{The Fort}

My children have discovered and created a magical fort down in a grove of trees at the park behind our house.  Friends have joined them and now it is a place that creates hours of imaginative play!  

 You can hear the sound of little boys giggling and shouting as they run throughout the trees!

 The muddier a boy, the happier a boy!

These shoes don't look like the brand new nike basketball shoes that I purchased one day ago!!!

If only the fort were more clean.......

{San Diego}

We traveled down to San Diego for the day to see Aunt Cat and Uncle Gabbi, who were there having a "lovers getaway," before they bring a 3rd member into their family!!!!  Yes thats right, I am going to be a new aunt!!!!  I couldn't be happier for them and myself!!!!  When Aunt Cat asked Mya if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, Mya quickly replied, "Gill!"  She is correct and can't wait to love on her new baby girl cousin!

 We met at a new children's museum, who's theme for the year was....Trash!   They created all kinds of arts and crafts, using recycled materials.  The kids had a blast and learned a lot about the importance of putting trash where it belongs and recycling.

 This house was constructed out of cardboard and the kids were encouraged to help decorate it by gluing fabric on the outside.

 This house was called the "Rain House" and you could hear the tapping of rain up above on the metal roof.  Mya spent most of her time running and putting together the massive puzzle in this house.  She was upset when we had to leave it, so uncle Gabi did his best to console her.  She however, doesn't care for men and was not happy to be in his lap,  UNTIL........

He promised to build her her very own Rain House!!!!!  Great parenting skill... lie to the child!!!

 It worked!!!!

 After the museum we went down to La Jolla to visit with the seals and to watch the sunset!

We also took turns riding around in the convertible Gabi rented and ate cupcakes on Coronado Island.  Ian now wants to buy a car where the top goes down, when he can drive.  Hope he gets a good job!

At the end of the night we ate dinner at a great hamburger joint.  The food was wonderful, but the kids were not doing well by this point.  Drew had spiked a fever and was laying down on the bench at the restaurant questioning whether he might vomit.  Owen sent a huge glass of milk flying across the table and so we had our feet resting in a pond of milk.  Ian took a dare from Gabi to chew and swallow a whole jalapeno pepper and complained about his mouth hurting the whole rest of the meal.   Mya, who had just woken from a power nap was bouncing around like the energizer bunny!  Unfortunately, it didn't end on the best of notes, and Gabi and Cat, I'm sure were glad to see us drive away, so they could get back to their quiet alone time, but we still had a great visit!

After spending the day with us, I'm sure they left wondering if they made the right decision in bringing a child into the world!  It is going to rock their world!!!  I'm sure they have now added to their prayers that their baby not only be healthy, but also calm!

{Warriors}

It was a beautiful Sunday evening, so we went out to hike around, "Fish Head Rock," which was named by my father!  He and the boys discovered the big rock, with its mouth gaping open, just outside of town.  We love to go out there to explore and to let the dogs/kids release some built up energy.

The best part about the evening was using our i-phones to skype with my parents while we climbed around on the rocks.  We moved around a lot, which might have left my parents a little queasy, but it was fun to chat and to have them see what we were doing!

 My little Warriors ready to defend us against anything that might come our way!

We stayed out until the moon came up.  I love the beautiful California weather that permits us to play outside even in November!

The dogs always love a good adventure too!

{Dare we call her the Favorite?}

My children have a special place in their hearts for their Auntie Carol!  She is very loving and always so good to them. She is patient with them, spends time doing the things they like, and listens and talks to them.  She takes time out of her busy schedule to come out and visit and we love having her with us.

We were all ecstatic when she called and told us she was coming out to see us during her Fall break.  She arrived just in time for Halloween!

Mya had a preschool Halloween party, while the boys were at school, so she had all of Carol's attention, and she loved it!

Young at heart!!!

Mya's party was up in Oak Glen, so we took Carol to our favorite apple orchard, where they make apple cider donuts.

Donuts and apples were devoured!

Enjoying Breakfast, Mya Style...Cookies and Eggs!

Owen feels the need to always "Smother Carol with Love!"

Training wheels were removed and Carol enticed Owen to ride his bike like a big boy!

The minute Ian and Drew got home from school they had her outside and moving!

Ready for some intense Trick or Treating!

The only way we were able to get Carol to sit down and do her work, was to give her the candy bag.... good motivation to grade papers!!!!

Many tears were shed at the airport from Mya when we dropped Carol off at the airport.  She didn't want her to leave and was determined to go with her back to Colorado.  I felt her pain.

I always beg Carol not to leave and she says that if Kenny can support her lifestyle, which includes traveling all over the world, she would stay!  I really need Kenny to get a fat raise this next year, so we can keep Carol forever!

{Soccer Season Comes to a Close}

 I am sad to see the end of another soccer season!  My boys all played awesome this year and continue to improve.  Their love for the game also continues to grow!  We celebrated each boys soccer team with pizza parties all on the same day, so we had to divide and conquer to be able to attend each party.

I am grateful for our wonderful neighbors, the Garrets, who helped us get Ian to and from practices and who took him to his end of the season party.  Ian and Tristan have played soccer together since they were 4 and they are great buddies!   Ian and Tristan towered over their team mates and led their team to many wins!  I have loved watching these two play together.

I attended Drew's party, because they had the best pizza!  He was in an older division this year and the intensity of the game was definitely increased.  We loved it even more!  Drew is on the smaller size for his age, but he is fierce and super competitive!  Each time he made a goal, he was jumping up on top of the players and giving high five's to his team mates.  He also did several headers, which earned him several bags of skittles from dad!  Drew thrives on the soccer field and it makes me so happy!

Owen deserved a trophy for, "Most Improved!"  Last year he would do somersaults on the field and pick the grass.  We debated to whether or not to have him play this season, and I'm glad we did!  Even though he never scored a goal, he played each and every game aggressively and was a great defender!  He enjoyed getting to play and was super excited about getting a trophy and a soccer ball bank.


Kenny and I are so proud of our little soccer players! It was a great season and we are grateful to the wonderful coaches who worked with our kids.  It is time to move on....basketball season starts in 2 weeks!

{Sundance Carnival}

Every year the PTA throws a carnival at the Sundance school.  The kids aren't allowed to wear costumes to school for Halloween, but they do get to for the "Fall" carnival!

We brought Drew's good friend, Robbie along with us for the fun!

Ninja Drew, Spiderman Owen, Ninja Robbie, Ariel (Little Mermaid) Mya, and Ninja Ian

Spiderman stops to strike a pose as he races around an obstacle course!

Ariel and Spiderman decorated pumpkins to take home.

Mia and Mya, or should I say Snow White and Ariel

 These two love playing together even though there is an age gap!

Ninja Ian coaching Mya on how to choose the winning duck!

Ninja Drew picking out another prize before running to the next game, as Spiderman throws another bean bag.  It was hard for me to get pictures of Drew because I let him loose and hardly saw him for the remainder of the night!

Musical Chairs

Mya took first place on this game!

Ian won lots of prizes at this game.

The kids all came home with a big bag of prizes and bellies full of nachos!  It was a fun night playing with friends and teachers!

Ian and the best principal in the world, Mrs. Kenny!  She is absolutely amazing and knows every kid by name.  She is always giving the kids high-five's and hugs.  She is like the energizer bunny and the kids all adore her!  We feel so blessed to be at Sundance school!