For Fall Break we headed to sunny California and Disney.  I’m so glad we went.  I’m so glad it is over.  I think I’m on vacation sensory overload.  Five days in Disney and then one day in Sea World.  I’m just plain worn out.  The good kind.

There are so many good photos.  Here are just a few of my favorite…

Oh there’s just too many to pick from.  I didn’t even get to Sea World here. ;D

I don’t get “good” photos of Ava anymore.  I mean ones where she’s not making faces or acting weird.  She just never lets me.

Well I got one today.  It was probably because I wasn’t “trying” and she was just hanging with me and Laney.

I don’t remember being this stunning when I was 10. ;D

It doesn’t really matter what you put on the celebrate plate so much as the fact that you get it out. ;D

For example.  Here is a rather “boring” egg sandwich.  A staple in our house.  This is what Corey and I had for lunch together the other day.  The reason it is on the celebrate plate is because he got a new job and got the news just minutes before.  He talked about how special getting the plate out was days later. ;D

When you want to make a statement…or just be noticed.  I recommend these…

Real love is sitting at a concert waiting for your child to perform…and you have to sit thru the entire thing because they are LAST.  Not to take away from the other kids.  But let’s be real.  I just wanted to see Ava perform.  Yes.  That selfish part of me.  The nervous wreck part of me.  The part of me that wanted her part to be done so I could relax and enjoy the rest.  Self admittedly I am quite possibly the worst person for saying that.  But admit it.  You feel it too.  At least from time to time. ;D

I don’t have a photo to describe this…but lately it has been a stream of hormones and emotions and first boyfriends, talking on the phone, fighting to get homework done, failing grades, forgetfulness, sassy mouths, more hormones, more fighting…between all of us…and a host of other things.  And no one is a teenager yet.  There are days when weary is a very good explanation of how I feel.  And I think…the worst is yet to come.

Just to add some humor…Here’s what the kids do to Baxter when he sits still long enough.

Lastly…this year’s birth-a-versary present.  To know what I’m referring to see this post.  Corey got me this…

This is the iPod Classic.  No I don’t like any other version of the iPod.  Except this one.  It is so not new anymore they refer to it as the “Classic”.  I think it is more expensive than the iPod Touch.   Oy!  Don’t call me old…I’d rather think of myself as “retro”. That’s “in”, right?  Anyway…I’ve wanted one of these suckers since they came out.  Thank you, Honey!  We’ve been married 18 years this month btw. ;D

…I like to make cakes…of the birthday persuasion…not because it is anyone’s birthday.  But because I LOVE cake.  So I guess that is a reason.  ;D  I made a white cake the other day in my bundt pan.  I thought it might be fun for Ava to decorate it with the frosting.  She was all over that.

It has also been snowing a lot here.  And it makes everything really pretty when it does.  Of course as always it doesn’t last long…which I love.  Still loving the weather here in Denver…how it gets into the 50-60′s and melts that stuff away.  Meantime, it makes for some great photos.

I also got Skitsy-bitsy to pose for me the other day.  Or at least not move.  He used to be really great at it.  He will probably always be better than Baxter.  But recently the sound of the auto focus in my lens makes him get up and get in my face. ;D  Weirdo.  So I got a good photo of him…but I love doing layouts of him when I cut him out and put him “other places”.  So here’s what I did…

Layout credits here.

It has been unseasonably warm this weekend.  It kinda feels like summer.  Shorts and t-shirts are the wardrobe of choice.  So naturally your first thought would be…

“Mom?  Could we PLEASE sleep on the trampoline tonight?” asked Laney in the most humble voice she could muster.

“Laney.  It’s November.  You will freeze to death out there at night.  No.  You cannot sleep on the trampoline.”

“But wwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy??????”

“You can do it in the summer when it is warm…if you can ward off the mosquitoes.”

“We can cover ourselves with a big blanket!” exclaimed Ava.

They ran off to plan.

Safe and sound.  Tired and happy.  ;D

I don’t usually post while on vacation.  However.  This year we are staying in a hotel.  Just to shake things up.  And I find that staying in a hotel makes it a little more conducive to using a computer than staying at a campground does. ;D

…the traditions that we come up with as a family.  Some I try to plan.  Some just evolve.   Anderson Farms was definitely a “planned” tradition.  It took hold and we love it.  One tradition that has surprised me…Moab.  For the last…it will be 3 years now…every fall…we go to Moab for vacation.  I don’t know what it is about this place that we all love.  But we all do.  This year for Fall Break, Corey and I tried to suggest a different location to the girls.  No Way!!!!  It was MOAB the whole way, baby!

So we embark this week on another trip to Moab.  Arches National Park.  4 wheeling.  Hiking.  Wandering around the rock shop we love.  And looking at vistas like these…

I wonder how many years we are going to do this. ;D

Do your kids know what they want to be for Halloween this year?  Do you celebrate?  Are they old enough?  Getting too old? ;D

My girls still want to do it.  So we have one Dorothy.  I think that might be because of her dance recital this summer being the Wizard of Oz.  Then we have another one who wants to be more “scary” and do the witch thing.  Which I’m not wild about.  So I’m “thinking” about it.  The outfit she has picked is tasteful.  I’m not one for ghosts, mummies, witches and things of that nature on Halloween.  The girls know this.  So I wonder if this is the beginning of “rebellion” or if she’s just growing out of “girly” stuff and wants to be perceived as “older”.

Do you have memories of what you were for Halloween when you were a kid?  I’ve told you before I don’t have pictures of me in my childhood.  This isn’t the post for going back over the reasons.  However, I did find this photo of me and my brother the other day.  It was a going-away-present that my childhood neighbor gave to me when we left Maine for Colorado.  It is my brother and I stopping at their house for Trick-Or-Treating…I have no idea the year.

My only childhood memories of Halloween were that every year I was a gypsy.  I don’t remember why.  Maybe that’s what I wanted.  Maybe that’s all my mother could come up with.  But I remember every year my brother was something really interesting.  In this picture, this particular year, he was a pirate.  One year he was the Incredible Hulk.  Another year he was an army guy all wounded.  I think he had sprained an ankle and was on crutches or something and that was part of the costume reasoning.

Funny what we remember.  I wonder what my girls will remember.  I also remember my mom had to drive us around to trick-or-treat cause we lived out in the country.  The girls won’t have the same experiences.  We’ve always lived in the suburbs with them.  We just walk out our front door.  We have to cut them off pretty early they get so much candy.  I NEVER had that problem! ;D

In the spirit of memorabilia…I was looking over pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes over the last several years.  I found them all the way back to 2004…the year we moved to Colorado. ;D  I have some earlier ones but they aren’t digital.  I’m not going looking right now.  ;D

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Do you remember when you were a kid (well maybe you still do it…he he) and there were certain words that you just couldn’t pronounce correctly?  Mine was basghetti. ;D

The girls’ school had their annual Fall Festival.  Laney was so excited.  Every five minutes she kept asking if we were going.  “Is it time yet?”  The cutest part was she was saying “festible” instead of “festival”.  It made me smile every time! ;D