Weekend Catch Up!!!

I don't know where time goes... but I have a lot of catching up to do. We wasted no time getting into the Halloween spirit this year starting with a visit to Disneyland on the first night of their Halloween festivities with Nana Debi. Poor Nana we dragged her there and it was packed. But the kids enjoyed themselves as usual anyways.

We also visited Auntie Jenn and J-Dogger with a trolley ride at the Grove.

And, this past weekend we did a little brick or treating. As you can see my kids are readily getting my $5 worth on the orange t-shirts. They want to wear them every time we do anything Halloween :)

The kids were thrilled that they were able to change into their actual costumes in the evening to go back in to Legoland for the actual trick or treating. Cam is a football player, Owen is a chicken (yes... he found the costume and begged), and Ella is Belle of course ;)

Cam looked so cute as a football player, but that doesn't mean that I will actually let him play (sorry Al)

Owen was so funny "bawk bawking" at people. This one is a crack up!!!

And, I made Ella's day by sneaking her onto the real Princess' chair while she was on break. Shhh! Don't tell.

Happy October!!!

Ella's 2nd Birthday!!!

My sweet sassy baby girl turned 2 yesterday. I cannot believe how much joy she has brought our family already.
This is a picture right after Ella was born

This is a picture I took for her 1st birthday invites
And, here she is the big 2 year old
We started her birthday fiesta with a couple of our family members over for cake.
(I made the cake and it had 4 layers of deliciousness... I was pretty proud)

Then we traveled to Disneyland (what better place to celebrate?)
The boys were so sweet and really helped make the day all about Ella.
They are great brothers.
Sweet Ella loves sunglasses and here she is sporting some her Papa Romeo gifted her :)
Then the excitement happened. I always said I would never let my daughter wear a costume to Disneyland... well I obviously ate my words. But, her smile was worth it ;)
Like I said the girl is blessed with sweet brothers. Camden proudly paraded her down to the restaurant in her full get up.
Where we met the other princesses for Ella's Birthday dinner

Notice her brothers cleverly hiding from any possibility of having to meet or worse be kissed by one of those gross princesses.

Owen also made sure Ella was having a great time

By the end of the night the princess turned into our sleeping beauty

And, we all lived happily ever after...

Grandma's 81st Birthday and Good Bye to J & B!!!

We celebrated my Grandma Dee's 81st Birthday last weekend

And, we also said good bye to my Brother and Bree
as they left to go back to school in MI. The kids (and us) really enjoyed spending time with Josh and Bree and they had so much fun going to the beach, the pool, the movies and Mulligans. They are very lucky to get to spend that kind of time with their Uncle and Bree, and we miss them already.

Hung out together for some sibling love

First Days of School & Haircuts!!!!

We started school Monday and my oldest baby is now in first grade. He will be turning 7 pretty soon which I have a hard time believing. There were no tears and he loves his new teacher!!!

Owen started preschool again on Tuesday and he was so adorable. He is the super excited kid that asks a million questions while the teacher is trying to read her first day story. Owen is also so good at making friends he says hi to everyone. He also is very lucky and has a wonderful teacher this year too!!!

The first days were great, but what I was most excited about was Mikey took the shaggy boys to get haircuts. They actually ended up really happy... I think the long hair days were requiring too much effort with the early mornings.
Don't they look handsome?

Our Last Day of Summer Break!!!

This past Sunday... the last day before school started back up we visited our favorite place. Yep, you guessed it Disneyland!!!

We dragged poor Danielle along for all of the funElla kept calling the rockets helicopters?? Not sure why.The kids enjoyed the petting zoo. This guy was so soft.

Notice Ella's excitement in the background.
The boys think that they are too old to take photos sometimes. This makes me sad :(

Owen ate his first Mickey Ice Cream Bar... and I think he may have actually gotten more on his clothes and face than actually in his mouth.

Owen had another first. He was very brave and rode Tower of Terror for the first time. Then he rode it twice!!! (pretty good coming from a kid that used to say Dumbo was scary). He has grown up a lot this summer.
If you click on the picture below you should be able to see everyone on the right side of the ride. this was the second time we rode it.Ella wanted this autograph book and pen... she was unsuccessful in her attempts to persuade me. Although, truth be told she was closePapa, Nana & Emma met us there and we are fortunate enough to get to ride the rapids with us. Notice I didn't get to go... shoot (yes, I am being sarcastic)And, then it was over. Back to school we go...

Shamu... Shamu!!!

This past weekend we visited SeaWorld and had so much fun!!!
Here are some of the kids favorite things

Ella enjoyed dancing around with mom while we waited for the big kids to get off their rides.

Cam and Owen had fun together looking at the fish... especially the sharks.
(note: the hair styles are due to some independence issues and idolization of zack and cody--ahhh!!! the Disney Channel. But, haircuts will most likely occur before they get their hair to grow that long b/c mom can't handle it anymore)

It was a great last long summer weekend. Tomorrow my busy season at work begins.