Halloween

I usually love Halloween but this year I did not get into the Halloween spirit as much as I usually do. Maybe it was due to the fact that we had an extra hot October or that this was the first year both of my children were very opinionated as to what they wanted to be and I didn't get to pick their costumes for them which was one of my favorite things about Halloween. Along with being opinionated, Jack and Callie both kept changing their minds. Jack at first wanted to be Spiderman so I bought all the costume items for him early but then a week before Halloween he adamently changed his mind. I returned all the Spiderman stuff and had slim pickings of the costumes left that close to Halloween but Jack found a vampire costume he really liked. He changed his mind again a few days later but we had to tell him that it was too late. Callie kept changing her mind too and actually ended up being 3 different things this year but since all of her costumes were mostly things we already had or hand me downs it was not a big deal.


Calie was Dora for her Playgroup party and for a friend's Halloween party.

Jack the vampire(The teeth did not last long even though he really liked them)
Callie as a pumpkin for the Ward Halloween party
This was also the first year that Rob and I did not dress up for our Ward Halloween Party. I did not think people really noticed that we dressed up but we had a lot of comments on our lack of costumes. The Primary hosted games in the Primary room this year for the ward party so I had to go early to decorate and be in Primary room the whole time resetting pins for Pumpkin bowling over and over again. Rob had to do the ward party all by himself with the kids but they had a fun time.


On Halloween night, Katie and her family came over to our house for Trick or Treating. Callie and Megan were done trick or treating early and the older kids stayed out longer and covered almost the whole neighborhood. My kids only like chocolate candy and they did not get a lot trick or treating so I had to trade out the chocolate that we were giving away and gave away all the candy they don't eat.
Jack insisted that I paint his face on Halloween so he would look extra scary.
Callie was a butterfly on Halloween night


Unrelated to Halloween, Jack had his first homework assignment in preschool over the weekend. We had to cut out a provided paper turkey and decorate him as a member of the family. Jack and Rob worked on this together and we ended up with a Darth Turkey.

California Vacation

The week of Labor day we took a 9-day trip to California to visit with Rob's family and also for Rob to go golfing. It was the first time we have been back to California in 3 years and it was our first airplane ride with two kids-something we were procrastinating. The kids did pretty well on the plane but the plane rides were sooo long. I even found myself getting restless towards the end of the flights. We spent the time in the Monterey/Carmel area and we really enjoyed the cool weather (70-75 degrees with no humidity!) and beautiful surroundings. Some of the things we did during the trip were going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Dennis the Menance Park, sightseeing along the 17 mile drive and daily walks along the beach. I think Rob enjoyed it the most because he was able to go golfing 5 days of the trip and eat at In n Out Burger twice.
Jack in the cockpit
Jack and the plane at San Jose Airport
The kids were excited to be off the plane and in California
Our surrey ride along the Monterey coast
The deer were as common as dogs in the area we stayed and roamed freely.


Our nature walk while Rob was golfing

Our many trips to the beach-Jack was a little disappointed that they were cold beaches and the water was too cold for swimming.





Jack and Callie with their cousin William
The dead dolphin that washed up on shore at the beach right by where we were staying. Uncle Bryce took Jack to see the Dolphin up close.

Jack making fondue


The Dennis the Menace park in Monterey. The kids loved this park!

Ok, I guess Rob enjoyed the park too.
The huge train engine at the park.


The kids spent the most time in this maze.


Another fun place was the Monterey Bay aquarium.
Rob taking our picture from the other side of the glass.






The last day Rob cut his golf day short and took all of us back to Spyglass so we could see where he had spent half of the vacation.

Back to school

Summer is officially over and Jack has started Pre-K. In Florida, Pre-K is part of public school and is free but optional. We were happy that the church where he had preschool offered the state's Pre-K program and they offered one of the only 3-day programs in our area(most Pre-Ks are everyday). Jack seems to enjoy going to school and he is in a bigger class this year with an assigned desk. He has a teacher and an assistant teacher both named Miss Michelle-seems like that might be confusing to 4-year olds. He is also excited that now he gets to eat lunch at school and enjoys packing his own lunch the night before.

Jack's on vacation

My parents took Jack last weekend up to their house for the week. They are taking him to movies, swimming, and spoiling him. While away, I was able to appreciate having only one child for the week which I didn't really do when I actually had one child. We had a great week and I tried to keep Callie busy so she wouldn't be bored without having Jack around. Callie did great and I am now less worried about how things will be when Jack starts Pre-K on Monday. Here's a brief recap of my one-child week.

Monday- We had a nice quiet lazy day at home which was great especially coming off a jam-packed weekend which included having a sleepover with my family at my sister's house that started Friday morning and lasted till Saturday evening while my sister was out of town, Chuck-e-cheese, swimming, me staying up till 3am Saturday night writing the Primary Program, and having friends over for dinner Sunday night. It was such a busy weekend, I felt we deserved a day off and Callie seemed to agree. That evening we also had Callie's swim lesson.

Tuesday-Callie had her first dance class. She loved it and loved getting her new tap and jazz shoes. She was so excited to go that first thing she did that morning was bring me her tights and leotard and beg to go to dance class.


After, dance we ran some errands and went grocery shopping. Callie took a nap and then we went off to swim class.


Wednesday- Callie's playgroup met at Pottery Barn kids for a sing along.

Afterwards, we met Rob for lunch and ate at P.F. Changs. That night we went to Jack's Orientation for Pre-K.




Thursday- Callie's friend Peyton came over to play for the morning and afternoon. We went to swim class and then to the Magic Kingdom. Callie was so excited to see the castle. When I asked her who lived in that castle expecting to hear her answer Cinderella, she answered matter of factly, "Me". Which goes along with when Rob asked her earlier in the week whether she was a boy or girl, she answered princess.

Callie was finally tall enough to ride on the kids rollercoaster and rode with Daddy twice.




Friday(today)- We went to Jack's playgroup for a swim party. It was sad that Jack was not with us because this was the last official playgroup since all of the kids start Pre-K on Monday and there will not be a time to all get together during the week. We have been part of this weekly playgroup for 3 years so it was sad but we had a great lunch and had a lot of fun swimming.

We had a fun week although we do miss Jack and will be excited to see him tommorrow night when he comes home. It helps knowing that he is having a blast with Grandma and Grandpa.