Tahoe with Friends

My girlfriends from college - I am so incredibly lucky to have each and every one of them.  We were friends then ... but we are REALLY friends now.  For those of your who are women older than 30, you know what I mean.  A good girlfriend is hard to find.  Six good girlfriends is pretty unheard of.  Now try 6 girlfriends who ALL get along.

So, these 6 grew into 12 as husbands were added.  And now, well now our group consists of 12 adults and 12 children.  We like to make crazy attempts to get ourselves together and "have fun."  Don't get me wrong, our times together are always good times ... but 12 kids is just, well, chaos.

This year we rented 2 houses in Tahoe in order to accomodate everyone.  It worked as well as we could have hoped.  I think we would all agree that we would have preferred to all be together in one house, but that is simply no longer possible without renting a mansion.

Without further ado, here are some of the photos from our fun/chaotic/family/friends reunion in Tahoe.

Our weekend started out like this:  Snow in the beginning of October(?)

Mia quickly fell in love with Baby Gavin.  I think she might have thought he was one of her dolls

Lunch for 24 at Rubicon's....

...followed by a tour at the Northstar Firehouse

Luke and Mia quickly learned that they are ipad deprived

Park play time

Hudson & Baileys' Dragon and Princess birthday party



And, what's a good party weekend without a little topless dancing at the end?

At the end of the day, how many girls can say that they have 6 good girlfriends?  I am so blessed to be able to say just that ... and having our husbands and kids form friendships, well that's just the icing on the cake :)

Kitty Cat Love

Linus is a pretty amazing cat considering all he puts up with.  He is pretty tolerant with the kids, and even seems to really enjoy being around them, especially Mia.  On this morning the kids were playing on the floor and Linus was snoozing in the rocking chair .... but once Mia saw him there, she rocked him for a bit, and then they both jumped in to join Linus.

A few minutes later....Linus had enough!

Fall has arrived

Not only are the Fall decorations out in the house, but so are the new slippers!

Thank you Auntie Chris for our cozy slippers - we love them!

Happy Birthday, Mommy

We had a really nice birthday celebration with some of my most favorite people last weekend.  Grandma and Papa were in town, as well as Todd and Michelle.  Michael made an amazing Italian feast, and my mom (and dad) hosted everyone at their house.

Luke with Great-Grammy and Papa

The beautiful cake made out of a delicious assortment from Icing on the Cake

Singing

Make a wish!

San Diego Part 2: Balboa Park

We spent our second full day in San Diego just hanging out, walking to breakfast, and playing in the sand on the beach.  Luke loved playing in the sand and ended up with sand in every crevice imaginable.  This doesn't surprise me as he typically comes home with several pounds of sand in his shoes from the sandbox at school.  Mia on the other hand wanted nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to do with the sand.  She didn't even want to walk in it ... with her shoes on!  Oh well, there is always next time!

On our last day we went to check out Balboa Park.  We didn't get an early enough start to go to the zoo, but that is definitely on my list for our next visit to SD.  I was shocked to find how large Balboa Park is aside from the zoo, and how much there is to do there for us and kids.  We had lunch at a lovely outdoor cafe, strolled the art exhibits, wandered through the Botanical Gardens, Luke and Daddy checked out the model railroad museum, and we all rode the carousel and the minature railroad.  What a treasure!

Mia at lunchtime

Beautiful museums and gardens

Daddy and Mia on the Carousel

Riding the miniature railroad

Wild times on the choo choo!

Beautiful sunset from the condo

San Diego Part 1: Sea World

We took a fun-filled trip down to San Diego last weekend with Day and Paw.  One of the main things that I wanted to be sure to see while there was Sea World.  I had never been, and it had been many years since Michael was last there.  With Luke's love for dolphins, and Mia's love for all things animal, I knew we couldn't go wrong.

What I didn't know was how incredibly magical it is!  It very easily tops my list of favorite places to visit with the kids.  I think that we were all beyond impressed.  It was not at all crowded (going on a Friday after Labor Day helped, I'm sure), the weather was perfect, and the kids were completely engaged the entire time.  I am slightly disappointed with my photography skills this day, but I suppose that is because I was enjoying the moment instead of focusing on taking pictures.  Besides, there is no way that the magic and true beauty that we experienced there could be captured with a camera.

Seeing the orca whales

In the Antarctic exhibit - watching the polar bears, walruses, and beluga whales

Meeting and feeding the dolphins - such an incredible experience for Luke

 Seeing the Sea Turtles and their beautiful habitat

The Shamu Show

Riding the Sky Tower at the end of our day

Mia with her new friend, Daisy the Dolphin.  After being presented with all of the options for different stuffed animals, Mia had absolutely no doubt which one she wanted!  Luke brought home a very cute and oh-so-soft Polar Bear who is now named "Flip Flop."

We were at Sea World when the doors opened in the morning, and did not leave until the park was closing.  We watched every show that was performed that day - from amazingly trained rescue pets, to the Sea Lion comedy show, to the Cirque du Soleil inspired dolphin show with elaborate costumes and beautiful music, to watching the incredible Orca whales splash and jump - there was never a dull moment.  Luke said that he couldn't choose a favorite show because they were all his favorites.  I couldn't agree more....

We loved it all, from start to finish.  Sea World, we will definitely be back soon!

Monterey County Fair

We took a last minute, unplanned trip down to visit Uncle Todd and Michelle over the weekend and we all headed out to the Monterey County Fair. I didn't take many pictures, but the kids had a great time. Luke loved the cotton candy (big surprise!) and rides, Mia loved the farm animals.

Mia is 20 months

First Day of School

Luke was incredibly (I mean, really, he was over the moon) excited to start school today, which makes me ridiculously happy. I'm so, so glad that he really loves his school, his teachers, his friends ... all of it. In fact, he asked me about 3 weeks ago how many more days it would be until school would start again.

This year he is attending Mandala's afternoon Pre-K (Bumblebee) class with primarily other 4 year olds, most of who will be going off to Kindergarten next year (he is very proud of this "promotion" on the preschool spectrum!). He is going on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and we've signed him up for an extended day so he will be there from 12-4, an hour before the official school afternoon begins, to have lunch and do some extra activities.