This is Halloween!

Halloween 2018 in the books!  Lorien dressed as Billie Ilish...I still don't know what that is?  I think s/he is a singer or rapper or some kind of Instagram person.  This was the very first year Lorien decided to stay home and hand out candy.  Apparently, a week shy of seventeen years old is when you are too old to Trick or Treat.  She did end up meeting up with some friends later in the night.  I was happy to have her home handing out candy so I could Trick or Treat with the little kids and Will.

Adell, Colter, Will and I went over to Maggie Rossini's house to have some soup and rolls and trick or treat their neighborhood.  We usually go out with the cousins and walk different neighborhoods.  Our group is always a good one and we always have fun, this year was no exception

Clare went straight over to Andrew's house after the minimum day of school let out.  She stayed all afternoon and went trick or treating with Andrew and his family.  Angela sent me a few pictures (thank you!) so I could see Clare's happy face and costume.

Adell got to trick or treat with Maggie so their duo costumes were shown to full effect.  It was darling.

And we returned home safely with our sugar bounty to sort, eat and watch Ichabod Crane lose his head. 

Zero pictures of Wyatt.  He and his friends all got purge masks (black masks with neon x over the eyes and mouth) and ran around the neighborhood.  I assume he had fun and I assume he didn't cause any trouble...

School parade!

Look how cute Adell and Maggie's costumes turned out!  Maximum adorableness.  

Our school district hates me and schedules weird minimum days a the different schools on different days.  Like the high school has a minimum day the week of Homecoming while the rest of the schools have a full week of minimum days.  Then the elementary and middle schools have a whacked out day on Halloween.  It's all messed up.  To make things even better, they have the kindergarten kids on an even shorter schedule.  Messed up to the max, they hate me.

Still, I persevered.  

The kindergarteners have to be at school an hour and a half later than the rest of the school and everyone got out early.  Garbage.  So the kinder kids met up at the school for some fun and games while we waited for the day to start.  Garbage. 

Colter and one of his new friends this year, Rock.

I watched the parade.  This year I found a shady seat and didn't have to bake on the blacktop for 45 minutes (sweet).  Colter could not see me and did not notice I was there...I got zero credit with that kid.

Adell and Maggie saw me and I got double mom points! 

Getting our Jack O'lantern on...

We did it.  Just wanted you to know.  Pumpkin carving happened, the day before Halloween.  Done.

Trunk or Treat...

I'm always thankful for extra opportunities to wear our costumes.  I an not always thankful for a church Trunk or Treat.  We get enough candy with actual Trick or Treating...we don't need the preholiday load up from church.  I don't get to be the decision maker on this one.  Oh well.  Costumes ahoy!

Lorien was Billie Ilish (google it, I don't know).  Colter was Jango Fette.

A piece to Clare's "dancing queen" costume had not arrived in time so she dusted off the good old Glinda the Good Witch costume I made for Lorien and wore that.

Adell got to test out her toy soldier for the first time (solo).

I was princess Leiah on the ice planet Hoth and decorated our trunk to match.

Wyatt was a mess...and so were most of his freshman friends. 

Fun times!  Spooky time!  Excessive candy times...

Halloween Costume Making

I've fallen off the every-other-year make or buy Halloween costumes schedule.  Most of the kids figure out their own costumes (and usually make them).  This year it was only Adell who wanted a homemade costume.  She and her very best friend, Maggie, wanted to dress up as a duo.  They spent a month discussing ideas and plans.  They tossed around ideas like a magician and a bunny, toy soldiers, puppies, I cannot remember what else.  It was a long month of planning.  Finally, they settled on toy soldiers, not to be confused with army men.   

Lucky me, I got to make both girl's costumes!  Last year, I made Adell's costume.  Every year I make costumes I curse and cry and complain the whole time.  I am proud of the results when it is over...but the process isn't pretty.  Last year, as I was cursing through Adell's costume she asked me "Mom, do you even like sewing costumes?"  I was taken aback.  I do like sewing and costumes are really fun!  However, for years I let me complaining nature get the better of me and my kids figured I hated sewing.  Shame on me.  This year I committed to enjoying the process and telling my kids how much fun I was having.

My positive determination was tested a bit.  The jacket pattern I picked was going to turn out ADORABLE but it was going to be a challenge.  At every turn (and repeated turn, I had to make it twice) I would call out my joy and satisfaction at how well the project was going.  It was a much better year for sewing.

I made two velvet jackets (lined), two black twirly skirts, two top hats, and two sets of shoulder lapels.  I tried to make two wind up keys...but it didn't work.  I wanted the jackets to be something the girls could wear again and that meant not attaching anything to the jacket.  So the key idea went out the window.

The whole thing came together BEAUTIFULLY!  I am so proud of myself!  Both girls liked the costumes and they fit!  Win, win, win!

Mount Whitney

They did it.

They are home and alive.

They are superheroes.  

Wednesday morning Will and Wyatt left with their packs and piles of gear for Mount Whitney.  They drove half the day and stayed the night at a motel near the base of Mount Whitney.  Thursday was hiking day...

Will's brothers Alan and Dave came along for the adventure.  As did Will's brother-in-law Ben, they invited Kenny (the last brother-in-law) but he had a big test for school and couldn't make it. 

I wish the guys would hop on here and type up their stories from the trip.  It was hard and amazing and my retelling won't do it justice.  I'll put up some highlights and if you ever get a chance to ask Will or Wyatt in person to tell them about their hike, do it!

They headed up to the trail fairly early in the morning, maybe 6 or 7 am.  They were planning on doing the hike in one day so they needed an early start.  They hiked to the top by 2 pm.  Wyatt had cell service at the top of the mountain and gave me a call.  It was awesome to hear from him and know they were at the top safe! 

The hike down was harder than the hike up, I think.  They were all worn out and tired.  Wyatt said it felt like his legs were full of boiling water and at every step water would splash out on to his feet, burning his feet.  The ground cover is apparently all hard rocks, no soft dirt.  So they had been hiking/ walking/stomping over granite all day.  The altitude was hard but they all managed.  Wyatt has a hilarious story about using the bathroom on the mountain but he has to tell it in person.  He also has a funny story about force-feeding himself peanut M&Ms.  Wyatt is a funny guy and a great storyteller.  Ask him about the Mount Whitney hike, you'll be entertained.

They got to the bottom of the mountain around 7 pm.  It was a grueling 12 hour day!  Wyatt, Will, and Dave climbed into Dave's car and drove the six hours straight home AFTER their 12 hour hiking day!?  They made it home in the wee hours of the morning.  They were tired but proud.  They did a super hard thing.  Way to go guys!

Colter and Freya

We trade play dates off at our house and Freya's house every week.  We are thankful for fun friends who are expert kindergarteners too.

Happy Birthday Heather!

It is so nice to have more family back in the Bay Area.  Sunday night we met up at Alan and Heather's new place and celebrated Heather's birthday.  Grandma Judy was in town and made a huge meal of lasagna and salad with six pumpkin pies for dessert.  It was delicious!  The kids had a great time horsing around in the yard.  Alan and Heather's landlords built jungle gyms, obstacle courses, ninja warrior climbing walls, a trampoline, space to ride bikes and throw balls and swings.  It is a very cool yard...a kid heaven even.

Lorien dyed her hair blonde right before homecoming now she and Grandma Judy are twins.

24 hours in Denver...

The kids are getting older.  Lorien is responsible enough for us to get one overnight in with her in charge.  Will had a super quick work trip in Denver and I got to tag along.  I've never been to Denver.  It was a cool city and we enjoyed a night without the kids.  

When we got back home we took Adell out on her first charm date.  It is a bit of a family tradition for us when our girls turn eight years old, they get a charm necklace.  They get to go on dates with Mom and Dad to add charms to their necklace.  Well, Adell has been eight for almost a whole year and we still haven't given her a date...it was time to make that right.

Adell picked a fancy restaurant where we had fondue and a yummy dinner.  It was delicious.  We also got to listen to a live musician sing some cover songs out on the patio and do a little dancing.  It was a lovely date.

Rock City...Mount Diablo Training Hike...

Will and Wyatt are planning on hiking the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states, Mount Whitney, in a few weeks.  Will got the idea at the end of the summer, registered for a permit and got to training.  Will invited his brothers.  Wyatt had a friend who hiked Whitney with his dad over the summer so Wyatt thought he'd give it a try too.  So, the guys have been trying to get in some training hikes before the big hike.  

Will and Wyatt conspired to get a hike up Mount Diablo in right after church today but the timing would be tight.  They would get to the top right at sunset and the park closes at sunset.  They would need a ride home.  So the other kids and I agreed to meet them for the sunset.  

Unfortunately, I've only been up Mount Diablo a couple of times.  I was under the impression that Rock City was the top of the mountain or where we would meet the guys.  I was wrong.  Turns out Rock City is barely halfway up the mountain...barely.  So the kids and I made it to Rock City in plenty of time.  I had no cell service and neither did Will so we parked the van and I let the kids scramble around on the rocks.  Periodically I'd shout out "WILL!  WYATT!" into the abyss to see if they were close.  

The kids had a blast on the rocks and we enjoyed a lovely sunset at Rock City.

After about 40 minutes of playing, I started to wonder about Will and Wyatt.  Somehow in our wanderings around Rock City, I got a bar or two of cell service and some texts from Will came in.  They guys were at the actual top of the mountain and the park rangers were threatening to kick them out.  We had 15 minutes to get to the top of the mountain to collect them.  It was dark, it was cold, the wind was whipping and we probably had a 25-minute drive up windy roads to collect the guys.

We piled into the van and raced up and around the mountain as fast as we could (safely).  We pulled up to the actual top at 7:04.  Will and Wyatt were waiting, shivering in the cold. 

It was a bit of a disaster but the guys got a training hike in...look for the positives, right?

Homecoming 2018!

We've lived in Danville for seven years now...and this is the fourth year we've had a kid attend the High School.  Lorien's freshman year, she didn't attend the dance and our family didn't really know about the hometown parade.  Lorien did go to the homecoming football game but hasn't attended a game since.  

This year, I was determined to take the little kids to see the parade.  The parade was adorable!  We screamed and cheered for every kid we knew in all the fall sports groups (only one of them died of embarrassment).  Lorien complained and tried to talk us out of attending.  She had a friend coming over to dye her hair.  She was disappointed.

Saturday night was the homecoming dance.  Lorien and Wyatt each met up with their friends for pre-parties.  They both wore the school colors, gold and green.  They were cute and had a fun time at their parties and the dance.  Wyatt's friend group (the freshmen) get together all the time, at least twice a week.  They plan things on their own through massive text groups.  I love it.  He has good friends and they have a good time together.  I do not have any pictures of his friend group.

Lorien also has an amazing friend group.  They are all much more introverted and don't get together as often.  However, when they get together they have a great time.