Halloween in San Carlos

We spent Halloween in San Carlos this year, helping Adam and Rachel celebrate Lilah's first Halloween (and first Halloween in their new home)! We started with some pumpkin carving before getting dressed up in our costumes (yes, we're still dressed as a pride of Lions!), mixed up an outstanding batch of Dark 'n Stormies, and then heading off to famous Eucalyptus Avenue, where the neighbors go all-out for Halloween.

The street was closed to make room for the hordes of pedestrians, and some of the houses actually featured performances throughout the evening (think fire-eaters). The boys were much less fearful this year, and really got into going door-to-door with their baskets. Our favorite picture? The angelic Lilah oblivious to the fact that her mother has transformed into a faceless Mexican wrestler (lower right photo in the collage above).

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Roosevelt Beach

Eunice headed out to Half Moon Bay for yet another perfect October day, this time roping in Grace, Theo, and Reah. They decided to check out Roosevelt Beach this time. It was Grace's first beach outing with Reah (it was warm, but not warm enough for her first swim!). The boys had lots of fun kicking the ball around the beach and playing "train" with a long string of seaweed. Craziest moment? When Theo ran off down the beach, with Tyler eagerly chasing after him.... Eunice and Grace had to head off in hot pursuit, leaving Spencer to watch Reah!

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Daycare Halloween Party

It's time for the annual Little Kingdom Daycare Halloween party, complete with lumpia, spaghetti with hotdogs, fruit, cupcakes, and of course lots of cute kids in costumes. Animals were the theme this year-- Rosalyn was Minnie Mouse, Isaac was a Bunny, David was a Kangaroo, and Kaira was a Hippo. And of course, our boys were re-using their lion costumes from Julia's birthday princess party. And the zoo-keeper of this wild bunch? Juanita, dressed as Snow White.

Dune Beach

Now THIS is what every Monday in October should be like-- a fantastic outing to the beach with the boys, chasing seagulls (with Spencer yelling "Seagull, don't take my food!") and romping around in the sand. It's a turning point to see the boys laughing and playing with each other these days, even giving each other an occasional impromptu hug.

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Next Step U

It started out as an innocent enough side project-- Eunice and Maggie volunteered to help our church put together a day of community classes (which Ryan cleverly named "Next Step U"). Hundreds of hours later, there was a high-class logo, advertisements running during the weekly service, gourmet lunch and beverages, dozens of volunteers and attendees, outsourced childcare, and a fantastic curriculum of how to take the "next step" in your spiritual journey.

The day was a smashing success-- we actually had the chance to sit down to think and talk like adults for a change, discussing subjects that don't get enough mind-share in our daily craziness. We attended a morning class exploring the intersection of social justice and faith, took a nice lunch break with the kids, and then rounded out the afternoon with a turbo-speed class on reading the Bible for all its worth, taught by our good friends Phil and Kevin. Eunice managed to rope our daycare providers in as childcare workers, so our boys had a fantastic time too!

Pumpkin Picking in Half Moon Bay

While Ryan was out of town at an IT conference, Eunice attempted to take the boys to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, only to encounter stop-and-go traffic minutes into the trip. She managed to salvage the morning, with the help of the Canada's who joined her for pumpkin picking in decidedly more sunny climes at Webb Ranch in Portola Valley.

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The boys had a fantastic time running around, sitting on pumpkins, selecting pumpkins, taking pictures with pumpkins, and climbing in the wheel barrow. With a jumpy house to boot, this turned out to be the perfect place to spend the morning.

We've never ended up with so many pumpkins for Halloween-- the boys didn't want to stop loading up our wheel barrow!

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Hudson's Birthday at Marvin Gardens

You might not guess it, but Marvin Gardens is just about the perfect venue for a kid's birthday party... Beer and pizza for the adults, a huge, contained play area for the kids, and, best of all, thundering trains that whiz by practically overhead. Hudson had a great day, as did his best bud Spencer. The favorite activity of the afternoon? Coordinated jumps off the side of the patio to the gravel below. Simple pleasures, what could be better?

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Julia's Princess Party

Our friend Julia has ALWAYS wanted to have a princess party. What better opportunity than her 40th birthday? It was a costume party, with the theme of "royalty." She encouraged creative interpretation, so the Nichols and Canadas came dressed as a pride of Lions ("king" of the jungle, get it?). The boys were adorable in their lion outfits, but their parents looked like complete freak shows at an event where most adults came dressed as princes and princesses... But the Princess party theme was flawlessly executed, with a castle jumpy house, pink decorations everywhere, and fantastic ribs to gnaw on, medieval-style.

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Lionesses Eunice and Grace get a photo with the birthday girl, pretty in pink.

Adam & Therese Share a Birthday

Now that not one, but TWO of the most important people in my dad's life share October 2 as a birthday, what better way to celebrate the big occasion than a dinner party in the Marina, complete with juicy steaks, tasty wine, and carrot cake?

We all decided to spend the night in the Marina...with all 3 kids - a fateful decision that worked out well enough at first, but for which we paid the price the next morning after Ryan and Adam were out half the night. Ryan paid penance by taking the extra early morning shift with the boys, heading out to the beach for some play-time without waking up the rest of the house.