Avilla Getaway

Avila... just what the doctor ordered. Uninterrupted time together. Bike rides. Cinnamon rolls. Sand castles. Frisbee games. Runs with Daddy while cartoons entertained. Toes in the water. Rest. Walks on the beach. Swinging like spider monkeys. Swimming in the pool. But best of all..... 1st time boogie boarding!!

The boogie boarding was Josiah's idea. She is usually our adventuresome one, the one who will try anything once. And if it is successful, then Adalie will give it a go also. My favorite was watching Josiah and Daddy walking out to the waves, heads together giving wave riding instructions. They jumped the waves, waited for the best one and rode it in as far as they could. Big smiles all the way. We learned right away that a wet suit was a must... not necessarily for warmth, but for protection when you miss judged a wave and got pummelled. Adalie started with just surfing the waves on her board, but ended the day riding them all the way to the shore. Another new adventure to add to the books!!

And... of course home in time to play soccer games!!

We love the whirlwind.....

Trick or Treat

In keeping with our annual Pumpkin Carving traditions, we invited some cousins over to carve pumpkins. Whether free hand or pre-printed, everyone picked their own designs and got straight to work. It was Aunt Mariann's first time ever to carve a pumpkin! Josiah at 7years old carved her pumpkin all by herself. Adalie did all her carving and most of her goo scooping.... how brave of our little one who doesn't like things dirty or squishy! Daddy free hand carved Rocky Raccoon, a character in many of his make believe stories. And Mommy carved a mad-mummy....

The treat however, was the trick-or-treating we got to do afterwards. I mean real, door to door, knock, say "trick-or-treat", get a candy and run to the next house kind of trick-or-treating. Those of you who live in the city have the trick-or-treating advantage. Here in the mountains there is 1 neighborhood and thankfully they go all out for the occasion. Houses are decorated and candy is piled high! It was fun to see all the kids you know dressed in costumes with their parents in tow.

When we returned home, we lit our pumpkins and ate carmel apples. It was hard to judge who the winner was.... the first time witch, the political "vote 4 Seth", the original face, the free hand Raccon, the freehand alligator eating a fish...... instead we will just count ourselves blessed to have had some fun together!!

Mommy's Birthday

Just between us .... this was the first year that I actually noticed my age. Up until this year, it did not matter at all to me how old I was turning, I just love birthdays - mine, yours and the stranger getting sung to in the restaurant. In fact, I rarely remembered without counting from my birth year how old I was. So, I was always thankful when a good round number I could remember would come along. But this year.....was a bit different. This year, your medical charts get stamped "AMA" advanced maternal age..... yep that one hit home!

But I must say.... surrounded by my family both near and far I celebrated another birthday. And I put to you yet again.... Am I not the luckiest girl in the whole wide world??

Fall

One of my favorite Fall activities and one that is always on my birthday wish list, is a trip to Yosemite to soak up the Fall colors, to ride our bikes and to breath the cool crisp air. This annual trip has become a great way to mark the changing of the seasons.
This year the colors were extraordinary! We had one day of sunshine to hike to Vernal Falls. We counted each step to get us to the top. And one day of rain to ride our bikes through puddles on familiar trails. We ate pizza, stayed in the tent cabins and were struck with the giggles.
I can remember everywhere I looked, whether sitting on the rocks overlooking the river, riding bicycles through the trees, hiking to the top of the waterfall, taking pictures in the rain, or watching after my family as they walked hand in hand down the color laden trail.... and all I could think was .... "I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world!"

Fickle Pickle

What is a girl to wear?? Adalie had so much trouble deciding what she wanted to be for Halloween this year. Her initial idea was to be a pencil.... which would of course require creative skills on my part ... which I completely lack! My first mistake, was to subtly discourage the "pencil idea" and encourage the "costumes we already have" idea (which I am still months later feeling very guilty about.... how cruel to crush a girls dreams of being anything she wants!! Pause.... then I realize, it is because of ME she is learning to second guess her own decisions.... oh the guilt!). Then, thanks to the internet, I came up with a great idea for creating a pencil costume. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that practical in the comfortable department and so Adalie nixed that. Now we are back to square one, unable to make a decision and me feeling guilty. So, she finally decided on the best of all her options.... changing her costume for every occasion!!

Smart!!

Good Bye

It is October and time to say good bye to all our summer loves!! What an incredibly fun summer we had. As I look back .... it was one of my very favorites. We were intentional. We made a list and made those things a priority. We spent time with family, time with friends and time to ourselves. We had a few firsts (boat camping, double skiing, Yosemite river rafting, etc) and many old favorites (dinner and jumping off the docks, camping on the party barge, etc). Once again, I find myself thankful to live where we do with adventure lurking just around the bend!!
Now, we will look forward to the next coming season.....

The Giants and the Dragons 2010

We L.O.V.E. soccer around here!!
Sure it takes up most of your Saturday, but it is so doggone exciting and totally worth it!

I have yet to sit at any point during any single game (whether my kids are playing or not). I expend an enormous amount of energy trying to refrain my hooting and hollering when my own child scores. I love to see their athletic skills emerge, to watch their faces turn red from running, to see their excitement when they score or win, to watch Seth coach the big girls, and to learn the values of being a good sport and playing as a team!