Once I returned from London, things continued to remain busy. The day after I got back we celebrated Halloween. This was Jake's first Halloween to include door-to-door trick-or-treating. He was supposed to be an iPod for Halloween, but when Leah took him to a Denver Parks and Rec function on Friday, Jake wanted nothing to do with his costume. He kept tearing at it and trying to pull it off. So Leah made the executive decision to get a different costume, a dragon, which made Jake MUCH happier.
He was hysterical when we went trick-or-treating! He'd walk up to a house, knock on the door, and I'd whisper the words in his ear, "Trick or Treat" and he'd hold out his bucket for candy. Then, as soon as he'd walk away from the house, he'd reach in and open the candy that he just got.  Here's a movie from Halloween to give you more details, and here's some photos, too. He's the perfect age to really get into the holiday. and it didn't stop after we got home, because our doorbell kept ringing, and Jake would run to the door to help pass out candy. He'd be watching TV, and the doorbell would ring, and he'd jump off the bed and make a beeline straight for the door. Quite funny!

I was lucky enough to have a few days of Fall Break left, so I could recover from the jet lag and ease back into work mode. Speaking of work, I got some good news from the class we're collaborating with in Australia, They are doing a film festival down there, and I agreed to work with a teacher here in the states to submit a movie to their project. They have been looking to invite schools outside their country, so it provided a good opportunity to do some international collaboration. Here's the wiki page that includes our movies. The film "Fashion" won 2nd place in the festival! Way to go!

The following weekend was all about Jake's 2nd birthday. Since November 12th fell on a Monday this year, we did our celebrating on Sunday instead. We got Jake a little Radio Flyer Tricycle, which he just loved! Leah's Dad and Joyce came over for brunch in the morning, where we shared presents and  Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

My parents stopped by in the evening for pizza at Chuck E. Cheese. This was our first visit to Chuck's, and it was a little too much stimulation for Jake. He could not sit still, was rather whiny, and kept running around the place like a madman. He couldn't stay in one place, and wanted to do everything, even though he was too small for many of the games and stuff. I could tell my Dad was over the place shortly after we arrived, which I can understand. It was a very noisy, busy place, with kids running around everywhere. But they toughed it out and stayed for about 45 minutes before heading back to Boulder. We stayed a little longer, and by the time we left our ears were ringing and we were exhausted! Luckily, so was Mr. Jake.

On Wednesday this week, Leah and I got a babysitter and went out for a special event. You see, it was 10 years ago that we first met at a club called 9th Ave. West. We had that dancing chemistry right away, and the rest, as they say, was history. This was during the height of the swing dance craze, and 9th Ave. West was the place to be. We used to go there every week, sometimes more, to dance and hang out with our friends. But swing dance quickly faded, and salsa became the hot new thing. After three years, 9th Ave. West became LaRumba, and our dancing days quickly came to an end. But on Wednesday, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of 9th Ave. West, the owners of LaRumba turned back the clock for a one-night-only event and transformed the club back to swing. We saw LOTS of our old friends from back in the day. Our friend Kurt and Tim were the DJ's, and they played all our old favorite dance songs. It was like going back in time, and it always feels so good to dance with Leah. We definitely "fit" together on the dance floor, and in life. The entire night, we found ourselves smiling and reminiscing about the good ol' days. Here's a photo from when a group of us were asked to put on a swing dancing exhibition for  corporate event, circa 1997.