Twinkle Toes

My mom told me when I was little she tried to put me into dance and I hated it.  I fought going and I don't think I lasted more than a few months.  Thank goodness Skylar love any and all activities we put her in, with dance being her absolute favorite. 

 This year we switched dance studios and are now at Carlsbad Dance Centre.  We have heard wonderful things about it and Skylar said she likes her new dance class better than her last.  They are a bit more strict at this studio than our last, so when it comes to observing we only get to watch the girls twice a year.  This morning was the first of the observation class and I definitely didn't want to to miss it.  I never get to see her dance since her class is on one of my work days so I made a point to take the morning off to be able to watch her.  She is in a tap/ballet combo class.

Strike a pose!  I definitely can see improvement from a year ago.

All smiles.  

It was such a special morning being able to see my little girl in her element and know that she doesn't have two left feet like her Mom.

Brick or Treat

Our Halloween festivities roll on with us going to Legoland for Brick or Treat with Sophie and Kael.  Skylar wanted to dress up as Cinderalla, who is her favorite princess this week.  We went to Brick or Treat last year which was very overwhelming and extremely crowded.  I remember we lost Skylar for like 30 seconds and I felt like I would never find her again because it was so crowded.  So I was pretty nervous about going again this year.  Jake and I decided he and Madden we stay home and do a Dad Date and I would just take Skylar for some one on one time.

 



 

 

Cinderalla, Zarina the Pirate Fairy, and Transformer Bumblebee.  We all checked into Brick or Treat and than had dinner at the Legoland Hotel before going back into the park.

 

 

We spent most of our time at the aquarium.  It was hosting Wanda's Dance Party. The place was practically emptied and the girls danced with Wanda and Jellyfish umbrellas.

 

 

Yes, that little weird jellyfish hand puppet is Wanda.

 

 

The girls participated in the choreographed dance put on by Wanda's handlers.

 

 

  

 

After getting their groove on, the kids wanted to go into the park for a ride and some more trick or treating. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Legoland did a great job decorating for the event and the kids loved looking at all the lights and spooky decorations.  The place ended up being pretty empty, which was great.  The kids left happy with candy and a lego set.  Brick or Treat was a total success! 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Cousin Nico and Uncle Jessee's Annual Visit

This weekend was a special one because we had two awesome visitors.  Uncle Jessee and cousin Nico came down for their annual visit to San Diego and we couldn't of been happier to have them.  Jessee wanted to make this trip extra special for Nico so he surprised him by taking him to Disneyland for the first time.  Being Disney regulars lately it didn't take any convincing for us.  The kids and I went up the night before.  We did California, stayed in a hotel (which of course, the kids loved), and met up with Jake, Jessee and Nico the next morning when the gates opened.  For the first couple hours we were walking on rides.

 

Nico's first ever ride at Disneyland, the Jungle Cruise, which he really enjoyed.  After that we walked onto Pirates of the Caribbean, which he didn't really love.  Think the dark got to him.  He turned it around real quick and he, Jessee, Jake and Skylar did Big Thunder Mountain.  Skylar's first "real" roller coaster.  Yes, she came off with a couple tears but we were really proud of her for doing it.

 

The kiddos and Jake rode the carousel while Jessee, Nico and I did Mr. Toads.

 

 

 

Tea Cups!

 

 

It's a Small World.  Skylar's new favorite ride.  Skylar said that Nico kept asking why wasn't the ride going faster.

 

 

Meeting Minnie and Mickey.  The boys didn't want to meet Minnie.

 

 

 

Toontown Fun.  We did a show, which the kids loved and then ate some lunch.  Shortly after that the kids and I decided to head home so the boys could do all the bigger rides.

 

 

Nico being a HUGE Star Wars fan said that Star Tours was his favorite ride of the day.

 

 

As our family knows, Nico isn't a fan of water.  He very much dislikes water on his head and never puts his head under water when swimming.  He has definitely gotten better, but Jessee was still a little worried about taking him on Splash Mountain, but not knowing when they would be back, it was a must ride.  They said after the first big dip Nico and Uncle Jake got soaking wet.  They both looked at Nico and he had biggest smile on his face. 

 

 The three of them rocked Disney all day.  They said they did about 16 rides, saw 1 show, went into almost every store in Disneyland since Nico was on the hunt for a "ultimate" Disney toy to take home, and ate lots of amusement park food.  I'm so glad that we got to share this magical day with Nico and Jessee.

 

 

We kept things pretty mellow for the rest of the weekend.  Saturday we all went to Skylar's soccer game and then headed over to the Legoland Hotel.  Nico, who like most 6 year old boys loves legos so we thought it would fun to let the kids play in the lobby that is filled with legos and have lunch.

 

 

That evening we had a nice family dinner and Jake set up the projector and screen in the backyard for the kids to watch a movie.  They all agreed on Frozen and ate popsicles and popcorn.

 

 

Sunday Jake and Jessee took the kids to the beach and pool all before nap time.  They had a ton of fun, minus Madden stepping on Nico's sand castles.  We watched football together and Jake put together another great dinner for us.  Once it got a bit darker we took the kids around the neighborhood to look at all the Halloween decorations.  Uncle Jessee read books to the kids before bed and we called it a day.

 

 

It was a great visit with Jessee and Nico.  The kids played so well together and Skylar and Madden couldn't of been more thrilled to have Nico there.  It was great seeing them bond with their cousin and we can't wait for their next trip down.

 

Too Many Pumpkins to Count

I can't tell you how excited I am that Fall has arrived.  It may not feel like Fall around here with this heat wave we are experiencing, but it's definitely that time of year.  The stores already have tons of Halloween candy out and pumpkin ingredients are every where you turn.  My mom was great when it came to decorating our house for the Fall season that I remember as a kid how fun our house looked.  I really want my kids to experience that so I try and make sure our home is full with lots of decor during this time of the year.  Skylar and I were really excited about decorating the house for Halloween that we couldn't wait for October to arrive and did it the last week of September.

Here are just a few pictures from the house.

My very own DIY witch legs.

Needing pumpkins to finish off decorating the house we planned a early trip out to Bates Nut Farm this year.  We went on the second day of their opening for the season which had is pros and cons.  Pros it was completely empty, cons some of there signature items weren't out, but we still had a good time.  Not wanting to miss out on watching the kids pick out pumpkins my parents and Uncle Chris joined us again.  The trip started off a bit rough.  Madden was a complete mess for the first 15 minutes for no apparent reason.  Screaming, crying and refusing to walk anywhere on his own.  

Once we got Madden to calm down we took the kids over to feed the goats.  Last year I remember the kids were a little scared to feed the goats but they got over it and feed them tons of food.  This year the kids flat out refused to even get near to the animals.  They would only touch the food and put it into our hands to feed the animals.  Bummed me out that they wouldn't feed them because they really liked it last year.

Skylar got her traditional pony ride in on Sassy.  We bought a ticket for Madden in hopes he would ride but he didn't even come close and lords know I didn't want to push him and cause another meldown, so Skylar was able to ride around double the time, which she loved.

This year the corn maze was the big hit.  Skylar loved leading us through it and stopping at the mailboxes that were placed throughout the maze.  Madden, of course made a huge mess with the stamps and ink that were placed in each mailbox.  Skylar loved the corn maze so much she made us run through it twice.

After the corn maze the kids found some sprinklers that were running, which were just what they needed to cool down in the near 100 degree temperatures that we had that day.

Madden was very excited to see the tractor ride. The ride was pretty uneventful, but he loved every moment of it.  He is very much into trains right now and I think he felt as if he was riding on one.

After the tractor ride the heat was getting pretty intense that we figured we better start our pumpkin picking and head out.  Madden is very much in the no picture phase as you can see below.

Madden  - "No cheese me!"

Bates, in my opinion has the best pumpkins around.  It's the reason why I make the trip out to Valley Center each year.  I just love how all their pumpkins look.  The sizes, the shapes, the colors of all the pumpkins is just perfect that when I'm there I just can't help myself.  Before we left Jake had a bet that I would come home with over 18 pumpkins which I thought was crazy...no way I would get that many.  Well, I forgot how much the kids (and I) love picking pumpkins.  While I'm trying to pick the perfect craving pumpkins, the perfect decor pumpkins, and the perfect tiny pumpkins and take pictures at the same time, the kids were throwing pumpkin after pumpkin into our wheelbarrows, anything that they could carry.  I know at one point I looked back and in the wheelbarrow and we had four crookneck squashes courtesy of Madden.  Needless to say, Jake won the bet!

Three wheelbarrows full of pumpkins and we were done.  We stop by the local store on the farm and let the kids pick out some candy and called it a day.  It was another successful pumpkin picking trip to Bates and now our home feels ready for Fall (now lets just get some cooler weather).