More Pics Of The Monrovia House

Here are more photos of the P3's prospective new house. The listing agents staged some furnishings to give folks an idea of what it might look like when occupied.

This is the front porch area:



This is the living room, dining room and kitchen:





This is the front bedroom, bathroom and back bedroom:





And this is the backyard and back view of the house:

Singing With Daddy

Captured: Father and son, musically categorizing the utterances and location variances of Ol' MacDonald's livestock.

Change Of Venue For The P3?

The P3 had rapid, major developments in our housing status last week.

Long story short, we saw a house for sale last Sunday (pictured); we were pre-approved for a loan on Tuesday; we made an offer to purchase the house on Thursday; and our offer (or, rather, our acceptance of the sellers' counteroffer) was accepted yesterday. Contingent upon the house passing inspection without any major defects, the P3 will be moving to Monrovia, California. We are cautiously excited about 1.) buying our first home, and 2.) finally breaking into the Southern California housing market. To learn about our new locale, check out the City of Monrovia's official website, and a blog Kirsten found called Living in Monrovia.

Susan M. - if you are keeping track, Monrovia is 8 miles closer to Indiana than Pasadena.

Birthday Express

Grandma Linda surprised Riley this week with a belated birthday gift of a train! He played with it non-stop the day it arrived, even cutting his nap short so he could get back to the business of being an engineer. I'd say this gift was a hit!

Other notable events on this day in particular: Uncle Pat's birthday and the 18th anniversary of the P3 parents' first date.

Happy Birthday, Cousin Holly!

The only time we look at the calendar these days is to put a "potty" sticker on it. Tonight, as Riley was adding a sticker to the calendar to mark his evening achievement, we noticed that it was his cousin Holly's birthday. Sorry about the context, but we do wish you a happy birthday, Holly! Riley wants to know if you are having a party and if he can come.

Blogging Schedule

Those of you who check The Pickenblog daily (i.e., Susan) may have noticed that our posts occur on a somewhat less than daily basis. Generally, the majority of our activity occurs over the weekend, so it is probably safe to say that new posts will appear on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Occasionally, we may blog more often than that, but we will try to add new material at least once a week.

Riley Is Three

Riley's third birthday was Saturday, November 4. He had two birthday requests.

The first: to go to "a Snoopy park" (Camp Snoopy, Knott's Berry Farm).

He began asking to go there back in June when he saw TV commercials for the place. At the time, Chris told him he was too little, but maybe he could go when he was three. Riley is like a little elephant and does not forget things like that. "Maybe" turned into "when I am three" in his mind.

Riley's second request was for a yellow birthday cake with a blue 3 on it. We have no idea what prompted such a specific cake order. Anyway, Riley got both of his wishes and then some.

On Saturday morning, Riley opened presents from Grandfather, Grandmother (Kirsten's parents) and Aunt Kate. This was the first time he managed to open gifts on his own. He had fun tearing into the wrapping paper, though at first he tore it in tiny confetti sized pieces. Riley is sometimes an oddly cautious child.

He got a toy clock from his grandparents that teaches him how to tell time. He loves the clock and wants to take it everywhere with him, although we do not encourage him to discuss his clock with others since his pronunciation of the word omits a key consonant. He also got a great book from his aunt called On The Day You Were Born. He calls this his "person" book because of the illustration of a person floating above a globe on the book cover.



Kirsten and Chris accompanied Riley to Knott's Berry Farm in the afternoon. Riley's curiosity about the amusement park was immediately piqued when he had to walk underneath an old wooden rollercoaster on his way into the park. Once inside, he looked around in wide-eyed wonder.

The P3 spent the next four hours on rides like Lucy's Tug Boat, the Camp Snoopy Bus, Red Baron's Plane, and G8 SK8.

Editor's note: At least three hours were spent in lines.

Riley's favorite part of the afternoon, however, was probably the musical revue. We got some great pictures, and Riley left with a souvenir T-shirt and a Woodstock puppet.

Click the link below to learn a little about the amusement park, Knott's Berry Farm:

Official Home of a Snoopy Park

Susan's California Visit

As you may have guessed from the last blog entry, Kirsten's mother just visited the P3. We ate well, relaxed, explored a few new LA-area destinations (Paradise Cove, Newcomb's Ranch, the Cheese Store in Silverlake) and returned to a couple of familiar locales (Xiem Clay Center, Lacy Park). Meals included Spanish tapas at Bar Celona, clam chowder on the beach at the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, homemade pizza (a P3 tradition!), breakfast in the San Gabriel mountains, spring rolls and Crying Tiger beef at Chadaka Thai, spinach ravioli with antipasto, and garbage burritos at Mijares.

Kirsten already blogged about Friday's trip to Paradise Cove. On Saturday, Susan, Kirsten, and Riley began the day by driving 27 miles into the Angeles National Forest along the Angeles Crest Highway to weekend biker hangout Newcomb's Ranch. It's amazing that mountains in excess of 5,000 feet are just 20 minutes from the P3 household!

Susan then tagged along to Riley's Tot Lot Halloween party. Riley had bat wings, but he refused wear them even after Kirsten and Chris both put them on and ran around the house simulating bat flight. Instead, Riley chose the simple "costume" of a grey t-shirt with a bat graphic. By the way, that meant no trick or treating for Riley this year. "No costume, no treats," said mean old mom Kirsten. (Chris, however, raided the P3 candy bowl on Halloween and introduced Riley to the pleasures of Reese's peanut butter cups.)

Editor's note: "Allegedly raided."

After a couple of hours surrounded by ladybugs, butterflies, cows, pirates, and devils, Susan and Kirsten delivered Riley home to his crib. With leave from Chris, they drove to the north side of Pasadena to the Xiem Clay Center. It was the opening day for a sculptural ceramic exhibit by Tomas Owen called This Sensuous Earth. Great stuff!

As it turned out, Riley chose not to nap Saturday afternoon. But he graciously accomodated Susan and Kirsten by sleeping on the banquette throughout their entire meal at Chadaka Thai. It's a rare gift for either of the P parents to have a child-free meal at a nice restaurant!

On Sunday, Kirsten and Susan planned to seek out some of the unique shops in Silverlake, but they were waylaid by a plumbing crisis. (The less said about that the better!) While Kirsten attempted to find a plumber who would respond within an hour on a Sunday, Susan took Riley for a walk through the neighborhood. Unbeknownst to Susan, Riley had long ago memorized the route to a nearby park.

Kirsten ended up finding a very nice plumber while Riley took advantage of the opportunity to lead his unsuspecting grandmother to his secret playground destination. When they returned to the house, the plumber not only fixed the pipes but also befriended Riley by making cat noises.

After running water and flushing toilets were restored to the turn-of-the-20th-century P3 abode, Kirsten, Susan, and Riley had just enough time to drive to the gourmet cheese store in Silverlake to sniff out goodies for dinner. In addition to the spinach ravioli mentioned above, Susan bought some wonderful gruyere, olives, pepperoni, and crackers. (Another cheese did not make it to the table due to an overpowering aroma.) She and Kirsten happily nibbled, chatted, and polished off a bottle of wine, safe in the knowledge that the house had a working restroom.

Kirsten, Susan, and Riley spent Monday shopping in Old Town Pasadena, playing at Lacy Park, and stalking praying mantises.