Some Fun Fall Photos

I bought a Groupon a few weeks ago for our Christmas cards & realized after that I had to order the cards before November 15-- which is a little early... even for me :-) The next month or so is pretty packed and the weather is starting to turn, so we headed out to Mumm Napa a few Sundays ago to snap some pics of the kids while the sun was still shining. We got a lot of cute pictures-- I think Dylan is finally over his determination to ruin all my photos! Here are a few cute ones... 

Halloween

We celebrated Halloween this year with the usual festivities.... lots of friends over for dinner, then trick-or-treating with all the kiddos with the wine wagon in tow :-) Here are some pics from all the activities...

Dylan's preschool class. Yes-- that is Dylan making the lovely face

Sitting with some of his buddies

Pin the nose on the pumpkin

Savannah's jack-o-lantern

Dylan's jack-o-lantern

Yvettie enjoying the crisp fall air

Sylvester & Lala Loopsy

Savannah & some of her friends from school

Dylan & Matteo all ready to trick-or-treat

Dylan, Chris & Matteo

Maylor, Savannah & Bella

AND.... we're off!!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!!!

Savannah & Joey-- still best buddies :-)

Disneyland!!

We recently took a short trip down to Orange County to see the Coye family AND make a quick visit to Disneyland. It was Dylan's first plane ride and it is hard to say whether he was more excited about that or going to Disneyland. I was not a very good photographer, but we had a great trip. The kids were super brave and went on ALL the big rides-- Thunder Mountain (which Savannah ended up shutting down for a good portion of the afternoon-- but that is a whole other story. Those interested can inquire within), Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain and Star Tours! I was really surprised at how brave Dylan was. Auntie KK and Coral joined us too, which was really fun-- Savannah & Dylan love seeing their cousins! Friday we visited Gigi at work and got to see all the awesome Christmas decorations at Roger's Garden. We also took Papa John out to lunch to celebrate his birthday. Then Friday night the kid's had a sleepover at Gigi & Papa's with all their cousins while Mitch & I went out to dinner with Kevin, Karin, Kelly & Naomi. Unfortunately Saturday afternoon we had to head home. It was a short but sweet trip!

Ready to "blast off"-- he really yelled that when the plane took off!

Some love for Goofy

Waiting in line for Star Tours-- Dylan was pretty much in awe

Savannah & Coco

Fall Fun!

Meet Murdoch & Sparkles

Yes it is true-- the kids talked us into getting another pet-- or pets. Although in hindsight I don't really think it took much convincing... Mitch may even have initiated the idea. The good news is that they are fairly low maintenance & the kids are really enjoying them. Plus we almost walked out of the pet store with a new adopted puppy-- a chiuaua no less!!! I figured we got off easy & I don't plan on going back to the pet store anytime soon with my husband or kids! Without further adieu....

This is Savannah's fish-- Sparkles. Savannah is thrilled because the fish (which of course is a girl according to its proud new owner) appears to have lipstick on

This is Dylan's fish, Murdoch. Yes, it is absolutely shocking he named his fish after a Thomas train.

Sparkles & Murdoch's lovely new home in all its colorful glory!

Mitch-a-Palooza 2011

We spent Labor Day weekend down on the Central Coast celebrating Mitch's birthday-- this now annual celebration is also known as Mitch-a-Palooza! We rented a house last year in Edna Valley with some great friends to celebrate the big 3-5 for Mitch. We had a fabulous time & decided to go back this year, only this time we stayed on the beach in Cayucos. We were able to come down and leave the kids with Pommy & Papa on Thursday night, then head out on Friday for a fun weekend. We rented a funky little house just steps away from the beach and had a wonderful time. We spent lots of time walking on the beach, drinking good wine & enjoying the company of fabulous friends. Plus we could sleep with the windows open and hear the ocean-- my favorite!! Can't wait for next year...

Molly & Andy joined us for the weekend

Shots of tequila to celebrate!

The birthday boy!

Andy inspired some serious MJ impersonations with his gift

Too funny

Me & my birthday boy

We went tasting on Saturday. We hardly ever go tasting at home, but LOVE to hit up the wineries on the central coast. This is at Dark Star  & Brian Benson Cellars-- our absolute favorite! The lady on the end is Susan Benson (the winemakers' wife & mother) and her dog Gracie.

One of our nightly strolls on the beack

Molly & Mitch with the annual birthday pie

Relaxing on the beach 

Beautiful sunset from our deck

Dylan's 1st Day of Preschool

Dylan had his 1st day of preschool today-- well technically not his 1st since he went to a structured day care for a short time when he was two at the same place-- but this was his 1st day in traditional preschool class :-) He was so excited and proud to go-- if you can't tell by looking at the picture. We were able to go Friday to an open house to see his classroom and meet his teacher and he has been asking constantly since then to go back. Since Savannah goes to school, he thinks it is a pretty cool thing to be like his sissy! He had a great day and was so excited to share all the details tonight at dinner- such a big boy!!

Yvettie's "Baby"

Our babysitter Jenica rescued a 3 week old kitten this last weekend named Teddy & brought it over to the house while she was watching the kids. The kids loved it of course--- BUT Yvette loved it WAY more!!! She completely thought it was here baby and wanted to take care of it. If she didn't have the kitten right next to here she was either pacing nervously or hovering as closely as she could to see it. It was so sweet.... of course the kids are convinced we need to get Yvette a kitten now-- me, not so much!!

1st Day of School: FIRST Grade!!!

Today was Savannah's first day of FIRST grade! It is absolutely crazy to me that my "baby" is in first grade eating lunch at the "big kids" tables & playing on the "big kids" playground.   Her teacher this year is Mrs. Bower and she is absolutely AMAZING-- Savannah has so been looking forward to being in her class. We are so thankful we ended up at such a wonderful school with a very strong sense of community involvement. I love that it is a small school-- there is only 1 class per grade-- which means she will be in class with the same 22 kids through 5th grade... so cool! She had a great first day & is very excited for the school year, as are Mitch & I. Although, the reality of how busy the year is going to be is really sinking in... new job, PTA Secretary, chairing the Red & White Affair (BIG fundraiser for the school) & leading Daisies--- yikes!!! If anyone has any extra hours in the day they would like to donate to me I am graciously accepting donations!

Savannah & Dylan

My BIG 1st grader

Savannah & some of her buddies

Savannah & Lily

Listening to morning announcements

Taking a tour-- moving out of the kindergarten playground & room is  a big step!