Happy Halloween!!

This year for costumes we decided to go a more traditional scary route. Ella decided on a green witch, Luke wanted to be a mummy and AB was a little black cat.

 Just like last year, this neighborhood was so fun to trick or treat in. I stayed home while Lyle walked the kids around. We spooked up the outside of the house a bit before go time. My mom bought us a little machine that shines and moves ghosts on the walls so we put that up outside along with some scary music. The kids love that part!

Of course, the night ended with the big candy exchange!! I know the days are coming when we will not do this at Halloween anymore and boy will that break my heart! I love my kids!

Hanging with Annabeth

I have never taken AB to the Children's Discovery Museum on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge so I was happy when a friend invited us to go. Its a really cute museum and we both had a blast exploring. Of course going across the bridge is always fun. This view is just amazing!

Here are some fun pics from the day.  They also had a temporary glow in the dark hay maze (since its October) that she went through several times. It was really neat! We will definitely be going back soon!

Daddy's Haunted Birthday Treasure Hunt

We like to scare Daddy on his birthday...since its in October! This year we decided to spook up the house a bit and do a haunted treasure hunt. It was so so so fun! These pictures just don't do it justice. Not that it was really scary but we had so much fun doing it. First we decorated the house and got a new fog machine to make it a little scarier.

Then we hid clues all around the house....one was at the bottom of a spider filled bowl of spaghetti, one was in a bowl of Jello, one was in the dead witch's hands (Ella) and one was in the mummy that roamed around the house (Luke).

Here are some of the clues:

 This was on the front door when he got home:

The absolute best part of the night was Annabeth though. She was so excited about all the events going on! We made Daddy wait at the bottom of the stairs and Annabeth's job was to walk down the stairs and give him the first clue. We didn't practice it with her at all but when she walked down she stopped about five stairs from him, leaned over and said as loud as she could "Happy Halloween Daddy" and then handed him the clue and walked quietly back up the stairs! It was hilarious!! Luke walked around the house with his arms straight out and a clue laying in his hands, when Lyle tried to get the clue Luke slapped his hand. We had to cover his mouth with 'mummy wrap' to keep him from laughing...same thing with Ella who laid on the couch "her coffin" with a clue under her hands. The last clue lead Lyle to the back deck where we had candles lit, a chocolate cake and his presents. It was such a great night!

Later that week, Lyle and I went out to really celebrate his 41st birthday! Love you, Lyle. We really couldn't have gotten luckier! Can't wait to SCARE you again next year!

Painting pumpkins

Of course we have to paint pumpkins this time of year!!!

Every morning

After we drop Ella and Luke off at school on the way home AB always says, "Hey Mom, when we get home can I have breakfast and we snuggle on the couch watching Mickey Mouse?" How can I refuse such a sweet request! It's no wonder I'm not losing the weight like I wanted too!! As long as this girl has a peanut butter waffle, her milk and Mickey Mouse everything is right in her world! I love this little girl so much!!

My little cutie and a cake!

Had to share a couple cute pics of AB! Could a kid be any cuter?? Also, Ella is really getting good at baking (although its a painful process for me because its a mess) so I thought I would share this Halloween cake she made as well. Just a random post!

Japanese Tea Garden

The Japanese Tea Garden is in Golden Gate Park and we have never been so when Grandma came out for her visit I thought it would be the perfect time to go. It was smaller than I expected but still pretty cool. Here is a quick pic of the kids are one of the circle bridges you basically had to climb to get to the top.

Enjoying Grandma

Grandma came out for a surprise visit. It was so great having her all to myself! We spent lots of time shopping and laughing and cooking. Her is a shot of her watching Home Alone with Luke. I wish you could hear the two of them laughing in this picture. They have so much fun with her! We love you Grandma!

It's Pumpkin Season!!

Well, its October and nothing says October and Autumn like a trip to the pumpkin patch! Luckily, there is a really cute one just a mile or two from our house. We didn't go to it last year so we thought we would give it a try this year. Also, my mom was in town to go with us! Why didn't I make her get in any of the pics???
This is AB and Luke in the hay maze. Ella wouldn't get in it so I had to show her you are never to old to have fun so I crawled thru it. Not this best idea I ever had but hopefully she got the point.

 Lots of pumpkins!!!

 Of course they had to go on the hayride!

Oh these sweet kids!! Bring on the holidays!!

My little baker

Grandma got this baker's outfit for AB and she loves it!! I had to capture some cute moments with her in it. She was way too busy to look at the camera but I thought the action shot was just as cute. My little side kick!

Our Dellbrook Family--Progressive Dinner

I can't remember if I have mentioned what we call our "Dellbrook Family." Three days after we moved into our rent house on Dellbrook here in San Francisco, I was greeted by a sweet lady named Sara who brought us cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood. She and her husband live in a rent house a couple houses down on our street (her house is owned by our landlord). At the time she had a little boy named Ben who was Annabeth's age. We exchanged numbers and later she texted to invite me to the park with some other moms from the neighborhood. This started what we call our Dellbrook Family! There were four other moms in the neighborhood with children AB's age who all worked part time. We get together now about once or twice a week. They have been integral to my survival here. They introduced me to several great places to take AB, lots and lots of parks, story time at the library, and great restaurants. We babysit for each other on spur of the moment situations. I can't tell you how much I have grown to love these women and their children. I am going to really miss them!
This October during a playdate, we came up with the idea to have a progressive dinner. Since we live so close together we could easily walk to each others' houses. We started at Karissa's house (her husband is Garrick and their sone Graham) for appetizers, then Wendy Sue's (Josh and their son Milo) for soup and salad, Sara's (Jon and their sons Ben and Dan) for the entree and then Amy's (Mohit and their son and daughter Arush and Anishika) for dessert. Wendy Sue and I combined our houses since we live next door and would be running low on time if we did on 5 houses. It was such a great time!!! I hope we can do it again before we leave! Here are some pics of the kids playing and then the last one is an attempt to get us all in the pic at once. I think many of us are missing though.