Yup, UPS lost the rug. My dad’s theory is that the rug was so large that it doesn’t “fit” in their usual storage areas or in their normal trucks, so some UPS employee put it elsewhere temporarily, and no now one knows where that is. Mr. W called the rug company and told them about the situation, and they immediately said they’d investigate the issue with UPS themselves, and if they don’t get a satisfactory response from UPS in the next day, they’d refund our money. Mr. W said he’d really rather get another rug. Today, the rug company emailed that they haven’t gotten anywhere with UPS and will be cutting and sending another rug for us on Monday, via a different shipper. If this drags on any longer, Allie isn’t going to need a rug to break her falls. She’s flying through stages so quickly. She’s so fast she’s *almost* running now, and much more coordinated. But don’t tell that to the bruise on her knee.

Last Saturday, we thought we’d take Allie to a petting zoo in San Clemente that’s doing a pumpkin patch thing for Halloween. It isn’t big or fancy, and it smells like the ponies, zedonks, chickens, rabbits, etc. that it houses, but it was crowded with kids and Allie had fun. Pumpkins were super-cheap at $4 each, but Mr. W didn’t want to carry a giant pumpkin around with him all day. Too bad; Allie would’ve probably enjoyed eating mashed pumpkin for the next 4 months. The patch was western-themed, so there was lots of hay, a “ball pit” to jump around in with hard kernels of corn in lieu of plastic balls, a fenced-in train that goes in a small circle, old western town facade and a cardboard maze for the tiny tots.

Scary Halloween Allie Cat!

Save a horse, ride a…

…bale of hay? Allie: “Okay, you guys, stop messing with me.”

Fake fall foliage, pumpkins in 88-degree sunshine…yup, must be October in Southern California.

Allie is a chameleon.

Or a pumpkin saleswoman. Allie: “Pumpkins! Get your big, fresh pumpkins right here, $4 each!”

Allie: “You KNOW you want one of these for a jack-o-lantern. That’s why God invented Halloween.”

Allie: “If you buy a pumpkin from me, I’ll do a happy wiggle-wiggle dance for you.”


Allie: “Look at this one with the cool twisty stem. What a swell jack-o-lantern he’d make! Get a second one for a Jill-o-lantern.”

See, isn’t that worth $4 bucks? 😀

Allie taught me something that day about perspectives. There’s our way of seeing things, and then there’s a child’s way. Sometimes when a child leads us somewhere…

…it looks like there’s no purpose. She’s looking at nothing, we think, so we lose interest and move on.
Meanwhile, she’s still faithfully holding her post.

But if we give her time, we will see what she sees.

Look, a new friend!

Sometimes you have to look where others aren’t looking…

…have faith in a change of direction, even if it’s kind of uncomfortable at first…

…to look where others overlook…

…in order to find…

…that when you follow your heart…

…that there’s treasure everywhere.

When you find that treasure, you run to it…

…and you grab it and celebrate the wonders of life. Especially if the treasure is mommy’s and daddy’s bag of fresh bakery cookies.

May you live like a child this Halloween…but be as careful as a grownup. 🙂