Happy Halloween!

Each year is a new adventure with Halloween.  This year was a very warm year.  We didn't want the pumpkins to rot so we waiting until that morning to carve them.  The kids drew the faces and "helped" clean them out.  Matt did the carving.  Here is Mason's pumpkin.

 Olivier's had two faces.  Here is one side.

 And the other!

 Here is Anna's pumpkin.

 I saw this idea for small pumpkins and they turned out well.

 Especially this one!  I think it is a little bit crazy much like the holiday this year.  A very warm day (over 90), a Saturday, and the time change overnight.

 This is the roughly 27 pounds of candy we had on hand.

 This year Anna was an Native American, Olivier was a skeleton, and Mason was Pikachu.  They got a LOT of candy.

We got a blow up black widow spider that moves it's head back and forth.  The kids love it and have name it Spidey.

And this is a sign of how busy of a night it was.  All that we had left.  :-)

Visiting horses

Anna has always loved horses and today I went with her to see how she would do visiting horses hands on with one of my co-workers.  She was a bit timid with all the horses in the pens but once Rico was out and it was time to groom him, boy was Anna happy!  First it was time to brush and get the sand off.  

 Then they let her clean the mud out of his hooves.

 Yes, she did it all on her own (all four!)

 And then got to give him some apple for being so good!

 Yes, her shirt does say it all.  She is "HAPPY".  :-)

Olivier - today's special panther

Today Olivier was special panther!  And it was a great day to be the special helper!  They had an assembly and he got to be the leader.  And it was a long day so extra time to help!  

He snuck this silly photo in:

 Then I got a "normal" one.  :-)

So happy for this growing boy!

Look who is riding around the park?

Yes!  Anna, Olivier and Mason!

More bike riding!

Last weekend the training wheels came off and Olivier took off!  All three kids have been working hard at it though, and as expected, Mason and Anna are riding too!  

Here is a video clip of Mason:

And here is one of Anna:

Pumpkin Patch!

This morning after the kids had swim lessons we went to the pumpkin patch!  We finally had a day that was close to resembling fall so we took advantage of it.  :-)

And this is from five years ago.  This photo was taken on a very hot day, much like every day has been lately!  

Olivier's kindergarten photo

My goodness!  How can it be?  Olivier was excited to show off his photo today when he got home from school and he should be!  What a handsome boy!

Happy Birthday Natalie!

We gathered today to celebrate Natalie's 6th birthday!  Every year when I see Natalie and Anna I can't help but remember, this:

And here they are now!  So much fun and oh so grown up!  

 And no, I don't think they spend much time apart the entire time we were there!

Love celebrating and look forward to what the next year holds for Miss Natalie!

On a scale of 1-10 you're a 13.1 and a PR!!!

Today Matt ran a half marathon, and he kicked asphalt!  :-)  More on that in a moment, right now, kids fun run time!  The kids were very excited to run, and considering we missed the "official" start last year, I wanted to make sure we got it this year.  It was a little disorganized, but they had fun and at the end of the day, that is all that matters!

Joe went to the start of the run and got some great photos of the kids starting out.  At this point Mason was in the lead with everyone close behind!

 Audrey (who fell... ouch!!), Olivier, Lina and Anna.  Yes, they were holding hands!

 And here comes Gus!  Watch out!  Boy on the move!!

I have no idea who started when but Mason was the first to get his medal!

Then Anna!

Then Olivier!

Then we were rushing to go see Matt cross the finish line, and we were too late!  Huge bummer because it drives me crazy (and yes, that is an understatement) to miss him crossing but that's how it goes.  Thank you to Mark for getting this photo of Matt on the home stretch!

Now all the important info!!
His official time:  1:43:01 (and yes, I think that 1 second is bugging him!)
Pace:  0:07:51
Overall rank:  166
Gender Rank:  134
Class (Age group) Rank:  16

I made these silly signs for the kids to hold.  This is the one Olivier wanted to hold.

 And Mason choose this one.

 Anna liked this one.

 And I got this one!  This one got some good giggles from the grown ups.  :-)

Matt clobbered the kids in sweaty hugs, made a quick change of shirt and shoes, then we headed to take the obligatory photo with the ocean in the background.  This year the weather has be crazy warm, no jackets needed and a lot less complaining from the kids.  Always a plus for me.  And it wasn't too bad for Matt!  Wa hoo!

We headed to the finish line to see Heather come in!  Rock it Heather!

Last few feet before the finish!

Then we "finally" let the kids play a bit at the park and bounce houses.  Anna and Lina were excited to go down the slide together.

Can you tell?  :-)

And that was just the start of the day!

On two wheels!

Olivier has been asking recently to take the training wheels off of his bike.  We have left it up to them.  Anna asked a few month back and after one day she asked for them back.  So they are back on for her.  I have a feeling Olivier's will stay off!  Check this out! 

And more along the side of the house.

Mason is a little more unsteady but I have a feeling he will keep at it!

On the move in our house!

Mason's kindergarten photo

Yesterday I was in awe of Anna's photo, today it is all about Mason!  Oh my!  He wanted to have gel in his hair and with his polo, wow!  Not a baby any more!

And yes, I think they are trying to pace me.  We haven't gotten Olivier's photos yet.  I am trying to get my heart ready to melt again tomorrow!

2nd Grade School Photo

Can you believe how grown up this cutie is?  Oh my!

The boys photos should be coming later this week!

Twins

At the beginning of September I volunteered at the finish line for a local run.  I got a very bright orange shirt.  Mason was very excited that my shirt matches his orange shirt.  Today he asked me to wear it for our hike.  And then we were well coordinated to work on his Halloween project.  So much focus!  

Up "our" mountain we will go!

The kids have been asking for a while to hike our mountain.  So this morning, I took the kids to do just that!  They did an amazing job, taking turns leading us up, not complaining when they slipped on the way down, and just enjoying the view.  It took us just over an hour to go up and down (not counting the little bit we played on the top).  

The sky was beautiful and I couldn't help taking photos that included some of the amazing clouds!  

 And the kids weren't always too happy with me taking photos.  Good sports but not happy about having faces in the sun.

 And I can't make it large here but this is the amazing view...did I say it was amazing...

 Almost all the way back down!