Costume Crazy

We got it! By the time we got around to buying Chip's Halloween costume, it was sold out on every web site we could find (and we couldn't find it in any real stores, either). So we did what every other 21st-century consumer does: we went to eBay. We lost two auctions for it. One of those went from our $30 bid to $67, and the other went from our $36 bid to $76. Someone wanted to pay almost $80 for a costume! We were prepared to cut holes in a sheet for our little ghost, if sheets weren't so darned expensive.

Anyway, while we were watching those losing auctions, we continued to watch the e-stores and found one that restocked their costumes in Gabriel's size, so we bought one. Now, they've sold out again and the auctions are heating back up. One is currently at $66 and rising with just over half an hour to go.

We got our housewarming/anniversary present from Mom and Dad K today. Isn't it beautiful?!

You can see in the first photo in this post that we've been to the pumpkin patch. We went to Burt's Farm and couldn't believe how many people were there! You can see below just about half of the crowd. We stocked up on pumpkins and gourds of all sizes and have them all over the house and porches. It feels like autumn now. Here are some photos from our trip. Can you find Matt and the Chipster in the first one?

Since the mornings are beginning to get a little chilly, we figured that we should have the chimney cleaned. The next day, Tuesday, we had our first fire in our new home. Here's a picture:

And one more thing... it was Katie's birthday on the 9th of October, and although we thought about it for weeks ahead of time and many times since, we didn't call her or even send a card. BAD COUSINS!!!!! But Belated Happy Birthday, Katie, and just think - my dad got his birthday present a couple weeks ago, and his birthday was in August. That means that if you get a card before Christmas, you're way ahead of the game. Ha!

A Boatload of Sushi

We just went out to Taki Japanese Steakhouse for sushi to celebrate Matt's recognition and bonus for work well done (as usual). To make it special, we got the "Love Boat for two", which was a chef's selection and included octopus (yes, that includes the suckers on the tentacles and they're chewy), various nigiri, some California rolls, some crab with a lemon wedge, and some beautiful large hunks of salmon, tuna, and yellowtail on the side. It actually came in a giant boat. We also went through a 300 mL bottle of cold sake, soup, salad, and a beef tataki (that's raw beef) appetizer. It was definitely one of our meal highlights of the year. As a reward for finishing the entire boat and Patty having room to spare in her bottomless pit of a stomach, our waiter brought us each rainbow sherbet on the house. We were in sushi heaven. Here is evidence of our sinking of the sushi Titanic:

GO BLUE!!!

Probably the most exciting one second of our life... or this season, anyway.

Climb Every Mountain

Gabriel took his mommy to Kennesaw Mountain today. We took the bus to the upper parking lot, and Gabriel climbed all the way to the summit from there. He ate lunch, and then we started back down to the parking lot, where we caught the bus back down. [That's the city of Atlanta at the horizon behind us, by the way.] We had a great time!

Attached At The Hip

Gabriel seems to be attached at the hip to his mommy. Here's evidence. Today's other photo is of the ring we made from the amethyst Chip got at the pumpkin patch: