Matthew & Erin's Engagement Party

A few weeks ago Erin's parents hosted a wonderful engagement party for Matthew and Erin at a Riverside favorite, Mario's Place.  If you are from Riverside, you have for sure been to Mario's Place or at least heard of it.  I think that both my parents and especially Erin's parents are locals there so it made sense to have it be the location for the engagement party.

The party was held outside on the back patio and with rain in the forecast they set up a tent to cover the whole patio.  Erin's Maid of Honor, Tonya, who is also her best friend and Matthew and Erin's roommate did a fabulous job with the decor.  Everything was so sweet and endearing, it really had a romantic feel to it.

The party was hosted with an open bar and a ton of delicious appetizers.  Sadly, I wasn't able to enjoy the open bar, but Skylar and I enjoyed the food.  There were a ton of Erin's family and friends there as well as a bunch of Matthew and Erin's friend from high school. It was nice for me to be able to catch up with Matthew's friends from high school who I hadn't seen in years. 

Skylar was having a great time running around the whole party.  She loved celebrating her Aunt and Uncle's engagement and I know she can't wait for the wedding.

Grandma even made a really sweet speech telling Erin she was so glad to have Erin become apart of our family and that she thinks of her as her own grand-daughter.

Just one big happy family! Minus Jake who had a half marathon early the next morning in San Diego and had to stay home.

Well the party went into the late late hours of the night.  I think my parents got home sometime around 1:00 am. Skylar and I ended up leaving around 8:30 pm as she was getting worn out from running all over the place, but we are glad were able to celebrate with everyone and we know this is just the beginning of happily ever after for Matthew and Erin.

Sea World's Christmas Preview

I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  I have even started doing some Christmas shopping as I'm trying to get as much done as I can before we "may" (keeping fingers crossed everything with our house goes through) be moving into our new home.  With it being the holiday season Sea World put on their Annual Christmas Preview for all season pass holders so Jake and I decided to take Skylar and meet up with Rocio and Naanelii (our Sea World buddies).  Jake left work earlier and we headed off to Sea World with a grumpy Skylar who had just wakened from a nap. 

Once we arrived I was pretty surprised how crowded it already was.  Rocio and Naanelii we running a bit late so we took Skylar directly to the Sesame Street area where she completely snapped out of her bad mood.  She was pointing to Elmo and dragged Dad to the line for the flying Elmo ride.  Next up was Abby's tea cup ride.  We let Skylar cruise around for a bit but she was wanting to play in the spray ground they had going so we thought we should get her out of there and let her look at the awesome Christmas tree Sea World had.

Right then Rocio and Naanelii arrived and Naanelli, who is such a sweetheart, went to give Skylar a big hug and hold her hand, which of course Skylar was not reciprocating.  Naanelli was in ah of the massive Christmas tree while Skylar just wanted to be with Mom.

We decided to see what else the park had to offer so we put the girls in their strollers and found the sea lions that were definitely in the holiday mood.  They were so loud, begging for everyone to throw them small fish.  The girls loved watching them.  We kept telling them that the fish were taking a bath.  Jake on the other hand who is not a fan of sea lions thought they were extremely annoying.

The main attraction that Sea World puts on during the holidays is the real snow playground they have set up for all the kids.  We found the snow, but the line was just outrageously long and we figured it wouldn't be worth it for the girls.  So we headed back to where we know the girls will have fun and went to the Sesame Street play area.  There were tons of kids playing in the bounce house which was perfect for the girls to burn off some energy in.

Last but not least we watched the Holiday Shamu Show.  I hadn't seen a Shamu show in probably 20 years so I wasn't sure what to expect or even if Skylar would sit through the whole thing, but to my surprised the show wasn't half bad and Skylar sat and watch the entire thing.  It probably helped that she was munching on some popcorn, but every time she saw Shamu she would say "WOOOOHHH, WOOOOHHH" it was pretty cute. 

I thought the whole Holiday Preview that Sea World put on was pretty good.  Skylar had a good time and now that Jake is a holder of a season pass for 2012 I'm sure we will be making many trips back to Sea World in New Year.

Having fun with Dad!

Skylar's Half Birthday

Last week Jake and I celebrated Skylar 1 1/2 Birthday.  I can't believe she is already 1 1/2.  She is just growing so fast it makes me so sad that my baby is such a big girl now.  Each day she is learning something new, example she loves locking the door from the garage to the kitchen, she locked me out once, but I had my keys with me...thank goodness.  Her language skills are getting better and better.  Her favorite thing to do is sit on your lap and point out and say all the parts on your face...."nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, ears, chin." 

For her 1/2 birthday Jake picked her up a small red velvet bundt cake which we cut in half for her to have.  Of course, she loved every bit of it and finished the entire thing.

Right now Skylar is really into puzzles, which is great for her development, but not great for our family room which is usually covered in puzzle pieces, but I know how much she loves them so we I had to get her a few more for her 1/2 birthday present.  She was so excited opening her gift and when she realized what they were she was kept saying "puzzle, puzzle."  So I guess we will put up with with a few more pieces on the floor.

Halloween - 2011

Boy, Halloween definitely takes on a totally new meaning when you move to the suburbs.  Last Halloween we were living at the beach, had a 6 month old who was just sitting up, didn't see one carved pumpkin, and didn't get one trick or treater.  This year Halloween was a weekend long event. 

It all started off on Friday night when my work put on Halloween party for everyone and their families.  They had a pumpkin carving contest, goodies for the kiddos and a haunted house.  Skylar was a mess when we first arrived after having a massive cry session after Jake and I put her in her costume, but once we got into the party and she saw all the fun everyone was having she cheered right up.  She loved running all over the office and when she found the coloring station she was in heaven because she grab a fist full of crayons and held on to them the whole night.  She didn't want to wear her pig hat until the very end of the party, which I was so happy about because I was worried I wouldn't get one picture of her in it.  She was having the best time and I pretty much had to drag her out of the haunted house so we could make it home for her bed time.

Next event was the neighborhood Halloween Parade and Party in our nearby park.  Once we arrived she was surrounded by all the girls wanting to play with her and push her around in her little car. 

When it was time for the group picture Skylar was refusing to take part in it and was off to the side crying.

Luckily she cheered up in time to participant in the parade around the neighborhood.

After the short parade march it was treat time for the kids, which put Skylar in a great mood because she enjoyed two cookies and had a great time playing on the slide.  Sadly, I never got her to wear her pig hat.

Trick of Treat time has finally arrived.  Halloween night was here and Jake and I rushed home to get Skylar ready.  Jake and I decided to dress up as Farmers to go along with our little pig.  Since we wanted to take Skylar trick or treating we didn't have anyone at home to pass out candy so we just left a massive bowl full of candy.  I can't even explain how intense our neighborhood gets on Halloween.  I have never see anything like it.  I really wish I had a nice camera so I could have taken better pictures of the houses but one street goes all out and does a pirate theme.  One of our friends live in one of the pirate houses so that is where we headed to.  There had to of been 1000s of kids and adults walking around the neighborhood. 

It was nice when we arrived at Jen and Mike's house. Skylar was able to do some trick or treating and it was nice just to have a spot to hang out at and watch everyone and everything.

Halloween definitely didn't disappoint this year and I think it's only going to get better and better as Skylar gets older and starts to have a better understanding for the holiday.

Just a small note to self, try and get a costume that doesn't require her to wear something on her head.