Happy Halloween

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Prince Zuko verses Avatar Aang. (from Avatar: The Last Airbender) I made both costumes.

Our kids could hardly contain their excitement and stand still for photos!


Aleya was Barbie Mariposa (a butterfly fairy) and Amara was a Glamour Girl.
Amara and Aleya stuck with me and we trick-or-treated streets nearby our home.Amara met up with a few friends.

Orrin trick-or-treated with his new friend, Marcus, and his dad and sister. They moved here from Rota, Spain (Navy family).

Joseph trick-or-treated with his friends, Parker, Mark, and Chris.
Even I dressed up! Christian brought me this belly dancer costume from Dubai. I am wearing a flesh-colored dancer body suit underneath to be modest.

Aleya's First Dance Class

Aleya loved her first day of dance class. Her teacher is Miss Tracey and is Amara's teacher, too.

The choo choo train.

Aleya loves ballet the best and is quite a graceful dancer, for a 2 1/2 year old.

A quick trip to the WAP

We have had passes to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park for the better part of six years now. It doesn't get old seeing the animals in action! We just need to make time to visit more, especially since it is just Aleya and I at home on school days.

The Lions were all lounging right in front of us on this trip . . . hanging out atop this car (it is a feature in their enclosure).

No trip to the WAP is complete without the tram tour to get a closer look at the free-range animals. Aleya was mildly impressed.

Super Snorkel Day!

It was a beautiful day at La Jolla Cove. The water was a crisp 62 degrees, but it was clear and gorgeous. I wanted the kids to get another chance to snorkel when it wasn't overcast.

Orrin and I plunged in first and enjoyed viewing all the fun fish. Someone chummed the water and we found ourselves encircled in fish a few times, with fish bumping into us. Orrin was able to touch several fish.

Next Joseph and Christian took their turn and swam out to a rocky area where they could stand. Some snorkelers nearby had brought a bag of frozen peas. The fish went crazy! Joseph thought it was AWESOME to see so many fish. We'll have to bring our own bag next time.



Christian and Joseph finally returned and the kids decided to play on the beach for a while and climb on all the rocks.

While playing in the sand, we saw something large approach the beach. It was a SQUID! It was about 50 inches long. The waves nearly washed up onto Orrin's feet and it got scared and inked in the water.

Orrin couldn't help himself and reached in and gave it a pet. Watch out for the teeth!

Another squid soon followed and washed up on the rocks near shore. Several snorklers tried to push it back out to sea, but it turns out that they both came in to die.

Orrin tried to keep one alive that was stuck on the rocks by throwing water on it with a bucket.
Two eels found it lying helpless and helped themselves to dinner on its arms and tentacles. It was like National Geographic . . . LIVE!

Joseph stroked the poor creature as it took its last few breaths. Then they watched excitedly as the eels took some more bites. Wow! What an experience.

The

Our First Cruise

Christian's 40!

We can't believe it's already here! Boy has time flown by! Fortunately for Christian, 40 is the new 30. We all dressed in black, as traditionally done for the 40th birthday parties.
We had chocolate brownies (in keeping with the dark/black theme). We decided the 40 candles would be a fire hazard.

Christian received a lot of great gifts. Aleya thought the chocolate was the best. He received 2 musical cards. They were a hit with the kids! Look for them the next time you need to buy a card. They have some pretty cool ones.
We made homemade oreo cookie ice cream to go with the brownies.

Surprisingly, we were all still happy after our late party from 9-10PM, due to Orrin's baseball game. We tried to have a nice time together.

As a side note: I don't think I'll ever turn 40. I think I'll stay 24 forever. :o}

Snorkeling at La Jolla Cove

I was so excited to take my boys snorkeling for the first time at La Jolla Cove. Unfortunately, it was a little overcast and cold when we arrived (although it was in the 90s inland, back by our house). Sometimes San Diego can vary 20 degrees or more from coast to inland to mountains.
The tide was low when we arrived and the kids had fun bouncing all over the rocks. Soon the tide came in and covered most of the areas they were playing in.


Aleya played on the rocks under Dad's supervision.

The kids loved the tunnel that was filled with tide pools.

Joseph took to snorkeling like it was second nature. With our new diving snorkels, he was diving all over the place trying to catch the fish. The visability was surprisingly good, despite it being overcast.

We ventured out pretty far with Joseph and his friend, Nigel, whom we brought along. Orrin was a little more timid and so Christian stuck closer to the shore with him. I wished I had a wetsuit because the water was a bit frosty (only 68 degrees).


If you look in the back of the photo, you'll see a couple of sea lions that we were snorkeling with . . . though they were at least 30 feet away at all times.

Annual Ward Pinewood Derby and Chili Cook-off

We entered 4 cars and one pot of chili in this year's annual Ward Pinewood Derby and Chili cook-off. Men, women, and girls can enter the race, right alongside the boys.
Joseph had a friend, Sam, who lives up the street join us in making a car and racing it. He's in the #12 shirt.

Joseph made an old fashioned Rolls Royce looking car.

Guess who nearly won again? You guessed it. AMARA! She took second this year. She lost by an inch. It came down to the coin toss and lane choice. The winner, Haley Bone, won the coin toss and lane choice. We won lane choice last year and Amara won, with Haley taking 2nd last year. WOW! Was it close!

Christian made sure all the cars were aligned properly on the tracks, to give the cars the best shot at winning. Christian and I stayed up until 2 in the morning for several nights to get everything ready: wheels, axels, and paint. If you are at all into the Pinewood Derby scene, you should rent "DOWN 'N DERBY." We rented it again an watched it that night, after the races. It reminded us about the 5 most competitive families in our neighborhood that compete in the race each year. HILARIOUS! It's funnier the second time you watch, I think.

Joseph's first overnight Scout Camp.

Joseph had to gear up to go on his first overnight Scout Camp with his troop and a 5 mile hike.

It was at the Slagel Farm in San Marcos.
They built a huge bonfire in true Boy Scout fashion. "Bigger is better."

They passed off several requirements and earned a merit badge or two.

Orrin's Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta

There was a lot of tough competition this year at our Raingutter Regatta.

Every competition needs some cheerleaders!
We usually go online to get the latest and greatest tricks to win the Pinewood Derby, but we never thought of doing that for the Raingutter Regatta, until now! I got a great tip to glue the rudder on upside down. It makes it so the boat doesn't tip very much. As a result, Orrin WON!

The finals! Orrin vs. Walker. Orrin's boat never tipped once, and that clinched his victory.