House Update

Many of you have been praying for us as we have dove into the prospects of purchasing a home last June. It is hard to believe that almost 6 months later, we have finally purchased a home. We don't get to move in yet, as we agreed to let the now, former homeowners stay up to 30 days so their escrow can close. Hopefully, we will get to move in with plenty of time to decorate the house for Christmas and do some painting. Thanks so much for your prayers and support. . . it has truly been encouraging!

Fall Escape

Last week, we had the awesome opportunity to run away. . . really! It was so very nice to get away and do absolutely nothing (except watch the entire season of Man vs. Food) before things get crazy with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and moving. We even got to go with our friends, Josh and Steph.
Jon, Ethan, and I took off Friday morning (Jon had the day off. . . Yeah for saving the air!) and we headed up early to spend a couple of days just the three of us before Josh and Steph joined us. It was so nice just to have some uninterrupted, quality family time. We took that opportunity to walk around and do some geo-caching. Our geo-sense is improving because we found some Awesome caches (hence. . . me holding a screw . . . it really serves no purpose!). We walked around Morro Bay, Cambria, and the neighborhood around Morro Strand. We even took a night walk out to the beach. The stars were so bright! Unfortunately, after searching for a lost flip flop (Ethan's), our flashlight almost going dead, and an unexpected mouse, we headed back home for bed. Josh and Stephanie joined us on Sunday. Monday morning we all woke up, packed a picnic and headed our for our BIG adventure of the week (this is literally the most any of us did the whole time. . so nice!). We headed out to Pismo to see the beginnings of the Monarch Grove season. There were so many there in November. . . but even more later on. It really is amazing to see all these monarch butterflies in one spot. Rumor has it that it's the largest grove of monarchs in the country.

From there, we headed up a steep hill (driving, of course!) for a picnic lunch overlooking the town of Pismo. It was a beautiful view along with a great park. Jon attempted to do some caching, but due to safety issues, decided not to dig through trash to find it. The kids had some time to roll down the hill, swing, and play. We spent the rest of the day at Avila Valley Farm and San Luis, before heading home to continue vegging out.

Tuesday, we did absolutely nothing for most of the day. It was so wonderful! We took naps and rested up before heading for a walk to a nearby neighborhood park at the Cloisters (a Morro Bay beach community). We all had fun playing and geocaching before we split up. Steph and I took the kids for a walk into town to the quilt shop, while Josh and Jon headed back home to get the cars to pick us up. It ended up being a LONG walk, including a rather steep hill. We had a blast, especially since the guys beat us to the Cotton Ball.

Wednesday came far too soon (Sniff sniff) and although I was ready to sleep in my own bed and sew up my new fabric, I was sad to leave the peacefulness of the beach behind. Before leaving, we went to the beach for some fun play time and an attempt to get our Christmas picture taken. Ethan was very hard to contain in his nice clothes that it wasn't long before we stripped him down and he darted for the water. He didn't have the patience to wait for his swim shorts . . . he wanted to play! He had so much fun frolicking in the sand and water! He loved feeling the sand between his fingers, throwing it, and in fact, tasting it.

The week was great! I can't wait til' our next adventure (which. . . just may be moving! We'll keep you posted!)

Night at the Museum

A new tradition was started last month that we continued in November. Free admission to the MET on the first Thursday of the month, compliments of Fresno's Art Hop. This month we had the opportunity to experience their newest exhibit on Dr. Seuss. Although this was not a child-friendly exhibit (as in not very much hands-on activities), we still had a blast! It was fascinating to see Dr. Seuss' art and writings as he worked as an editor, author, advertiser, and WW2 propaganda-er. I think the one thing that caught my attention the most, was his ability to not give up. It took 27 rejections before his first book was ever published and now, more than 100 years after his birth, he is one of the most popular and celebrated children's authors. Such a neat story!
They had a neat little (and I mean little) area set up for kids to read Dr. Seuss books and color Dr. Seuss pages that Ethan loved "stealing" the crayons and carrying them around. They had these cool mirrors that they could become characters from his books (see top left hand corner), and a giant kaleidoscope for them to play with.
When we finished with Dr. Seuss we went down to the Ask Reeves Science area where they had some cool puzzle games on loan from a museum in Oregon. Jon was very proud of the one with some math problems. We were NOT going to leave until he figured it out. . . he put his Math degree to good use, because we were able to leave before they closed! If you want to try it out, comment the answer and we will let you know if you're right. You can only use the digits 1-9 each once. Good Luck. (Oh yeah, the puzzle is at the bottom of the picture second to the Right. )
We are looking forward to seeing the Christmas trees this coming December. . . if you want to come along, let us know. The MET is open from 5-8pm.

Halloween

I just realized that I had not yet posted pictures from our Halloween festivities this year. We had such a busy weekend with the zoo on Friday, home inspection, retrieval of phone in Reedley (I had lost it at the zoo), and then Trunk or Treat in Hanford with Grandma, Grandpa, and Zoe. We had so much fun! Zoe couldn't stop eating candy (I think she's a fan of Hershey's miniatures! . . . mmmm. . . chocolate!). Ethan loved saying hi to all the people at the different cars, although he got terrified at a car with people dressed up as gorilla's. He got over that quickly, though. The candy called! He carried around his pumpkin with great pride (thanks Great Grandma and Grandpa Raineri!).
The next night (Halloween), we went the Bridge for a few games with Ethan. Most of the things were a bit too old for him, but he did get to feed a bear, play basketball, golf, and thrown animals into Noah's Ark. We didn't stay too long because we were all incredibly tired from Friday's activities and Ethan and Jon were both suffering from colds. We did however take time to wrap ourselves in foil for free Boo-ritos at Chipotle. That was fun and well worth the foil wristbands that Jon molded for us.
It ended up being a really nice Halloween. We had some crazy adventures but they all ended with relaxing at home. . . just the way we like it!

A trip to the zoo

Last Friday, Ethan, Stephanie, Abi and I headed for a morning at the zoo. My mom's first graders were going to be there, so we thought we would say hi. Another friend, Dorothy (we used to be roommates) and her son were also there. So, it was a great morning to hang out with friends! We had so much fun!

Here are some highlights:

:: Ethan got to pet his first llama.

:: He enjoyed walking around the zoo for the first time.

:: He really likes the orangutans.

A quick trip

My friend Stephanie and I were able to join our women's ministry director on a quick trip to scope out Sugar Pine Christian Camps for an upcoming women's retreat. We enjoyed the much cooler temperatures and the opportunity for Ethan to wear his new winter hat! It gave me a chance to get some more cute fall pictures. I have to say (and not just because I'm his mom), but Ethan is a prize! Jon and I feel so blessed to have him as our son. He is all smiles and giggles, despite the fact that on this trip his teeth were bothering him and he had cought a cold and was suffering from a stuffy, runny nose. (poor guy!).

Pumpkin Patch - take 2

Ethan joined our friends, Stephanie and Abi Mikow, last week on an adventure to the Pumpkin King Pumpkin patch. We had so much fun getting out of the house and playing in the straw amongst rows and rows of various sized pumpkins. There was a lot of laughter between the two as they played throughout the whole patch! Ethan kept wanting to join a call of preschoolers on their field trip. We had so much fun!