RAIDER POWER

WAY TO GO, RAIDERS!!!

Dino-mite Halloween

We enjoyed a lovely Halloween here in Jurassic Park. There were parties, plenty of people watching and minimal candy-induced meltdowns.

This was Jackson at the church Halloween party.

He let the Dino Wranglers come along this time.

We hit the local mall for our first trick or treating experience.

Halloween parenting lesson: the parent holds the candy . . .and later eats the candy! I had one moment of weakness in this and was quickly summoned to perform a caramel square extraction from the jaws of the dinosaur! He appears to be more herbivore than carnivore but the heartbroken roar was hard to ignore.

H A P P Y

H A L L O W E E N !

Beware of crazed arachnids.

Best Birthday Wishes

What happens when you have been friends for more than half your lives?

You get to share it all!

Including a killer fashion sense (it was TX-OU weekend).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIAN!!

Our Little Party Animal

Jackson attended his first birthday party for a friend this past weekend. Apparently, he heard that the party theme was Jungle Animals. . . because he magically morphed into PARTY ANIMAL.

The idea behind the pool was a fishing game.

PARTY ANIMAL had other ideas.

PARTY ANIMAL did a few tricks for the crowd.

These are the proud parents of PARTY ANIMAL . . .

the only child to leave the party without pants!

Pumpkin Patch Party

We took advantage of the beautiful weather this afternoon with a trip to the Arboretum. All the fall plantings and displays were beautiful and Jackson LOVED the wide open spaces for running.

It took less than a minute for him to realize how much fun the other kids seemed to be having throwing hay.

Dining with Dependants: East meets Mid-west Pizza Style

Today, we decided to expand our palate pleasing adventure to food of the Mid-West. We tried out a new Chicago-style pizzaria that just opened by our neighborhood. Pizza is a serious study around our house. It was the first adult food that Jackson ate at the same time as us - a true family meal. I've been naming it as a favorite food since elementary school. My brother in law loves pizza so much he could write a dissertation on the subject . . . hmm . . . doctor of pizzalogy. . . nice ring, huh.

The pizza gold-standard at our house is Brooklyn's. We love the Bronx Italiano, no red peppers or scallions. Though I feared what the garlic might do to the stomach of a small child, Jackson seems no worse for the wear. In fact, he loves flavor of any kind. We tried and tried to get him to eat some of the baby foods and in the end they were just too bland for him. Brooklyn's pizza has amazing flavor. It's kind of a taste explosion. The tomatos are chopped rather than as sauce too, which I think is delightful.

The new contendor was Rosati's Pizza. They serve Chicago-style pizza based on a Italian family recipe. The pie was large and generous with a thick crust. However, it just didn't pack the same flavor punch as our friends from the East Coast. Pizza from Dairyland, it would seem, has a big emphasis on cheese. It seemed like a solid wall of it. As one who has dined on cheese-free pizza at the behest of a certain college roommate, the cheese to pizza ratio is a very delicate balance for me. There was a lot of sauce as well and it was quite thick. It seemed more like a friend of the tomato than an actual tomato product - like Cheez Whiz is a friend of cheese.

The clear winner: we like our pizza from the burough!

It's Little J approved.