Fall Festivities

The temps have dropped into the 80s for the most part and it finally feels like Fall.   School is back in full swing and we are having lots of fun celebrating the last week of October.  This weekend we had an impromptu date night out with the kids and the weather was perfect enough to sit outside on the patio.   

I took the kids to our Ward Fall Festival and we all had a great time. Chili cookoff, Pie contest, bouncy castles, face painting, train rides, and we left exhausted.   Owen found his favorite cousin Gigi at the festival. 

After waiting for 15 minutes for a train ride, Owen refused to get on because he realized they were just a bunch of buckets (you know the classic ones they have at every Pumpkin Patch). So he humored me and let me take a photo at the Photo Booth setup instead. The kids had fun and Owen voted for the spiciest chili he could find. :)

We had another family party this weekend and these photos are courtesy of Gma Monica.  Logan was passed around all night and I loved that Connor was loving on him.  That, and it kept Owen from wanting to "take him down" every five seconds.  Good strategy Connor.

I love these kids so much. My kids have the best relationships with their cousins. We are super lucky to all live so close to each other too.  It's bittersweet to look at all the photos on the walls and see how quickly they have grown.  Don't blink if you have little ones.. it goes by SO fast!

We planned Thanksgiving, our Christmas party and my oldest niece is having a baby shower. If that doesn't make me feel old... geez.

The kids and I also made it to the MLH Halloween party last night at the Hospital.  They had a good time and can't wait for Trick or Treating this weekend. Ok.. Logi didn't have the best time he was not sure about any of it. :)

We  have plenty more festivities this week.. pumpkin carving, cupcake making, and school stuff.  Kam has PSATs tomorrow morning.  I have a million things to update and will find time, but for now.  Happy Fall!! 

San Fransisco

On our second day in Northern Cali, we headed up to San Fran for the day.  My kids love the Pier so we had some clam chowder bowls and watched the boats come in off the bay.  We saw the seals and then checked out the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz.  I almost got tickets for the Alcatraz tour but knew that it would be chaos with Logi being so small and Owen not wanting to do a whole lot of walking.   

We grabbed some ice cream and walked around for a while and then left to meet Auntie Janessa at Delores Park.  That was the plan at least... but since parking was at a prime we decided to pick her up on the curb and go to a café to visit.  Since Janessa had a biology test we decided to head to the city college to drop her off.  My GPS took us on a long scenic tour around the city.. gorgeous!

We loved visiting with Janessa and the kids loved seeing their Auntie. 

On our way back to Palo Alto, we detoured to Half Moon Bay, but ended up stopping at Pacifica State Beach.  Owen was soaking wet as he played in the freezing cold waves and mud.  This boy of our loves the ocean!  Logan was not as thrilled with the freezing water.  Kam found lots of baby crabs for Owen and it was a fun impromptu stop at the beach. 

We headed to Stanford Mall in Palo Alto, in time to grab some Chipotle to go.  We crashed in the hotel that night and Logan slept for the first time ever, all night long!  I guess we wore him out.  That, or he just knew I needed plenty of rest before Owen's early morning Biopsy the next day. 

It was a fun trip and I'm glad we were able to spend some time together for fall break.  Sometimes it's nice to have a little fun during our frequent trips to the hospital.  I already received the call to schedule our next trip mid January.  :)

Pacifica and Palo Alto

We decided to take the entire family of five to Palo Alto with us this time around.   Kam was on fall break and we all needed a little getaway from the desert heat.  The trip started out a little crazy when the airlines computers crashed as we were checking in.  The lines were long but we made it to our gate with about five minutes to spare.  This little monkey loved the plane!

Our original plans were to drive up to Half Moon Bay after our plane landed.  We detoured to Pacifica when the GPS discovered an accident on the one lane road into Half Moon Bay.  We ran into Rockaway Beach and decided to stop and watch the massive waves crash into the rocks on shore.  Owen loved it so much.  He stood there yelling at the waves for a good 30 minutes while we waited for a table at a café nearby. 

After lunch, Owen really wanted to go to a park or the beach.  There was a heavy fog in Pacifica so we decided the park would be a little warmer. 

I texted a fellow heart mom and friend who lives in Pacifica and they suggested we meet at Frontierland Park.  The weather was beautiful and sunny.  We were in the pines and there was tons of green grass... Pacifica is gorgeous.  Logi got to swing for the first time...I think he loved it!

Owen was so excited to meet Josh too!  Allison and I met through blogs when the boys were babies.  Both boys were born with HLHS just a few months apart.  Josh went on to have all three surgeries and Owen moved onto transplant.  Now Josh has been evaluated for Transplant at LPCH and he is holding steady until he is officially listed.  Owen, Josh and his brother Sam, played at the park pretty hard for a couple hours.  We didn't see them as they were off doing boy things.  It was fun to catch up with Allison and Jon, I'm so happy they were able to meet us last minute.  Owen had so much fun playing with Josh and is excited to see him again.  This is a photo of two very brave boys!

We headed out of Pacifica and back to Palo Alto in time to check into our hotel.  It was a stay in and order pizza kind of night.  Tomorrow.. we spend the day in San Francisco.