catching up on October

We have had a very busy October! We have been playing hard and trying to keep up with the day to day stuff along the way. Adam got to take a trip to San Diego in conjunction for a case he has been working on; the next weekend we all took a visit to the coast with our good friends. We had a fantastic time! We headed out in the morning fog toward San Luis Obispo where we visited the Avila Valley Barn, Gopher Glen Apple Orchard, and Avila Beach. The best word to sum up the places we visited is "charming." The barn had a pumpkin patch, hay hide, petting zoo and fresh ice cream; the apples from the orchard were delicious and so fun to get them straight from the source (we have since used them to make dried apple chips and applesauce); and the beach was perfect. The girls love the water! We played ball, searched for seashells, chased and were chased by the waves, and loved the scenery and the company. We went out on the dock to see the sea lions and then headed off for Fish 'n Chips! It was a great day with great friends!







This past weekend Alexis had another soccer game (I failed to previously post that she scored three goals in an earlier game this month and as a deal with her dad, the whole family got to go out to dinner to celebrate - way to go Alexis!). Alexis also went to a Halloween party dressed as the prettiest little witch I've ever seen.

I love making the month of Ocotober fun for the kids with spooky meals. We have tried several fun new ideas over the past few weeks. Tonight we had mummies and spider legs. It was a hit! For dessert, I made ice cream witch hats. These were a traditional treat brought to my family by our next-door neighbor when I was growing up. We looked forward to them every year! I called my good neighbor to find out how to make them this year and look forward to making them for years to come. We enjoyed our special treat with friends following our traditional pumpkin carving party. (I'm making note so we don't forget, that we vowed to return to the traditional pumpkin faces using triangles for eyes and zig-zags for mouths next year...much less complicated with all the kids!) We had a great night together.