I thought I would get caught up on the last few months of our lives. Just writing this October post is taking me hours with all the activities we did. It has been a crazy month, and we still have a busy week left with Halloween activities! I picked up a job teaching group piano classes to children, which started this month, so I have been a little stressed getting that up and running and doing 4 different lesson plans for different levels of kids. But it's going more smoothly now so that's great. Here's a recap of some of our family activities.
I've been working on a few things at home: organizing and starting to shop for some new pieces of furniture. I'm still waiting for the perfect credenza for the family room. This one was too expensive
And you can't really tell, but I organized the pantry. It is impossibly narrow and deep, but now I know where everything is and various food groupings are more accessible. I've also worked on my closet and the kids' room, and the bathroom cupboards and hall closet are on my list.
Kids are free at museums for all of October so we've been capitalizing on that. We went to the Children's Museum with a group of friends
The kids were really entertained and we're happy to stay for hours.
This is me and Finn cuddling post nap. He was so snuggly!
We had some rainy days this month which gives us an excuse to bust out the rain gear! Here's Rose with her teacher, Miss Connie. She is enjoying preschool, and brings home the most darling holiday artwork that I will save for ever and ever!
And now for a recap of our quick weekend in Palm Desert. Raimo had a conference, so we tagged along and the kids and I spent time at the pool and in the hotel room. It was SUPER hot but you hardly notice it when you go from one air conditioned room to another to the pool and back. In fact we were cold. With the hot weather we've been having in Carlsbad this September and October, it was nice to have air conditioning. (Literally, we've been DYING at home. Ok maybe not literally. But it was not fun)
We ate at Cheesecake Factory the first night
The next morning I spent 3 hours at Urgent Care getting medication for Rose- she had puffy, goopy eyes all weekend, poor girl. But we finally got the medicine. Then Finn refused to nap in the hotel bathroom and finally fell asleep by me in my bed. He looked so darling
My big baby!!! 20 months!
The JW Marriott was beautiful
The second night we ate at a BBQ restaraunt called Babe's. The kids liked all the giant piggies
They also liked the tropical birds around the hotel.
It was a quick tiresome weekend. We drove back Sunday for church, then I had to get back in the car and drive to Long Beach for a caroling rehearsal. My Princess Cabaret in LA was supposed to be the next weekend, and though I'm bummed to have had it postponed, I'm glad I didn't have to go to LA for rehearsals and that I got to go on this mini trip instead.
On Monday night we had an unorthodox Family Night. I think we were exhausted. We took the kids to Walmart and let them pick a toy. Rose got a cash register
She is always giving us money when we pretend to buy things from her. " I'd like a chocolate milkshake. Okay, I'll take 16 dollars as well!" And Finn got this garbage truck, which he was pretty obsessed with for the next week or so. The garbage truck is SUCH a big deal right now.
That Tuesday Lindsey invited me to the Air and Space Museum since kids are free all the month of October. It actually was really cool! There was a lot to see and it made me feel very patriotic!
We were surprised by how kid-friendly it was. There were lots of activities and a little movie, and they got to climb in all the airplanes.
I would have loved to stop and read all about the airplanes- there were some really old ones that were so cool! They had some Anelia Earhart stuff too- she fascinates me! Some childless day in the future, I will have the time. I was surprised how moved I felt. I feel very proud of my country, even more so with the new negative attitude so many Americans have these days toward their own country. Something about the world wars and all the history surrounding that time makes me so proud. Look at all the sacrifice and selflessness so many men demonstrated. And not just for the good of our own country but for the good of the world
Ben went in for a kiss
Here's some shots of the girls getting a cupcake with Lindsey. It was green day at school that day ( this month they're studying the secondary colors!)
And this was a day I tried to really play with Rose. We brought out all the princess stuff. There's a lot of it
It makes me happy to see her imaginative play
On that Friday we picked out pumpkins to carve
It was a nice cool day and I even made pumpkin muffins. So on the fall bandwagon
Rose kept complaining about not painting our pumpkins, which is what we did last year. But when we turned out the lights and lit the candles, it was a pretty exciting (and spooky!) moment! I love this picture
Smile!
Unfortunately our pumpkins got moldy a week later so we had to throw them out. Maybe it was too hot. Oh well.
We had a ward friend get together one night with the Tanners, Carrs, and Hunters. It was nice and the kids enjoyed Aladdin out in the backyard
Another notable day was Rose's first primary program last Sunday. She did fabulous! She repeated her line so well and so clearly! She also had a mini solo! I the middle of "If You Don't Walk" she sang "but I won't! I won't" in perfect pitch! I was so proud of her! I played the piano and couldn't exactly watch, but it was still so great. Grandma and Grandpa came to watch and we had Sunday dinner afterward.
This past Tuesday we went on another field trip to the U.S.S. Midway with Lindsey and her kids. Good thing she is always coming up with outings for us! It is so huge and we hauled all over that thing!
Finn says ship! But it sounds more like another word..
They got to check out all the equipment and we walked all through the living quarters down below and the offices and mess hall and kitchens. It was like stepping back in time- pretty cool
Up top were more planes and helicopters. I think this would be a better activity for older kids just because of all the walking. Again, I would enjoy going as adults and doing the audio tour. But we'll save that for another day
This made me cry. The room had a bunch of plane seats- each one representing a man who was MIA or a prisoner of war. It was a very powerful thing
We had a picnic outside after. It was a beautiful blue sky day.
I just loved all these pictures and the morning light coming in!
This is Finn in the back of the truck
Rose did Finn's buckles and took him to school
They're so cute!
This conversation was something like, "Guess what I'm gonna be for Halloween?"
This one was, "Who's excited to go see Belle?!"
We stopped for dinner at URBN Pizza.
And headed over to Moonlight- our first time!
I love getting some one-on-one with my baby girl.
Rose kept making comments out loud through the show: "There's Belle!" "She's so beautiful!" "Where's her dress like mine?" " I like that cookie!" (Gingerbread man) "it's ok- he's gonna come alive again!" (Regarding the beast at the end)
It was a little chilly out, which I didn't expect. Luckily we had blankets and Savannah had many extra articles of clothing to share.
We waited for Miranda (Belle) afterward, and Rose was thrilled to see she had "blonde hair like me!"
Belle did a great job, and I was also impressed by Gaston- I couldn't believe how mature his voice was for a 14-year-old! And all the children were darling!
Well there's our month so far! It's been a whirlwind! Can't believe how the time passes when we're so busy. Finn is learning so many words and even phrases now, and so quickly. I got him to say I love you, and it was the best thing on earth. He says Why? a lot and Come on and Bye and of course truck, car, jeep, train, kopter, planes, skateboard (gatebor), bike, and many others- I wish I could capture all the words. He repeats just about anything. And he LOVES reading books. He brings them to us all the time, and he's so darling I just have to stop whatever I'm doing. Rose is really into crafts and doing art. She likes when I do it with her. It's fun, but Finn can't be involved!
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