Biker Gang

Shopkin Swap

The toy store had a Shopkin event today that Mady was very excited to attend. The kids colored a placemat to display their Shopkins for trading. Mady made some good trades and had a lot of fun!

Harvest festival

After school, the kids got (parts) of their costumes on and we went to Coast Guard Island for the Harvest Festival. We had some dinner and candy, went on the haunted hay ride, a horse drawn carriage ride, played some games and did some trunk or treating.

This pony was a the cutest fugitive.

A small hay maze that no one got lost in!

 Mady's haul from trunk or treat. We didn't bring buckets, luckily we had this hat!

And of course, when we got home we celebrated Daddy's birthday with scary carrot cupcakes. Yum!

Preschool Pumpkins

Mady's school met at the local pumpkin patch for a day of fun. Teacher always asks the kids to wear red or pink for identification on our field trips. We usually fail at this task, but today Mady had the idea to wear one of her brother's field trip shirts! The pumpkin patch in close to our house, so we decided to walk and enjoy the sunshine.

Mady's hair looked so pretty, we just had to take a picture.

 Making corn angels.

 With friends, trying to build a tower out of corn kernels.

 With her two best friends on the hay stack.

Applesauce

After helping Aunt Jean make applesauce in North Dakota, Mady and I have been wanting to get a sieve so we can make delicious applesauce at home. For my birthday, Gma gave me the sieve! Today Mady and I made up our first batch and the family devoured it!

Now we need to find a source of apples to keep us going!

Toothless

On October 3rd, Zachy lost one of his top, front teeth.

By October 17th, three teeth were gone.

The tooth fairy was wearing a trail to our house!

Children's Playground

Not quite as rainy today so we decided to head over to Golden Gate Park and the Children's Playground in San Francisco. The kids had fun climbing, zip-lining, swinging, pokemon hunting and riding the carousel.

Mady is getting strong!

Daddy was happy to find a rooster to ride.

As we were walking back to the car, we decided to explore the tunnel under the road. We also heard some music playing and thought it was coming from the woods. It was actually a group of people playing in the tunnel! Mady had fun dancing, but thought the echoing was too loud at times.

A half silly, half regular photo on the steps of the Conservatory of Flowers.

Wet Pumpkins

The forecast calls for rain, rain and more rain! Something California desperately needs. But when it rains on pumpkin patch weekend, it gets tricky. Our research seemed to indicate that going south instead of our usual north would help us avoid the rain. Unfortunately, that was not the case and we were woefully prepared....and very wet. But, we still had fun!

Getting lost in the a-maze-ing hay maze. Many of the paths led back to the starting area. Phil was the only one who actually found the exit.

There was a haunted house (Alex and Zachy braved it), a little train (Mady's favorite) and pony rides.  Zachy was the only one willing to chance the smell of wet horse.

A little added bonus on the way home was a stop at Dunkin Donuts. So yummy, but not near our house.

Movie Date

Alex and Zachy had a couple of days off from school this week. Today we sent Mady to Lunch Bunch and went to the movies and lunch.

We all had a fun time!

Basket Weaving

Alex's class has been studying the Ohlone people from the San Jose region. As part of the cultural understanding of the Ohlone, the kids are weaving baskets. I stopped into the class this morning to help the kids get their baskets started and on the right path. Some of these 4th graders are experts already!

I don't have a picture of Alex's finished basket. It is now at school awaiting the Open House display, I'll post a picture then!

Fly by

This was Fleet Week and the Blue Angels were in town to help celebrate. We didn't get to the airport this year to watch them take off and land, but we still had the chance to watch they fly right over our house!

Lindsey Wildlife Museum

The third grade travelled to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum for a day of fun and learning. The classes were broken up into three groups and rotated through a few stations. Each station discussed a different animal habitat. Our first station was the terrain on Mount Diablo. Surprisingly, when the instructor asked the complete group if they had been to Mount Diablo, Zachy was the only one to raise his hand.  One of the inhabitants of Mount Diablo, is the tarantula.

Our instructor also told us that if we were to head on up to Mount Diablo this weekend, around 4-6pm, the ground would be swarming with tarantulas. It seems it is tarantula mating season. Another mom and I decided that we most definitely would not be heading to Mount Diablo this weekend.

After cycling through all of the different stations, we went outside to have lunch and some free time on the play structure.

 Back inside, we had time to explore the museum,

 greet some of the residents*,

 and compare ourselves to our flying friends.

 And of course, a group shot before heading back to school.

*The Lindsey Wildlife Museum is also a rehabilitation center for native birds and animals.