A Vacation for All

Craig had a work conference in San Francisco, similar to our Boston Trip we took last year.  We decided to make a vacation the weekend after the conference.  Julie drove the boys down to stay with Mimi and Papa, met Craig in San Francisco and enjoyed 4 days and 3 nights of it just being the two of us. It was great to get away but we missed our little guys so much. The weather was pretty chilly and rainy but the city is still just as beautiful. It is so much fun to travel with each other and explore with no agenda. Craig did a great job planning dinners and evenings out, including a Cirque du Soleil show.  We got to see some great friends from business school and Julie even got to see one of her precious high school girls that moved out to CA a few years ago.  We did a horrible job taking pictures but here are a few of the highlights:

The first night Julie got to attend the fancy dinner that was part of the conference

Friday we slept in!!! And made our way to the last closing speaker of the conference.  We saw Captain Mark Kelly, astronaut and husband to U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  He was very interesting!

Us in front of the other bridge, Oakland Bay Bridge, it is just as pretty as the Golden Gate.

Friday afternoon we went shopping and enjoyed having no agenda.  We moved our bags to a friends apartment, Brian was out of town and graciously let us stay in his place.  We were just a few blocks from the San Fransisco Giants AT&T Baseball Park.  It was a great location and had some great views.

That night we strolled through China Town and had yummy Chinese food

Saturday, we did some more sleeping in late and we walked a TON!  We hung out with some business school friends and then had lunch with Craig's old roommate, Al.  We ate at our favorite--Patxi's Chicago Pizza! Sad, no pictures of this joyous occasion.  Then, we went to the Ferry Building and met up with sweet Carley, one of Julie's high school girls!  Love her and sad that we didn't get any pictures either!

We walked/shopped some more and got stuck in the rain!  We enjoyed another yummy meal, Sushi!  And then took the subway back home.  We were drenched, cold, and ready to sit down. 

We dried off and then went back out in the cold rain for the Cirque du Soleil Totem Show.  This is probably our fifth time to see one of their shows and we are always amazed at the talent, creativity, and enjoyment!

Thanks, Craig, for making such a fun Date Weekend just for the two of us! You always create such an awesome time whether we are resting, sleeping in, or exploring the town.  Thanks for treating me to a wonderful weekend and making it so special...

Now the real thanks goes to our family!!!!! While we were frolicking around the City, Caleb and Davis were well taken care of, well loved, and well entertained. From special quality time with their grandparents, to lunches with Mammy and MeDad, to play dates with with Aunt K10 and Lucy, to playing dress up with the Garcias, to church at Mimi and Papas, to adventures at the park, WOW--the list goes on. They had so much fun and what a vacation they had (not sure if it was a vacation for Mimi and Papa). Thank you so much to Mimi and Papa for giving us this special time and for everyone else that helped to love on our boys while we were gone. We missed them terribly but know this was important for everyone! Here are a few pictures of their vacation!

Davis playing at the Garcias 

Caleb dressing up in a batman cape and sword 

Caleb in a Prince Charming costume

Christalyn is so great with the babies 

The night we drove in to Austin, we did something super special, Caleb had his first "sleepover" sleeping in the same bed with someone else.  TJ was so sweet making sure he was okay, didn't roll out of bed, and made sure he didn't get out of bed too early.  This was a great first sleepover! 

Aunt Jen with Davis

Davis loves to swing 

Faith and Christalyn 

A cousin picture 

Too cute 

Lucy is so great with Caleb.  She is patient, gentle, kind, and understanding.  Caleb had SO much fun playing with Aunt K10 and Lucy.  Davis took a great nap and loved spending time with them! 

Caleb's favorite activity cutting (love the Halloween lips in his mouth)

Sadly, we have NO pictures of the grandparents!  Again, it was such a great vacation for all of us and we really appreciate all those that helped to make it possible and so fun for our boys!

October 2011

We love this time of year...beautiful weather, great colors in the trees, many parks to get reacquainted with, fun nature walks, and 2 active boys that love to go!  We enjoyed a trip to Austin, the State Fair, Halloween, and a TON of birthday parties!  Enjoy the pictures below to see our fun month:

Caleb has had a few sleep issues the past month or so.  He would wake up in the middle of the night, turn on his light, and start playing with his toys in his room.  We quickly stopped that habit, but he will still wake up around 6ish in the morning and play (before time change).  The only thing that has seemed to help is that he does not take a nap everyday but has "room time" or "rest time."  So, one morning at 7 am, we were walking to Caleb's room to "wake" him up and here he is lying on the floor asleep in the living room.  Sweet boy!

Caleb's 3rd TX/OU game at Ms. Jessica's house.  Even though it was a sad game-Caleb loved playing in her backyard.

He is so grown up!

Caleb still LOVES dressing up and our sweet friends passed down their beloved Bible Man Costume! 

One morning it was raining and we let Caleb go outside to play by himself in the rain...we looked outside to find like this!  Too funny!

Playing in his "nest"

Davis had a puffy, red eye, goopy stuffy-we got drops quickly.  Sweet boy wasn't in pain but it looked awful!

Caleb was playing with some gummy teeth and it reminded me of Craig's favorite Halloween costume.  Like Father, Like Son! 

The Jumperoo is out and in full effect.  Davis is so happy jumping!

Caleb played "hide and seek" in Davis room and fell asleep before I found him.  I guess he needed a nap that day.

Crawling EVERYWHERE including climbing up stools/ladders/steps

Another like Father, like Son moment--Daddy was eating his pizza watching a football game and Caleb took his plate and stood next to him.  Too Cute!

My little kitchen helpers, spinning the salad.  This was so fun until little fingers got pinched.

We even pulled out some winter hats for a chilly morning.

The high school down the street had a homecoming parade and Caleb really enjoyed watching it with a sweet neighbor friend, Graham, (yellow shirt).  Sadly, didn't get a picture of these precious boys together.

Craig was playing with Davis and he managed to take this picture of them playing-it looks like Davis is winning!

And lastly, these two little "twin" punkins ready for Halloween

A usual happening-Caleb poking Davis and Davis just laughing!

Halloween Festivities

Halloween and dressing up have been such a fun thing for Caleb this year (considering he has been wearing costumes for 6+ months.) But, he was finally able to wear his costumes out of the house. 

When the first festivity arrived that required a costume, I was ready to put Caleb in his precious lion costume but he insisted on being batman (or wearing batman pajamas).  We threw on a mask to make it look more like a "costume" and to make it more fun.  We agreed that he could wear whatever he wanted but on actual Halloween he would be a lion. 

So, here we go--to the grocery store for festivity #1 (the best grocery store visit) because he was pretty entertained with a few goodies

Festivity #2: Richardson held a Fall Festival at one of the Rec Centers--with games, prizes, snacks, bounce house, petting zoo, mazes, crafts, and more! 

My new FAVORITE picture of this punkin! 

Festivity #3: Our Neighborhood Playgroup and good buddy, Graham and Krista, threw an amazing Halloween Party in their backyard.  Caleb had a blast and Ms. Krista did an outstanding job!

Davis enjoyed the party too! 

These 2 little boys are precious together and are best buddies.  Graham is just adorable and these boys are inseparable, goofy, and oh so wild together! 

This picture of Caleb cleaning in his mask reminds me of the Masked Man from the Bachelorette this past season. If you watched it, you will know exactly what I mean, if not disregard and forget that I ever put a picture of the Bachelorette.

(Did I just put a picture of the Bachelorette on our blog? Yes, I did)

Festivity #4: A friend from our church playgroup had a first birthday party for sweet Ansel.  They had a bounce house, yummy food, a pinata, and costumes!  It was a brilliant idea to have a birthday party before Trick or Treating.  So much fun!! It was especially fun when Daddy showed up and made this lion-less costumed boy happy!!

LOVE this time of year and the fact that a week later Caleb is still loving dressing up!

Halloween--Roar!!!

Our home was filled with much excitement and anticipation for this big day.  We have been talking/trying on the lion costume for months.  We even practiced what to say when we go trick or treating.  Our little lions were dressed and ready to "Roar" and Roam the streets.

Davis trying on his lion costume to make sure it fit.  The 3-6 month outfit couldn't fit around his legs or snapped but it worked. 

It is go time and these little lions were Ready!

ROARRRR!

My littlest lion and didn't realize the beautiful sunset-don't worry after the picture, we fixed his little leg.

Our first house and sweet neighbors.  No matter, how much we "rehearsed" what to say, he would freeze and  not say much.  He was still so precious and had a blast!

Happy Halloween!