A Day Of Halloween Events!

It was a day of Halloween fun! This morning we went to the Annual Halloween parade at the Jelly Belly Factory. The kids got to walk through a small haunted area and collect goodies on their parade route through the factory. When they were done they entered a coloring contest, had faces painted and played games with Kelly the Clown. This year Wesley is "bumblebee" the transformer (he hates the mask!) and Bryan is a dalmation, not to be mistaken for a leopard. Wesley's buddy Brooke sported a Princess Jasmine costume and looked as cute as ever! They made quite a bunch and had a fun time today.

This evening we went to Sears to take our Halloween photos. They were running behind so our 5:30 appointment turned into a 6:30 appointment. Great fun keeping a 1 and 4 year old entertained and then to be happy and smiley for their portraits? They found some hotwheel cars on the floor and played with them. Bryan wouldn't put his down so we have his portraits with cars in them. You're probably wondering about the tucan costume. Well, Wesley's preschool required them to be a rainforest animal this year and grandma made him this costume so I figured a tucan would go better with a dalmation than a transformer. Thanks to grandma for making both of the boys' costumes this year!

Silveyville Pumpkin Patch

On Thursday we went to the Silveyville Pumpkin Patch up in Dixon (which happens to be a Christmas Tree Farm as well) with one of Wesley's classmates, Ethan. They constructed a huge Tee-Pee that had a dark hay maze with flashing monster eyes. They also had a bunch of hay bails in a rectangle which had a matress inside of it and the kids could bounce around on it. The kids had a good time running around the land as well as a good game of hide-and-go-seek in the thousands of Christmas Trees they had. Bryan's favorite was to pull around the pumpkin wagons. He's such a little worker bee!

Homemade Playdough

Wesley's been home from school all week sick with a cold. (it's already started!) Yesterday we were getting restless from being homebound so I decided that we would make homemade playdough from a recipe that my mom used to use when I was a kid. It literally takes 3 minutes to make it and we already had all of the ingredients at home. We were trying to make it purple (mixed blue and red) and it came out a funny greyish blue color. It's nice to play with right when it comes out of the pot b/c it's still warm. It's a lot more soft than the store brand! Here's the recipe if anyone's feeling creative! http://www.kinderplanet.com/playdo.htm

Failure to Take Naps...

We've been pretty busy recently which has resulted in Bryan's naps getting disturbed. We've continually had to leave when he's just been sleeping for a few minutes which entails me waking him up to go, because he won't stay asleep during the "transfer" from bed to car. The other night we were eating dinner (yeah for pizza night!) and he was sitting in his high chair drinking from his sippy cup. His eyes were getting heavier and heavier and soon enough he was passed out with his food sitting in front of him... I thought it was cute because none of the boys had EVER fallen asleep eating before...

Thank God He's Ok...

My climbing baby Bryan took a big fall this morning. It ended with his first trip to the emergency room. We were getting ready to take Wesley to school this morning and just about to walk out of the front door and I heard a massive crash and Bryan crying hysterically. I ran into his room where he was playing and found him face up pinned under his 5 foot tall chest of drawers, which happens to weigh in excess of 100 pounds. His face was above the dresser and his chest and body were smashed under it. I quickly pulled it off of him and the drawers that were also on him and he seemed to look ok. There were no visible injuries. I decided to take him to the ER anyhow just to make sure nothing was crushed or broken in his chest, rib, lung area. They took his vitals for about 30 mins and checked him out and turned out he's ok. Very lucky guy today...

MANCHESTER BEACH

We went camping this past weekend at Manchester Beach, which is on the northern coast, up in Mendocino County. The campgrounds turned out to be beautiful with a lot of trees and also had a lot of activities for the kids to do, including a hay ride to the beach, 2 playgrounds and nightly ice cream socials. The first night we spent in our tent out on the campgrounds and were raided by a racoon that ate Wesley's Hershey Bar he had to make smores! The second night we had a cabin which had bunk beds, a full bed and the best part, a heater!

Wesley loved the freedom he had to ride around on his bike and launch down dirt hills on his bike without having to worry about cars coming and people being around. Bryan had a good time being outside but developed an odd fear of the sand. When we went to the beach he refused to move off of the single towel we brought for 1 1/2 hours. He was quite content on that towel watching the birds!

My favorite part of the trip was our drive through the redwoods on the way home. The sun was at the perfect point and the water was crystal clear. The redwoods were very pretty.

An Eventful Weekend!

We were quite busy this weekend! Friday, Wesley went to school and swimming lessons. Saturday we drove down to San Jose where we attended my Aunt Jill's surprise 60th birthday party. Sunday we went to the air show at Travis where we met up with my cousin Kim and husband Herb and their son, and, Wesley's little buddy Jagger. After the air show we feasted at the Olive Garden for dinner. (yum) And today, Monday, we drove down to Benicia to Lake Herman. Wesley and Jimmie rode the lake trail on bikes and Bryan and I walked it. They ended up doing the full ride, 5 miles and Bryan and I walked about 3.5 of the 5. It was just too hot for us! =)