A Spooky Night Out...

Mike and I went to a Halloween party Saturday night. It was a pretty elaborate party way out in Temecula. The house was totally decorated and everyone came decked out. Mike rented us costumes which I appreciated because creativity in this realm has never been my strong point. He was Ceasar and I was Aphrodite. Lynda did my makeup and had the perfect jewerly to go with my costume.

I never think I like Halloween or dressing up but I think I'm coming to grips with the fact that I do! It was fun caking on the makup and braiding my hair. The kids stayed overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's and we picked them up in the morning. Maddie loved looking at these pictures. She liked the one with all the smoke. She asked me if the "smoke smelled".

Maddie said of this picture, "look at Dad being silly." I love it. Stay tuned for pictures of the kids coming up...

More Lake Arrowhead...

The little village had a fun carousel... that ended up being the longest carousel ride ever! Luckily Grandpa and Dad accompanied the kids.
There was an Oktoberfest festival going on with some live music. It was pretty funny. The "band" played/did the chicken dance and the crowd was really into it. Probably would have been a bit more fun if I were enjoying a beer like the guys but it was still entertaining. Of course we had to stop for some ice cream... and of course this was Mike's suggestion.
We headed back to the house and I got this cute picture of William with Grandpa up on the deck. I think Wil was checking out all the ducks on the lake.
To top off the day, William started playing in the "dirt" path right outside the front of the house. It was killing me. Really, I've got to get over it but seriously... dirt everywhere...throwing it up in the air, rubbing it in his hair. It wasn't long before Maddie joined in! Needless to say, the day ended with a nice, warm bath.

Lake Arrowhead

This past weekend we headed up to Lake Arrowhead for a little getaway. Our good friends Larry and Helen have a place right on the lake and they were nice enough to offer up their home to our family for the weekend. We had a such a nice time. Lake Arrowhead is beautiful and it's so close! It's only a little over an hours drive away which is great since Maddie started asking about 10 minutes into the trip if we were there yet. We enjoyed a cruise around the lake Saturday afternoon. William was not a fan of the life jacket but luckily Aunt Sonja had some treats stashed away in her bag. M&M's work wonders! Good thinking Sonja. Even "Kitty" got to join us on the boat. This is Maddie's beloved stuffed animal. We gave it to her on her second Valentine's Day. "Kitty" goes everywhere with us because Maddie sleeps cuddled up with her every night.
It was so beautiful up there. It really reminded me of my parents home back in Minnesota.
Maddie just loves her Aunt Soosa and Uncle Russell. Uncle Russell is so good to both Maddie and Wil. He never says "no" to them when they want him to play with them and he plays good!
We parked the boat and stopped off for a stroll around the little village and there was a lot going on! There was a little pumpkin patch in the middle of the village which was fun. Maddie was off jumping in the pumpkin jumper.

Santa Ana Winds

The only good thing about Santa Ana winds is that it provides for great kite flying! Mike bought this kite ages ago and we've only taken it out for a few, pitiful flights but today it was soaring high in the sky. The kids loved it!William was running all over the cul-de-sac with his head arched up to the sky to check out the kite. There were lots of squeals and screams of delight and we even had an audience. One of the neighbor families came outside to check out the show. Who would have known my husband had such awesome kite flying talents?

They're awefully quiet...

Saturday evening we had Aunt Sonja and Uncle Russell over for dinner. They brought a Turtle Pie for dessert and Dad served up the plates. As usual, Maddie got her own slice and William usually just shares with one of us. As we sat at the table in the dining room, we noticed it was awefully quiet right around the corner in the kitchen... Wil decided to help himself to some Turtle Pie and it was everywhere! For whatever reason, there was a little bag of toys on the counter and Wil was smearing whip cream all over the bag. He was having a ball.

Don't worry Dad, if you don't give me my own piece of pie, I'll just get it myself thank you very much!

The Escalade...

Maddie's good friend Diana has been off track for the last couple of weeks and has been coming to our house with her mom. Since this is her last week before going back to school, Norma asked if they could bring her Escalade for the kids to play with. It was quite the hit with both Maddie and William. Apparently, they had a blast driving around the cul-de-sac all afternoon.
Safety first! Norma was sweet (and smart) to have William wear Maddie's bike helmet while he was taking a ride in the car. What a site this was to see as I pulled up to the house after work. It was hilarious! I had to grab my camara!
Apparently Diana did all of the driving today (again, a wise choice on Norma's part). I overheard Maddie telling Mike tonight that she has to be 4 to be able to drive. Mike told her that her birthday is coming up (well, in January) and she was all excited jumping up and down, yelling, "yeah, I'll be 4 and I can drive!". It was too cute. I wonder if an Escalade might be in the Ciriza's future? (I have to admit I was pulling for one at a recent visit to Toys-R-Us which is pretty uncharacteristic of me). We'll see...

Sunday fun...

It was one of those weekends where we did a lot of just relaxing and hanging around the house, and getting a few things done in between. When I went to check on Maddie and Wil who were playing together in her room, it was empty (besides the mess of toys sprawled everywhere). I heard small noises coming from the closet. When I slid open the door, I found them, crammed in there with toys all around them. When I asked what they were doing, Maddie said they were playing in the "elevator". I think it's hilarious she can get Wil to stay put in there for so long!
We went over to Mike and Lynda's this afternoon for some delicious homemade chile rellenos Grandpa made and Maddie entertained us with a sock puppet shoe. It was pretty funny. She said one of the socks, "the brown one", was a boy and the white sock was a girl and they were getting married.
When Wil woke up from his nap, he found the lid to the Dibs that had been eaten while he slept and he insisted that he get his share. We can't get anything past this little guy. "Soosa" (Auntie Sonja) was nice enough to find another box and help him out. Wil is very into belly buttons these days. He will get on a kick where he tries to pull up the shirts of everyone in the room to get their belly button. You can imagine how most feel about that and the laughs we get out of it all. He was on one of those kicks today and we turned the game back on him. Where's your belly button Wil?
How can I not let him expose my belly in front of all to find my button? Look at that face. I'm a total sucker for this guy. I love weekends like this...no plans, no agenda, no place to be (besides dance class).... it was great!

Disneyland!

We snuck out this afternoon and took the kids to Disneyland for a few hours after Wil's nap. That's one of the great things about having season passes and living so close... you can get Disneyland in small doses which is just the right amount of time for a 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old. The park was all decorated for Halloween which was fun! Right after entering the park we had a run in with goofy...William and Maddie loved him!
We headed over to the cars. I don't even know what the ride is called. I'd never been on it before but Mike and Maddie had and William, of course, LOVED it. Too cute.
Per Maddie's request, and believe me, you'd wonder who is in charge if you overheard the four of us, we took a ride on the merry-go-round. Look at that smile!
Maddie picked out a new hat today and she insisted on this one because of the crown. She's very into the whole princess thing. She wants to be a ballerina for Halloween and she tells me we need to find a tutu and a crown! I've already started looking..We can't wait for our next trip to Disneyland. I keep saying we need to go to California Adventure one of these days. Maybe next time we will!