Pirate Party

Yesterday was Brayden's birthday, we celebrated at his cousin's Tasha's house. This amazing cake was made by Great Dane Bakery. It tasted as just as great as it looked, moist chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling.


While the party was catered by Maggiano's, Sam was set on eating cake.


Crazy to have a swim party at the end of October? Not when you have temperature in the 80's... or perhaps high 70's...


The kids enjoyed the pool immensely as always. Steve was a trooper keeping watch of the kids in the pool while I played shutterbug.


This is my favorite photo of the day. What cuties Tasha and Anna are.

Anna and Alexandra

This past weekend we went to visit some friends we met during August's Family Camp. After mom Tamara had the two girls do their obligatory hug, Alexandra and Anna played non-stop for 3 hours, which included hula girl dress-up time. We also visited with Alexandra's brother Andre, and met dad Ernie who is now home after serving in Iraq.

What a lovely family. It was a very enjoyable afternoon!

Disney Decor in October

Usually by this time of the year Disneyland is prepping to put up Christmas decor, this is the first year they have decorated for Halloween. This huge Mickey jack-o-lantern greets you at the beginning of Main Street.


There are tons of hand-carved pumpkins and photo-ops everywhere.


Disneyland has made the decor and activities (mini stage shows and coloring/sticker crafts) so family-friendly, it was all a great "treat".

Say Cheese...

Now when Sam sees me holding my camera he says, "Eeeeeeee (cheese)"...

Happy (Very Belated) Birthday Mark!

Happy Birthday Mark!
Expect two treat parcels in the mail!
We love you,
Steve, Mina, Anna and Sam

Computer Kids

Hopefully they're looking at something educational.

Gingerbread House

I recommend getting the Costco gingerbread house kit. Unlike previous years, the frosting is now premixed and has a great gluey consistency.


It is a good way to spend a couple of hours!

KidsFaire

On Saturday Yumi and I took the kids to the KidsFaire at the OC Fairgrounds, it was advertised as having some characters, a cute stage show and different things to see and do. Since Steve was at a Men's Conference it was a good way to spend part of the day. Sam liked looking at Curious George, but not this close.


Wherever there's a craft Anna's right there. Lakeshore sponsored this frame-making activity.


There was Captain Feathersword and Dorothy the Dinosaur to entertain Sam, and Anna was smitten by the Strawberry Shortcake show, these gals were adorable.


It was so helpful having Yumi there for so many reasons, including taking photos! Thanks Yumi! (Sam's thinking, don't get too close to me, Madeline!)

Close-up of Sam (with runny nose)

Anna's been getting a lot of airtime so I had to take some photos of Sam... and of course the one I post is one he might be embarrassed of later on in life, but oh well, he's still a cutie-pie.


I see that Sam's hair is growing out quite a bit but I almost regretted cutting it before, so I'll let it get a little longer this time. Here he is standing in the empty elevated sandbox with his favorite bead-toy from IKEA, Steve's making sure he doesn't fall out!

Star of the Week (and Art Wall)

Anna is the Star of the Week in her class. Maybe they're going alphabetical order by first name, she sure is a star in our book! We made a poster with some special photos...


Anna and I went through iPhoto and found some cute pictures for this project. By the way her favorite animal is a horse... favorite place is Disneyland... favorite foods are strawberries and onion rings (she wanted photos to correspond with her favorites, we only had an onion ring one) and her favorite book is the Bible.


This is the new art wall in the kitchen, we painted a green rectangle on the white wall and attached metal bars from which we can hang Anna's magnificent drawings with equally colorful magnets (from IKEA). Sooner than later Sammy will have some pictures up there too!

Field Trip #1

Today Anna's kindergarteners went to the Newport Beach firestation. Here is Anna amongst the sea of red hats.


The firemen were very hospitable and the tour was well-organized. We saw firetrucks, an ambulance, lots of equipment, and even looked at where the firefighters eat, sleep and relax within the station. One part of the tour included shooting water from the firehose. Anna and friend were up first!


Wow! Even for a split second, what a powerful gush of water.


Thrilling!


Only in Newport Beach (or Hawaii) does a firestation have a backdrop of palm trees. During the tour the firefighters had a call and rushed about, almost having to leave (I was wondering if that would happen), but it was a false alarm.


Afterwards Anna and I went out to lunch, no one else was in the restaurant so she danced around quite a bit. Today was coincidentally a day off (and we had Sam's babysitter) so it was nice having this time together with Anna!