Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we shared a feast with our good friends the Nadaulds. I didn't really get any pics, but we had a great time with a lot of good food, friends and a reminder of all we have to be thankful for. Here is what I'm thankful for:

These two little munchkins and this guy.

I'm a lucky girl.

A four day weekend with no flights or long car trips was so nice. We spent Friday up at Castle Rock State Park letting the girls climb around and getting some nice R&R.

We stayed in the shady area where all the coolest rocks are.
After all the rain we've had, the rocks and trees seemed extra mossy and it felt like we were in some kind of fantasy land. Check out those trees behind GG!
Sydney is really into climbing right now and had a blast testing her skills and bravery on the rocks.

Weekend in Bolinas

We were thrilled to be invited back to the 3rd Annual Bolinas Weekend. Our friends the Tanners and Petersons are so fun and it's great to see all our little girls (now 5 and counting) play together. The weather is always a little unpredictable up there, but sitting in a cozy cottage with good friends and that wood-burning stove is the perfect cure when it's cold and foggy outside.

Two peas in a pod

climbing trees

Becca and Chloe on our hike

Our slow and not so steady progress as we hiked along the coast. Hiking with toddlers is pretty hilarious.

Tanner family photo

Our kids aren't into having their pics taken as you can tell.

Anna and GG had the best spots on the hike

All that riding tired GG right out!

Pete and the girls

Thanks for an awesome weekend guys!

Little cuties

Halloween Costumes

This year for Halloween Pete and I were farmers and the kids were a chicken and black sheep. Here we are at our church Halloween party:

The party was really well done and had great games for the kids,

trunk-or-treat and a costume parade. The kids loved it.

Sydney with Millie (as Wendy)

I made the kids costumes this year and I thought they looked so cute. On the way home from the church party Grace pulled almost all her feathers off. Our car was covered with feathers and we keep finding more! We didn't have time to fix it for the big night so she looked a little scraggly.

The night of Halloween it was so fun to have two little trick-or-treaters. GG didn't really know what was going on, but loved the excitement of the whole thing.

Syd was so excited to trick-or-treat with her buddy Sam, but I didn't

manage to get any pics of them together!

Carving pumpkins

We're ready for Halloween! Grace is still too young to know what's going on, but Sydney is so excited this year. If it was up to her we would have carved the pumpkin weeks ago. We managed to hold her off until one week before the big day. Here she is getting goopy and loving it
and here's the finished product:

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Last weekend we got away for a fun camping trip to two parks we'd never been to. We were pretty impressed by both. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and beautiful fall colors.

We saw giant sequoia trees, a bear, a coyote and lots of deer, slept in a tent, roasted marshmallows, waded in streams, hiked, marveled at the stars and the scenery.

We need to do this more often!

Apple picking

My family went apple picking every fall when I was a kid and it was one of my favorite traditions. Apple orchards aren't as easy to find out here, but we found a great place out near the coast and went with our friends the Nadauld's and Bonner's. The kids loved it-and so did I.

Hazel, Syd and GG

The apples were so crisp and tasty fresh off the trees just like I remembered.

We picked lots of little ones that our kids could eat in one session. Grace loved crunching on her mini apple and worked on this one for an hour.

She also loved the wheelbarrow for rides and just chillin' in. We couldn't keep her out of it.

Angie and Jack

Millie with a mouthful.

Pete giving rides

loving the pastoral scenery and being out on a beautiful day. We headed to the beach after to finish off a great day!

Blue Angels in SF

As far as I'm concerned the best part of Fleet Week SF is the performance of the Blue Angels jets and stunt planes. Their real performance is on Saturday and the city is crammed with people, but I discovered last year that their practice session on Friday afternoon is a great show with about half the crowd. So I talked Pete into working a half day and then heading up to the city with his girls. We sat on the beach at Crissy Field and watched the show on a beautiful, clear sunny day. It was grand!

Our spot on the beach

This is how GG kisses, sucking her lips in to make the noise

Sydney playing in the sand

We got some sand between our toes and just relaxed on the beach.

Pete and the girls being airplanes

The jets moved so fast and did so many amazing maneuvers, but that made it hard to get a good shot of them.

Syd playing chase with the waves, she couldn't get enough of the water, so we took her pants off to avoid soaking them.

Of course one of those sneaky waves eventually came along and soaked her, but she didn't seem to mind.

We grabbed dinner in the city and then both girls passed out on the drive home-great day!