How we welcomed October

It's no secret that I love this time of year. It's also no secret that I kind of refer to this entire season as pre-Christmas. It's coming people! 

We greeted October with an early trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids got attacked by/ fed these crazy goats, took a lot of pictures and picked their own mini pumpkins that have been sitting on our fireplace ever since.

Brygit has pink hair in these photos because we tried to temporarily dye her hair red to go with her Ariel Halloween costume. Only the temporary dye wasn't so temporary and she had pink hair for about a week. 

This bunny loved Liam but wasn't paying Brygit the same attention.

History Repeating

My two kids are practically opposites. Every day is a new day filled with new obstacles and experiences I've never dealt with before. But sometimes, I have these strong moments of nostalgia. When Liam is at school and Brygit and I are playing at home, I'm sometimes reminded of little 3 year old Liam. Particularly when Brygit went through her toy train phase.

Or that day she learned how to drive the power wheel. 

I guess they are not all that different after all. 

It's all about the hotel

 

Traveling with my kids gets easier and more fun the older they get. Last month we took a trip to La Jolla to attempt to snorkel. The beach was crowded, super hot, and then there was a sighting of a hammerhead shark that made the snorkeling part of our trip pretty much non existent. Luckily we were staying at Embassy Suites which happens to be our favorite hotel. It's quiet at night, the beds are possibly more comfortable than my bed at home, and with a free cooked-to-order breakfast buffet, who can complain? The kids started off by unpacking their things and putting them where they belong around the room.

 

 

Then a ton of time was spent staring at the Koi pond they have in the lobby. In the morning the kids were actually given little cups of food to feed the fish which was, really, the highlight of their entire trip.

 

Time was spent climbing on furniture and dancing to music from the clock radio.

 

Then my little travelers packed up and said goodbye to their favorite hotel.

 

Have I mentioned we are taking these two on a plane ride to Disney World in a couple months? By the looks of this picture, I think they are ready.

Liam is 6! (And has been for a while)

 

Hello, hello! I'm not even going to pretend I tried to blog over the past few weeks. I just honestly haven't. Every now and then I think I might but I just don't. For some reason, October has finally given me the itch. I decorated my house for fall, bought ridiculous amounts of festive candy and have already bought a couple pumpkins. Somehow, that makes me feel like blogging. So, let's go back a bit. Way back to August when this little guy turned 6! Six, people! It wasn't an easy one for me, that's for sure. But we celebrated anyway! Liam got to open an early present from us since he went through his first week of school with no tears. He didn't cry, but I did. I didn't get a present.

 

 

Then, on the day of his actual birthday we ate in the trolly at the Old Spaghetti Factory as requested.

 

And opened more presents.

 

That weekend we had family over for a Minecraft themed birthday party. If your six year old son has ever requested such a thing, you should know that there are no Minecraft party supplies so you will be going it alone. Paul was in charge of the cake and, if you're a Minecraft fan, you'll notice that its pretty darn accurate and adorable. Complete with a lava pit, waterfall, and candle "torches."

 

On my end, I used a lot of Sharpie.

 

And Liam was in charge of the welcome sign for the door.

 

He ate pizza, opened gifts and then got to be the "caller" for Minecraft Bingo (one of his favorite things to do).

 

Having a six year old is definitely a different world. There's a lot of homework and a ton of video game playing followed by a lot of homework nagging and video game nagging from me. And then there's at night, just before bed when I read to him until my throat hurts and he's begging for just one more chapter. Then I say goodnight and I hear him call through the dark, "I love you. See you tomorrow!" And all I hear is my sweet little baby. Six years old or not, he's still just my baby.

A Comprehensive Post about Everything

 

 

Hello there! Liam had his first day of school today so I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and throw a bunch of pictures from our summer out there since I completely neglected to do so the past few weeks. But first, can I just say that starting school is ROUGH. I can't be alone in that opinion, can I? I just want Liam to be at home with me all day. I mean, I don't, but I do. School was not something, as a new parent, I anticipated to cause so much stress, but, really, I've had a much harder time with this than Liam has. I have been having "first day" dreams all week. You know the ones where he forgets to wear pants or he's an hour late the first day. Then I smile all morning and make him be brave only for me to head home and burst into tears in front of the kitchen sink. I might have done better if we never got a summer break.

 

Which brings me back to our summer break. It was much too short but a ton of fun. I'll start with the Fourth of July since that is what was still on my camera card. We swam and ate with family as is tradition then watched an amazing firework show put on by the local church. We missed Paul but we had a blast.

 

And from this point forward, all pictures will be from my iphone.

 

This picture was taken on the very first day of summer when Liam had his adenoids removed and tubes put into his ears to finally drain them. He had been hard of hearing ever since an ear infection in February so it was something that had to be done and we were waiting for school to be out to do it. I really shouldn't be complaining about the first day of school because I can't even go into the trauma of watching your kid wake up from anesthesia when they don't know where they are and they are upset and hurting and the doctors won't let you in until they are calmed down. Pure torture.

 

Luckily, he healed up very quickly and we got our summer started. I made every attempt possible to keep Liam interested in reading over the summer. We attended several special events at our local library,

 

I had Liam read to me while "Superman"ing on my feet,

 

and we visited the school library to take quizzes on the books he read while Brygit pretended to be a police dispatcher.

 

We swam a lot.

 

And sun bathed.

 

We went to the movies a couple of times.

 

And to the splash pad,

 

the park

 

and a family train ride down to Olvera Street.

 

Topped off with a trip to the beach.

 

I'm sad it's over but I'm also very much looking forward to helping Liam learn everything a First Grader knows. Plus, this must mean that Fall is on its way, right? Eventually? At some point?