trick or treat

this is my favorite holiday yet....because both our babies are big enough to have an extra sparkly eye as they take in the magic of it all. i loved making our costumes and i LOVED sharing this night with them. pete has been super excited about trick or treating and halloween, especially this week - we've been reading halloween books for a month and have been talking about our costumes for forever...and he's seen them coming together while momma worked in spare moments. today was finally the day and we were fortunate to share this fun night with some amazing friends here in san diego. daddy was missed, as he is every tiny minute of every single day...but especially during memorable nights like these. i'm sure he'll be grateful to know that some other daddies ("az" and "tong") helped me pull my wagon up and around the big hills of the neighborhood. about halfways around the block we had a ride swap - pete opted to ride in ryan's amazing fire truck double BOB (she really made a truck around the stroller with lights and everything!) and betsy's friend anabelle hopped into the empty seat of the wagon to take in all things halloween. the two girls had a grand time digging through their candy baskets, shaking their treats and giggling together, much to their mommas' delight!  it was a crazy fun night, but my head sure was spinning trying to keep track of two littles on the move. at one point i shouted "has anyone seen betsy"....betsy was perched right on my hip, in my very own arms as i asked the question. phew. its been a grand night, but its time for this momma to collapse in bed!
happy halloween!!!!

lady bumble bee

you can see the fire truck headlights in the background

mr. caterpillar - he loved his costume which made the effort it took sooooo worth it!

riding in the wagon - i taped a string of glow sticks around it - this neighborhood is super dark at night and i'm worried about losing the stroller and not being seen by vehicles. plus b was enamored with the things and spent all the in-between time playing with them and the candy in her bucket. the kids each also wore a glow stick necklace

heading up to the door - he did great! he said he was only going to say "trick or treat" tiny....and he said it in a clear but tiny voice each time. very cute.

waiting her turn at the door, she plopped down and attempted to unwrap her treats

sweet friends and their baby kettle bell (for those who don't know its a type of weight for working out) - so creative!

awkward angle...but here they are at the door - wanted to capture the moment for daddy

my antenna got tangled in the web

riding in the fire truck BOB...this picture doens't do it justice. there are actual lights on the front and a ladder on the side!  pete thought it was the coolest thing!

these three littles have spent three halloweens together. :)  so fun to watch them grow!

the ladies in their chariot

kelley fam and their fire theme - a match, a fire hydrant, a dalmation....and ryan was a fire fighter and their "daughter"/babysitter was fire! so cute!

some friends took a group photo of the three bugs together...i'll post that once they have time to share!

october and 85

automatically my brain shifts to autumn this time of year, i'm just programmed that way. and it makes sense....we're wearing heavy pj's and stacking on the blankets to avoid using the heater at night (pretty sure our house has flimsy insulation so the indoor temps soar and plunge along with the outside temps). i'm waking up and rushing to find socks and a robe and the porch thermometer reads somewhere between 40 and 50.

fast forward 3 hours, during our morning walk which begins with us wearing pants and heavy jackets....all of which (except the pants) we're stripping away to tanks and t's because suddenly out of nowhere the temperature is a balmy 85 degrees.

fall in san diego is such a confusing thing - you absolutely have to check the weather report every single day for every single "area" area of san diego. traveling just 10 minutes in any direction can yield a significantly different weather scenario.

we showed up to the splash park birthday party with pants and jackets on but by the time all the guests had arrived, our kids were opting for bathing suits and having an absolute BLAST in the best splash park in san diego, as far as i'm concerned - pioneer park.  too bad (or so great?) its fenced/gated and you need an area resident who has an access card to let you in, luckily i happen to know a few with such a card who also happen to be awesome friends with awesome kids (b's new favorite word is "awesome" by the way).  pete was happy as a lark galloping around with his bff ryan and betsy did her typical sweet-as-can-be thing and rambled around on her own, interacting with anyone she came across on her journey to wherever she was headed.  i so loved being in a place that was wide open (but fenced so i knew they could only go so far) and being able to just let them be....its so exhausting forever correcting and guiding and redirecting littles....so its such a relief for all of us when we are in an place that is safe and filled with endless fun and perfect weather and friends to share it all with.

always under the same stars

what a morning of hugs and kisses and little boy questions and baby girl tickles. it was an early start to deliver daddy to the bus bound for a plane heading to a far away place.  such a powerfully emotional thing to be present in the midst of a send-off. so many daddy's hugging their babies and kissing their wives. so many littles with lots of questions, holding onto their daddy's hands with eyes wide open as they take in the scene. mounds and mounds of gear and bags stacked 5 high. semi trucks pulling in to be loaded up. buses rolling up to deliver our most precious cargo to their first of many destinations along the way....along the journey back home to us once again.  so many precious moments between loved ones to take in, and all of us so grateful for them all. each last touch. last kiss. last hug. last i love you....

until the big party that we're already counting down to! i'm striving to keep joy in my heart and be full of gratitude for sharing this life with such an incredible husband to miss so desperately.  its easy to feel like you've been hit by a truck and shut down. my goal is to support him the best i can and make this transition as easy to understand as possible for our littles and stay as busy as possible to time-warp our way to togetherness.  i can't wait to introduce him to our newest little.  that will be such a magical day.  i will hold him in my heart until i can hold him in my arms again.  thank you to all for loving us and sending your support and prayers.

b and her buddy luke - daddy's friend (another FAC) has four little boys, we spent the morning with them

kisses for her hero

inspecting daddy's weapon

we love you

waiting on the hill for daddy's bus to go by - it was super windy but pete insisted we wait and wave to him. i'm so glad we did.

jack o' lanterns

the kids have been excited to "make a face" on the pumpkins we picked up from the pumpkin patch. the weather was perfectly damp and chilly-ish today, the house was filled with crock-pot-cookin' italian beef and pumpkin spice candle scents...and our days together as a family of four (and a half) are numbered, so today was the day!  they were both extremely tentative at first about reaching hands into the pumpkins but were certainly enthralled with watching mom and dad cut and scoop out all the "goobies" as betsy was calling it.  she was happy to pick up individual seeds from the floor and put them in the compost bucket but when i handed her a handful of "goobies" you could see she really wanted to touch it but just couldn't bring herself to touch it, and then even backed away from me slowly staring down the pile of goo in my hand. eventually she warmed up to the idea and dug in with a spoon of her own, helping me out.  pete wasn't nervous about it, but doesn't LOVE to have his hands super messy so he was happy to spectate and ask questions.  he was mesmerized watching the knife go in-and-out of the pumpkin from the inside as daddy carved the face into his jack o' lantern.  at one point poor reid said, "why didn't we carve pumpkins last year...what were we doing that we didn't do it? i don't remember it at all"....yes, dear husband, that's because last year you were away in a sandy, desert place, and you were very much missed during the pumpkin carving. xoxo

watching the carving action from the inside - betsy was chastising him about it

fun in carlsbad

aunt ellie and uncle matt are in town for a little beach vacation - we enjoyed spending most of today with them up in carlsbad. after a little time at the rocky chilly beach (we still put our toes in of course) we stopped at subway for some lunch and some finger splashing in the fountain by our lunch table. then headed to the house in carlsbad where matt and ellyn are staying and betsy napped while the rest of us relaxed (pete didn't relax so much but really enjoyed testing out their scooter on the back patio) and ate birthday cake leftovers. then we said goodbyes and we headed to the carlsbad outlets for some new winter shoes for the kids. i was suspicious that pete was overdue with crowded toes in his current tennis shoes and found out he was wearing shoes 1.5 sizes too small (his sandals are still fine and he wears those most of the time thankfully). and to top of the day, we stopped in carlsbad village and enjoyed fish tacos at harbor fish cafe and then caught the sunset while the kids ran on the lawn. my goodness, i think it was pete's first official sunset....watching the sun "go to bed" under the water. :) the whole way home he kept asking "what happened to the sunset?" - its so fun as they get a little older and we get to experience new things. i sure do love having family nearby. :)

the kids needed sunglasses