I'm gonna be the one to push you off the cliff.
~Phil Dunphy (Season 3)

                                          Get ready for our Halloween/Fall photo montage

1 of 2 trips to the pumpkin patch

I want this one!!!

Trying to force her to look at the camera is virtually impossible

Carving pumpkins

Our family of pumpkins

Second trip to the pumpkin patch

Why can't I pick it up?!?

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treating

Loves smelling flowers....and that blur is the little referee (Riggles)