Columbus Day Weekend

An over the top photo for an "over the top" duo! Kjersti and Carley went for a spin on the Carousal at Sesame Place (Langhorne, PA) on Saturday, 11 OCT.

No trip to Sesame Place would be complete without seeing Elmo... even if he was wearing a skeleton outfit. But waiting for the big moment seems to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

While Elmo seems cute and friendly and all, Parker (upper left) made sure that Elmo didn't pull any fast ones while everyone was looking at the camera. Way to keep him honest Parker!


The Fall Olympics are ready to begin. Next event: Leaf throwing. Take your starting positions!


Go! The leaves are everywhere! Eli has decided to focus on finding his toy cars now lost somewhere in the leaves and Kjersti's singing "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" at the top of her lungs! It's any one's game!



Just as the last leaves fall, Kjersti believes she's got it all wrapped up. Clearly, the thrill of victory is on her face!




But Eli isn't done yet and throws a few more leaves into the air. Just like that, Kjersti senses certain victory snatched from her grasp! Ohhhh, the agony of defeat!




Despite the "intense" competition, the great Fall Olympians end up in a tie in the leaf throwing event. The Gold Pumpkin now belongs to both of them.

I, Heidi, decided we need a little decoration around here. I refused to pay $4o for a wreath so I decided to get busy with our grapevines in the backyard. I am very proud of my finished product even if it does weigh close to thirty pounds and it is so thick it is really hard to get the door closed.

Two, Princess Gloves and a Badger

The number comes out clear as day, however, the visual representation still needs a little work.

Kjersti and Emma managed to turn pumpkin painting into an extreme sport. Fortunately, no one was hurt, or permanently painted, in the production of this picture.

A few months back, McDonald's was giving out blue "Princess" gloves in their Happy Meals. Whenever Kjersti gets in the "Princess Mood" just before bed, guess what she puts on? Here we see Sleeping Beauty in all her "Princess Glory".

Eli got the "Mack Transporter" from Cars last week for being able to successfully perform #2 duties on the toilet. Although he does spend some time actually playing with the toy, he spends more time with the box identifying and recommending future investments.

Ever crawl into a badger's den? I can't say that I have, but I would imagine that if you did, the badger's expression might look something like this. Heidi managed to snap this picture moments before Chubbs bit the flash right off the camera.

Bull@$%!, A Tooth and Heroics

Eli learned a new word this week. He loves his shirt with the basketball on the front and calls it, what else, his "ball shirt". Unfortunately, it sounds very similar to something completely different.

Behold, Kjersti bears humble gifts for the tooth fairy!

The new landscape of Kjersti's smile sans one tooth on her lower rack. Beautiful!

Who else could make loosing a tooth look so chic?

With the discovery of a cape, Super Chubs made his grand arrival this week.


With a dash, he set out on his first heroic act; to leap over a small stack of boxed toys...


...unfortunately, the super powers didn't kick in exactly as expected. Looks like additional Super Hero training will be required.

Never a dull moment.

Life at the House

When your parents won't let you run into the bushes and shrubs, face planting in the grass seems like a good idea. "2-year-old initiative" in action.

For the first time in our marriage, Heidi put up fruit this year. These jars of plum jam come with their own theme music. After this experience I was convinced that the only difference between Heidi and Martha Stewart was jail time.

Unfortunately, not everyone enjoyed Kjersti's presents as much as she did.

On August 20th, 2008, Kjersti turned six. Now we hear her say things like, "When I was just little, like five years old..." and, "That show is only for little kids." I had no idea the leap from five to six would be so profound.

Dr Kjersti Strong will see you as soon as she finishes eating from her Princess Lunch box. Actually, this is Kjersti on the morning of her first day of first grade.

The Allphin's Pay a Visit

Like two peas in a pod. Despite nearly nine months away from each other, Kjersti and Carly didn't skip a beat once they were reunited! They're still the best of friends!

We paid a visit to Heart Island, home of the Boldt Castle in the 1000 Island region of the St. Lawerence River. Amist the tranquil surroundings, we managed to capture the one split second where all four children are smiling, looking at the camera and sitting somewhat peacefully. The only thing that could possibily make this picture more unique is if Bigfoot was standing in the gazebo.

Here we see The Gift Shop Pirate banishing customers to Davy Jones' locker.

We managed to spend some time in Palmyra where we visited the Sacred Grove, The Hill Cumorah (see above) and E.B. Grandin's book shop where the first Book of Mormon was printed. Andy did his best to keep the chaos to a minimum so that we could get off a good shot.

The basic rule with Parker is that so long as he is in motion, he's happy. If he stops, someone's going to pay!

Quebec City Shenanigans

Quebec City is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year and they pulled out all the stops to include various role players roaming the streets in old town part of the city. As you'll see, a couple of early Quebec City "prostitutes" decided to see if they could entice my dad. Fortunately, all he got out of it was a good laugh.

Montcalm (Eli) and Wolfe (Kjersti) were the respective French and British generals that led their nations to battle in 1759 in Quebec City. That battle resulted in Quebec City falling under the rule of the British Empire and the untimely deaths of both generals. Kjersti highlights in this picture what we all know to be true: There is nothing better than laughing at a Frenchman.

Located just outside Quebec City, Montmorency Falls stands at 275 feet high, 98 feet higher than Niagara Falls. The cool thing about this falls is that it sports a nice little foot bridge that takes you right over the top of the falls. Needless to say, this feature required that we keep a close hold on our little stunt man.

Keeping the vacation interesting.

On the way back from Quebec City, we made a stop over in Montreal and went to the top of the Olympic Stadium tower. As you can see, the kids had a great view.

Attack of the Carrot Craving Elk!

During our recent trip to Quebec Province in Canada, we visited a place called Omega Park. The park is full of elk, buffalo, deer, bears and boars which all can be fed from the comfort of your vehicle. That being said, the elk and the deer are allowed to get pretty close. For just two dollars, you can purchase a big bag of carrots and feed them as much as you want. As you'll see, Eli had a great experience feeding a large elk. The whole experience kind of reminded me of pan handlers in a third world country... only bigger... much bigger.

This is what we faced after having driven roughly 15 feet into the park. A hoard of carrot craving elk! Check out the teeth on these guys. It seems fairly obvious they've been imported from the United Kingdom.

Although it didn't actually say anything, it was clear this elk was serious about getting a carrot. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if this elk had been equipped with a laser, Gary, Cody's dad, would have been finished.

Petting an elk inside your vehicle is always a bit more tense than petting one inside say... a petting zoo.

This is what it looks like when the photographer is trying to feed the elk from the back seat. This is not a preferred method.

This is what it looks like when the passenger feeds an elk coming in from the driver's side of the vehicle. This also is not a preferred method.

The deer weren't quite as invasive, so Eli actually managed to outstretch his arm in delivering this carrot.

These elk ran a checkpoint as effectively as U.S. soldiers in Iraq. They would force you to come to a stop because they would walk directly in front of your vehicle and would then come along side to request their due. This elk actually told me to put $20 between his fourth and fifth point on his antlers. It was like I was inside Disneyland, but much more threatening.

Then there was the Kjersti deer. When we tried to feed her a carrot, she actually said, "No thanks, but would you happen to have some chocolate or other tasty treats?"