California trip

Kent had to go to California for work again this week.  He decided to invite the rest of us along and take a couple days vacation.  We dropped off Kent at the airport on Wednesday so he could get to work in Irvine for the day while we drove.  We pulled in to Kent's work around 6:30 pm local time. We stayed the night crashing his work hotel near Newport. 

Thursday morning Kent went off to work again, and the rest of us headed to the beach.  We first tried out Laguna beach.  There was street parking with meters, big waves, lifeguard, volleyball, playground, and a fair amount of people. Josh would have nothing to do with the water.  It scared him to death.

Around 3:30 we left and picked up Kent from work.  He changed into his swimsuit and we headed to the second beach, Balboa Pier.  It was evening so there weren't many people in the water.  There were some beach walkers and family pictures going on.  The waves were also pretty big.  No water for Josh again.  The pier was nice and picturesque.  The sunset We left the beach to eat dinner at our new hotel room in Anaheim.

Halloween

This year we will be out of town for Halloween, so we made sure to get a little trick-or-treat fun before.  On Saturday we went to SoDa Row where they had little toys and games.  Not much candy, but it was still fun for the kids.  

Luke Skywalker started to melt down towards the end.

Costumes from L to R:

Neymar Jr. (soccer player), Luke Skywalker, Angel, and Darth Vader

On Monday we went to the rec center where they had 'colored' the pool a purple color and had pumpkins floating around (if you got there early enough----which we didn't).  Josh didn't want to go, so the older kids had a great time while I read my book.

Happy Halloween festivities!

Noctambulist

Sawyer had a word parade at school today. They choose a word and dress the part. He chose "noctambulist" which means sleep walker, so he got to wear his jammies.

First field trip

Josh had his first field trip on Wednesday.  We met up with his class at Peterson Farms for some fall fun.  Sawyer and Hayden are off track, so they came too.  We did the little corn maze, the scavenger hunt for Josh's treat for completing it, the slide off the tall hay bales (that hurt their bottoms apparently) and then picked out some pumpkins to take home.  They also got to get a few honey sticks.  On the way out we stopped by the goats and fed them some pellets.  Except for the summer like 78 degree weather, it was a great fall outing!

Student of the Month

McKinley was one of 12 kids in her school (4 per grade) chosen as Student of the Month for October.  They had an early morning breakfast and gave out the awards and little stuffed leopards.
Lately she has been telling me about kids who keep calling her a goody goody at school.  She keeps telling them proudly, that yep, she is!  I keep telling her that the kids who work hard are the ones who get to achieve their dreams.  We are proud of her and her hard work and kind heart.

4 years old!

What's your favorite color?  black
What's your favorite food?  hot dogs
What's your least favorite food?  pie
What is your favorite breakfast food?  cocoa puffs
What is your favorite animal?  Marshall (a dog)
What's your favorite thing to do?  Clean up with you
What's your favorite thing to play?  Out in the sandbox with Sadie
What's your favorite toy?  Legos
What's your favorite book?  ABC's
What's your favorite tv show?  Paw Patrol
What do you want to be when you grow up?  6 
Where is your favorite place to go?  to the carnival
Where do you want to go on vacation?  to the mountains
What makes you happy?  smiling


For breakfast he ordered Cocoa Puffs cereal.  For lunch he wanted Dinosaur chicken nuggets, and for dinner he requested hot dogs!  What an easy day!  

He opened his presents after Dad got home.  He got a legos Batman set, Paw Patrol Marshall and firetruck, two monster trucks, and some clothes. 

He got to celebrate part of his day at school.  He was the leader for the day.  He brought balloons to share with his friends as a birthday treat.   

Now his brothers are "helping" him put his legos together.  

Happy birthday Joshy bear!

Alpine Loop

 The plan was to take beautiful fall pictures up the canyon in the Alpine Loop.  Unfortunately, there was a fungus that went around up there and all the leaves are either gone, or blackened.  Not pretty.  We took the pictures anyway.