Discovery Kingdom

We took my mom with us to Discovery Kingdom last weekend.  They had it decorated for Halloween which M loved (scares K to death).  We had the most beautiful weather and a great time.  K was finally brave enough to get on the swings and loved it.  The 2nd time she even held her arms up the entire time.  Lots of laughs.  That evening, my mom sent Brian and I out for a date night.  We went to dinner and a movie.  I fell asleep about 15 minutes after the movie started and slept through the WHOLE THING.  Must have been a lot of fun for Brian, huh?  I was exhaused and I think the cocktails we had at dinner got to me!! 

They loved the hay-maze.  Brian hid and the kids had to find him.  "Where are you Daddy?"

Here's a great one of M searching.

Shhhhhhh!!

She didn't want me to ride with her but I had to!!  Miss Independent.

Granny and the kids.

M took this one.

Tea Party with Granny

My mom came up last weekend and as soon as K saw her she decided she wanted to have a tea party with her.  I looked in my (bare) cupboards and found some Ritz Crackers, applesauce and grapes.  Their tea was Apple Cider from Apple Hill.  They had a great time.  K's favorite part is pouring.  I couldn't resist snapping a few photos.

Cheers.

Cute one.

"I'll pour it."

Kissy face ... love this one.  She looks so happy.

Halloween Cookies

We made Halloween Cookies the other day after M got home from school.  They enjoyed decorating eating the cookies and frosting.  This didn't quite turn out like I thought it would.  The kids were fighting like crazy over who got to help me with what and just being so bratty.  After setting it all up, they helped me decorate about 5 cookies each and then were over it.  I was left to do the other 75 and of course clean up the mess!!  Won't be doing sugar cookies again for a while ... maybe chocolate chip or oatmeal.

Don't let the smile fool ya, he was a grouch.

Decorating her cookie.

M usually doesn't like frosting but he liked it on his cookies after all.

Sneaky, sneaky.  I don't know how she didn't get a tummy ache.

What a mess.  I also had to clean up the disaster from the rolling pin/flour/cookie cutters.

More later.

Stop, Drop & Roll

Last week was Fire Prevention Week so Brian took his gear to M's Kindergarten to do a presentation.  M was so excited and proud to see his dad show up.  First they talked about prevention and then about what to do if you ever catch on fire or if there is a fire in your house.  I don't have any pictures of Brian doing the Stop, Drop and Roll because K had to go potty right then (bummer).  Then he put all his gear on and talked to the kids about not being afraid of firefighters.  The kids loved it and especially loved being able to touch all of the equipment. 

K played with the equipment also.

Pumpkin time at Apple Hill

Sharon, (Brian's Sister) was in California for business and stopped by for a visit.  We decided to head up to Apple Hill after M got out of school.  It was a perfect chilly day up there and we went on a Monday so there weren't any crowds.  It's a tradition for us to go up there around this time of year and get our pumpkins and enjoy some of the yummy apple treats.  Our favorites are the donuts and caramel applies from High Hill Ranch. 

M was elbowing K and she couldn't stop laughing.  Cute one.

Brian, Sharon and K.

Pumpkin shopping.

I'll take him, please.

They quickly posed for a picture together.

It's heeeeaaaavy.

K kept picking out pumpkins and running them over to our pile.  Before I knew it, she had 4 or 5 over there but we narrowed it down to 2.

They loved feeding the animals at Plubell's and of course, the donuts from High Hill Ranch.

Pony Rides.

Auntie reading to the kids before bed.

More later.  I'm watching The Proposal with my Mom.  If you haven't seen it, run out and see it ... so good.

My little helper

K has been quite the big helper girl lately.  She ENJOYS doing chores around the house with me (huge difference between boys and girls, huh?)  She regularly sprays the stains on our clothing with Shout before I wash them, cleans the glass table outside, cleans my sliding glass door, puts the silverware away after it's been washed in the dishwasher, helps me cook and sets the table for dinner.  The other day, she even put our refrigerated groceries away.  I hope this continues but I know it won't.  Here are a few pictures of her ... hard at work.

I got a set of Crayola's Washable Paints the other day at Michael's (with my 40% off coupon) for about $4.00 so while M was at school, I set up an art studio for K outside.  It was a beautiful day.  We love girl time.

She is really into it here.

I poured the paints in one of my old muffin tins.  She loved that.

The masterpiece.

Weekend Away in Santa Margarita

We met the McMullin's at the Santa Margarita KOA Campground last weekend.  M had a minimum day so we headed out of town around 1:00, stopped by Coalinga to see my mom and ended up getting there around 7:30.  It was about 5 hours of driving but so worth it.  I've missed Dyan (all of them, really) so much since they moved - at least we talk on the phone daily.  Instead of pulling the trailer, we stayed in the cabins which were great.  Nothing fancy for sure but they were clean.  The McMullin's got there about 8:30 and the fun began.  The kids immediately started playing the grown-ups were able to sit by the campfire and catch up. 

Saturday we hung around camp in the morning and then went to Morro Bay.  We were all craving fish and chips for lunch.  After lunch, we walked around a little, went to the small aquarium that's been there forever and then headed back to camp.  They brought a me a birthday cake and a bottle of champagne (my birthday was Friday the 2nd).  Dyan and I had enjoyed Mimosa's Satuday afternoon.  Monte made a yummy shrimp boil for dinner.  Boy did it get cold that night.  It was 37 degrees when we woke up on Sunday morning.  Thank goodness for the heater in the cabin.  The kids were all very good for the most part - my kids were over-tired and crabby on the way home but each slept for about 1 1/2 hours.  I can't wait to to plan our next get together.  Lots of pictures below.

A great shot of the kids.

Morro Bay Rock.

The boys had a great time together.  They played Lego Star Wars quite a bit.  We laughed and called them twins because they both had their Old Navy sweatshirts on.  (Dyan and I like the same things)

The kids in Morro Bay.

This is why I don't have more pictures of K.  She growls.

Love this one.  Brrrr ... it was chilly.  It seems like it always is there.

The little playground at the KOA.

A cute on of M.

The boys had a great time in the Halloween Store.  This one cracks me up.

Our humble abode.  The kids loved the porch swing.

So fun.

Brian has been in class all week and the kids M has been very difficult.  He's not listening, pestering K and has been soooooooo grouchy.  Very disrespectful.  I don't know what to do to get him to change his attitude.  Mornings are tough ... getting him to get himself dressed (usually in a hurry) is like pulling teeth.  It doesn't seem to help if I wake him up earlier.  Rewards charts and taking toys away isn't working either.  I'm jealous of Brian.  He been hanging out all week after class with his buddies from work and is currently at the season opener San Jose Sharks hockey game.  Why can't the hospital ever send me to anything?  He gets home Friday night and I work all weekend.  Ugh.

M had his first playdate (without me) today after school.  He was going to ride his bike to N's house (with his Mom).  I was worried that he would be scared or wouldn't want to go so I met them after school with his bike/helmet.  M came shooting out of the school, jumped on his bike, I put his helmet on, he gave me a quick kiss and off he went ... smiling and yelling, "Bye Mom."  I must say it was cute ... almost brought tears to my eyes.  Why have I been so tearful lately?  They played at his house, went to the park and then she called to have me come and pick him up at about 4:30 pm.  Seemed like he had a great time.  I got so much done ... cleaned out the refrigerator and about 4 kitchen cupboards.

M was mad that I wouldn't give him a dollar today and asked me to give him green paper when we got home because he was just going to make his own money.  He though it was a great idea.  I remembered I had a toy with fake money in it from the dollar store and gave it to him.  He was excited about it immediately started pretending he ran a general store.  When I walked in the store he actually said, "If you need help finding anything, I'll be walking around.  It's a pretty nice day outside, isn't it?"  He looked at one of the $5 bills and said, "Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President."  How smart is he? 

K said, "Look at the palm trees, Mom ... I also have palms on my hands."  (we were in the In & Out Drive-Thru).  K is obsessed with Elmo's World all of a sudden.  She has been my best little buddy lately.

Best Buds Again

M hasn't seen J since his days at St. Johns Preschool (2 months).  Over the last few weeks or so, M's been talking about J more and asking if they could play together.  Brian said he brought a picture of J downstairs the other day and was bummed.  M was in the playroom yesterday and said, "Mom, I really miss my friend J.  Why can't I see him anymore?"  The look on his face made me so sad.  I quickly went out to my car, snuck in the other room and looked for his Mom's phone number on my cell phone.  I called and asked if I could pick J up and take him to the park with us.  We didn't tell either of the boys so it would be a complete surprise.  Well, today I told M that we were going to the great park in Woodland but didn't say anything about Jack.  He whined the entire way about wanting to see Jack ... "He didn't move away Mom, why can't I see him?"  I just kept telling him I'd think about it and maybe we could visit J next week.  M wasn't paying attention and I pulled up in from of J's house.  He realized where we were and got the biggest smile on his face.  Then he said, "You tricked me, Mom!!!"  J had the cutest reaction ... we were already in his house when he came home from school.  He smiled but then stood there frozen. 

Just look at these happy boys.  M had a smile on his face the entire time.  I haven't seen him that happy in a while and it made me feel so good.  It seems like he's been a little sad since leaving St. Johns.  He really needs a playmate ... someone that can come over and he can develop a close friendship with.  Even though J's only 20 minutes away ... it's not necessarily convenient.  I'll try to get them together more often now ... hopefully J's Mom will too.

Juice Boxes and Lollipops.

They ran around the park for 2 1/2 hours and boy was M exhausted on the way home.  They played Star Wars the entire time (both of them are huge fans - maybe J even more than M).  M was Luke Skywalker and J was Obi-Wan-Kenobi.  See the light-sabers in their hands?

M, I hope you had a wonderful day ... you deserve it.  You're such a great kid and I love you.
Mommy