Halloween Fun

My kids LOVE to dress up, so Halloween is big deal at our house, and this year was no exception.

Aurora was originally going to be a sunflower, and she had been wearing her costume constantly.  However, when she realized that the sunflower costume wasn't just for dress-up during the day and that it was her actual HALLOWEEN costume, she was completely disappointed and insisted that she was NOT a sunflower for Halloween, she was going to be a princess...

Halloween fun started off with the traditional "BOX" in the mail from Texas.  This year was especially exciting because in the box was all 3 monster themed General Mills breakfast cereals: Boo Berry, Count Chocula, and Franken Berry.  It was a BIG hit!

Texas has the best stuff!

At school the kids had Red Ribbon week (Say No to Drugs week) and to celebrate they had different "spirit days"  and since my kids LOVE to dress up, this was big fun.  There was Western Day, Wear Red Day, Sports Day, Freaky Friday, and Pajama Day which we forgot about because it was on Monday, they were pretty sad but we made up for it the rest of the week.


He has his Texas shirt on.



Freaky Friday, they loved this!

Peltzer Farm is a local, family owned pumpkin farm that we like to visit out in beautiful wine country, Temecula.  They have a pumpkin patch, pony rides, corn maze, tractor/train rides, and petting zoo but the favorite activity of the day by far, was panning for gold; they loved it, especially Maverick. I know we all had are hands busy panning for "gold & gems" because I have no pictures of it, ha!


The hills around the farm are gorgeous



How tall this fall?

 We learned that many of the animals in the petting zoo are animals that the Peltzers adopted and/or took in because their owners could no longer keep them.  Some of the "inherited" animals included a black alpaca and two big fat pigs, who's family still visits them on the farm and brings them PB&J sandwiches for dinner.


Summer could have stayed in there all day.

Costumes were super easy for me this year because unlike other years, I did not make any of them.  At first Maverick originally wanted to be a Red Power Ranger but then decided on a fighter pilot costume, you know I loved it!


TOP GUN!

Summer was lucky enough to have her Grandma Linda offer to make her the Tangled costume that she has been wanting since last Halloween.  So for her birthday, my mom took her to the fabric store and let her pick out the fabric she wanted for her dress.  It turned out BEAUTIFUL!



Rapunzel

Aurora did get to be a princess too (I couldn't say no since Summer was going to get to wear a fancy princess dress). So I was able to find a pink princess dress that was exactly what she was wanting.



I had to put this in, it's priceless and we can even practice our alliteration:
The precious pink princess picking her nose.

Pretty princesses

Sydney was Little Red Riding Hood, the same as last year because she was planning on going to a church event that she wouldn't need a costume for but changed her mind and decided she would go trick-or -Treating around our neighborhood with her friend Victoria instead. So since it was last minute, she used what we already had, why not?

We sent them on their way with a tazer gun...seriously.

Hoorah! (OoRah)

One of my favorite memories from growing up in San Diego was going to the MCAS Miramar Air Show every October in Miramar, CA (where they filmed um TOP GUN).  My grandfather was a pilot in the Navy, which probably sparked my Dad's love and knowledge of airplanes, and that love of aviation has spread throughout my family.  Now Shane and I love to bring our kiddos to that same air show I went to as a child. 

Daddy's getting the ear plugs ready, it's LOUD!

The kids get to climb in and out of tanks, helicopters and planes and there are flight demonstrations all day long, complete with guns "firing" and "bombs" dropping.  The kids love it!



AAV, for water and land, it's Baaaad!

  

Maverick driving

 I remember in the early 90's, I couldn't wait to see the B-2, what we called The Stealth Bomber. It was all black and looked (to me) like something out of a Star Wars movie.  I was sure it was Top Secret, and I seriously felt like I was privy to classified information because I (apparently I overlooked the other thousands of people at the Air Show) got to see that thing fly.
Now when I go, I can't wait to see the V-22 Osprey; part helicopter, part plane, but really unlike either, the Osprey flight demonstration is something that you just HAVE to see.

V-22 Osprey, watching these fly is so cool!





Aurora and Daddy



Summer striking a pose



 It was an extremely hot day (it always works out that way) even though it's in October.  So, we all got shave ice to eat while we watched the Angels.  Summer took some creative liberty in eating hers...she gets points for style!

Eating her shave ice





The Blue Angels, F/A-18 Hornets

My VERY favorite event of the day is the Blue Angel show.  Since I can remember the Blue Angels team flew F/A-18's, but I learned this year that the pilots refer to them as Rhinos!  I love learning little tidbits like that, probably TOP SECRET information again ... OK maybe not.  Seriously, there is just nothing like watching these planes maneuver right over your head, in formations sometimes only 18 inches apart from each other!  It's incredible.



After a day of being rattled by jet afterburners, you'd think that we would have pounding headaches, but that is never the case.  I always leave excited to have shared this experience with my children and PROUD!  In the least cheesy way possible, I undoubtedly leave feeling proud of our armed forces and certainly proud to be an American!



What You Missed

Since it's officially Fall, my lofty goal of blogging about ALL of our summer fun is fading fast.  So here is a jumble of some of what you missed during our last days of summer...

We went to Legoland, on a budget I might add! I had a BOGO (buy one get one) coupon from my PTA membership for last year, and we stumbled across a deal at IKEA for a free kids admission to Legoland with the purchase of an Adult; we used 3 of those and essentially got half of our party in FREE, yee haw I love a deal!


Aurora & I



Kiarra, Sydney, Kody & Summer with Harry Potter and Hagrid

 

Summer & Maverick riding the train, can you tell it's HOT?


We did go to the Legoland Water park shortly after this picture was taken because it was a really hot day, even on the coast.  Sadly, I do not have any pics from the water park because they were taken with my now missing iPhone...


Sydney the Lion tamer



Personalized coffee mugs LOL!



Nana sent the kids a package (and my kids LOVE to get packages from Texas because they always have the best stuff in them) with some of Daddy's old books like Richard Scarry's Funniest Story Book Ever from 1979!  Nana also sent a bunch of fun charms for their Crocks.  They loved it!

You can tell these are my children by the tan and also bruised legs!

And of course there was arts & crafts time over the summer... 



Notice the state of the bathroom after the finger painting.



 We moved on to a less messy medium, the Color Wonder markers that only show up on the Color Wonder paper, genius!


No mess here :)



 I picked up a Power Wheels Barbie Jeep at a garage sale for 20 bucks, like I said I love a deal.  Only, I had to buy a battery for it that was $89.99 and then the kids only got to use it once before the battery stopped taking a charge.  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!



He has to hold on tight while she's driving!





And of course we had a ton of fun at the lake.  Maverick and Summer both learned to water ski this summer and Sydney perfected her wake boarding skills and even got up on a single ski.  She may never slalom again but it was fun to see her try something that us "parents" enjoy so much.



Maverick in his jammies with his BIG  Blue Gill

The great epiphany that happened at the lake this summer is that Maverick realized his love for fish, fishing and anything fishy in nature.  We always knew this boy had the patience for fishing, even when he was a toddler but during our camping trip he caught a TON of fish and (pardon the pun) he was HOOKED!  He would wake up in the morning and run down to the dock in his PJ's with his tackle and pole and start fishing before breakfast.  He didn't even want to go out on the boat to ski because that would cut into his fishing time. 



His first Bass, it's just a baby but there are many more to come I'm sure.



Maverick would fish everyday if he could.  His favorite place to go is the Bass Pro Shop, he checks out books about fishing at the library,  and watches fishing shows on TV and every chance he gets he wants to search for videos of people fishing.  (I mean really the only thing more boring than fishing it's self is watching other people fish on TV, but what do I know!) His wish now is to go to Florida so he can catch a Mahi Mahi and a Tarpon, REALLY that's what my 7 year old wants to do! He's so funny and so lucky that he has a retired grandpa that also shares his love of fishiness and just happens to live on a lake.



All of the kids in Summer's class got to write sentences about her last week at school.  She told them that her favorite color is purple, she likes mac'n'cheese and she is 5.  I think her teacher did a great job on the portrait of Summer, the resemblance is uncanny!

Summer as the friend of the week.

We also took one very exciting trip to the drive-in movie theater.  It was so much fun for Shane and I because all 5 of the kiddos (Kiarra included) had never been to the drive in before!

My attempt to capture the whole gang, it didn't work.

The weather was perfect, it was one of those great, warm summer nights where it is perfectly comfortable outside even late into the night.  A summer trip to the drive-in will be a must for years to come in our family. 



Eager faces dressed in their PJ's ready for the movie





Bublegum Bandit

As many of you know, our little Aurora is OBSESSED with bubblegum.  We fondly refer to her as the Bubblegum Bandit.  Minty gum, fruity gum, sour gum, "spicy" gum , ABC gum, she's not picky, any gum will do. 

She can spot bubblegum a mile away. 

If you have gum in your purse, she'll find it. 

If you have gum in your mouth, she'll smell it, yes SMELL it. 

If you are chewing gum, she'll see it and ask for some, and if you don't have any more, she'll gladly take the piece out of your mouth, GLADLY!

As I was driving one day she asked me (as she does everyday) for some gum: 

Mommy, what's in you mouf, Mommy, you have some gum?"

"Sorry nope, no gum."

"Mommy, I have some gum?"

"No Rora, you can't have any gum."

Mommy, you have some gum?"

"Nope, it's all gone."

"You got gum in your purse, Mommy?"

"NO, I DO NOT have any gum Aurora."   

"Mommy," in a whisper, "Mommy, I hew it! It's in your purse, I hew it." 

Seriously no body's safe, she now HEARS gum.

She's the Gum Whisperer... 



The Socks Have Reappeared

I knew it was officially summer time when there were no longer socks in the dirty laundry.  Flip flops don't require socks and since my kiddos weren't going to school, they didn't  require socks either.  But alas, the socks have reappeared; it's back to school we go. 

They both wore their "ties"  just like Daddy

My little Summer girl has embarked on her first day of Kindergarten, which was amazing and wonderful and she couldn't get enough.  That is until the first FULL week of school, when she realized that she had to do this whole "school thing" 5 days a week!  It was quite a surprise to her and we are still adjusting.  She IS excited however, that she was one of the first kids in her class to earn the Light-Up School Bus Pin.  They are quite the coveted item in Mrs. May's Kindergarten class and you can only get one when you know ALL of your letter sounds.  Folks, after only one week of school, she does! 

Maverick started 2nd grade with Mrs. MacDonald and was so pleased when the very first day of school they got to read a story called Dragon Gets By.  It gets better, the class then got to discuss the difference between imaginary dragons and real dragons, like maybe BEARDED DRAGONS!  He happens to know ALL about those and even got to bring in a picture of Spike to show the class.

8th Grader!

Sydney returns to middle school, ready to rule as an 8th grader!  You may or may not know that most of the years that we have picked up her class schedule or checked her class lists, have ended in tears, due to wrong teachers, lack of friends in classes, etc.  Not this year baby. 
She got 6th period PE, CHECK!
This is very important because last year she had 1st period PE (not good) since young ladies do not want to mess up their hair or makeup early in the school day!
She has friends in all her classes, CHECK! 
Sydney has classes with Brittany, Kate and Victoria, among others.
She likes all her teachers, double CHECK!
She was worried about one teacher that she heard was "mean" but he may actually end up being her favorite one of all.  She is not taking band this year, which makes me sad, but makes Sydney very happy; she is taking art instead.  I'm sure she will do great this year (as she's always done) and produce some awesome grades yet again.

It's just Aurora and I at home and yet I am still searching for all this "extra time" I'm supposed to have. With two different school drop off times, 3 different pick up times, two in soccer (Maverick and Summer), coaching Maverinck's team, two in dance (Sydney and Aurora), MOPS, Crossfit, volunteering in classrooms, various appointments, cleaning and dinners, I seem to be able to fight off the BOREDOM of only having one child at home.

Farts & French Fries Disclaimer

I often joke that the permanent smell in my Suburban is that of farts and french fries.  While I know that talk like this  is making some of you cringe, as a mommy of four, BOTH farts AND french fries seem to be common place.  Therefor, I will officially apologize to my wonderful, polite southern family who is most likely sitting, mouth agape, that I would ever have such a title on my blog, AND to my delicate friends with whom speak of the term fart, as the "f-word."  Oh yes, and how could I forget, I need to apologize to my husband, who I did not pre-approve this title with, and who for the record does not think farts are funny and is probably embarrassed at this very moment that his family's blog is called what it is.  His Texas family should be very proud, they raised him right.  My family however, well lets just blame it all on my dad (I love you Dad) who oppositely thinks farts are VERY funny, and who MAY, I mean it's a possibility that he MIGHT have a button that says, and I quote, I heart to Fart.