Playing WII

Erin's idea...she must have seen one too many accidents.

Our Clone Trooper and Tinkerbell

Of all of the halloween activities, I forgot to post what the kids were this year... what's a clone war without tinkerbell??

We sold the crib!

Here are the kids having one last hoorah before we break the crib down. We sold it 2 weeks ago on craigslist. Do I feel any sadness leaving the baby phase? Only very fleeting nano-seconds... we're still dealing with meltdowns, tantrums, separation anxiety, toilet training, and other babyish behaviors. =)

Why does Erin seem to fit right in?

Here's a picture of some of the girls at Ryan's birthday party. It struck me as funny that Erin fit right in with the other girls, ages 3-5. No wonder everybody that asks Erin's age is always surprised that she's only 2!

Ryan's 6th Birthday Party

Ryan's birthday seemed to come and go in a flash this year, partly because we had so many things happening in October. Between our trip to Disneyland and Halloween, a wedding, 2 other birthday parties, and a baby shower, it was all a blur.

His party was at Airborne Gymnastics. Even though the 2 hours flew by, Ryan had a great time with all of his friends.

Uesegi Farms

Our other pumpkin patch visit was at Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill. It was quite impressive, boasting hayrides, 2 cornfield mazes (one for little kids and one haunted), a hill made with 4000 pumpkins, a train ride, a cow tractor ride, and many other attractions that we didn't even have time for. I did not realize that pumpkin patches these days are like mini amusement parks!






Erin especially loved going to the pumpkin patch. For some reason these days (even a month after our last visit), when we tell her that we're going to church and that she is going to 'baby church' and mommy and daddy are going to 'big people' church to get her emotionally ready for the separation, she says that she doesn't like church and that she wants to go to the pumpkin patch. huh?? when did we ever teach her that her choice is church or pumpkin patch???

Pumpkin Patches X 5!

Over the course of 2 weeks, we visited 2 pumpkin patches multiple times each. Giordano's is near our house and was the field trip choice for Ryan's Kindergarten class.

Disneyland again!

Here's our 4th and final Disneyland trip on our annual passes this year. In their usual Disney fashion, the Halloween decor was impressive. Overall, we enjoyed this trip the most. Erin was not afraid of all of the rides as she was during our last trip (she cried even boarding Small World) and she was excited to see all of the characters, calling them all by name. Well, she does call all of the princesses Tinkerbell. Ryan has finally gotten over riding Casey Jr. the Train ride 20x (only once this time!). His new favorite was Buzz Lightyear and Monsters, Inc.



The picture below would not seem out of the ordinary after a trip to Disneyland. But to the trained eye and those of you who know Erin, you know that she would not normally be more than 2 inches apart from mom in the presence of strangers. To our surprise, she was totally willing to take a picture standing by herself with her brother and Mickey Mouse. She's smitten!



Another highlight for Ryan was Disney's new Jedi Training Academy. This replaced the Buzz Lightyear show in Tomorrowland. For each training session, about 20-25 kids are selected to train with lightsabers to become Jedi Knights and fight Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Ryan waited through 2 shows and was finally picked in the 3rd show. A lot of parental force was used to make Ryan stand out to be picked!


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Being a soccer mom

Don't these pictures look like Ryan has played more than 4 soccer games? These are moves from his 4th game. I must say that I'm a little disappointed that he took to soccer so quickly over baseball. I grew up in a baseball family. I was proud to be a mother that could throw (not like a girl) and that I could teach him techniques and strategies in a baseball game. But, soccer? I know nothing about soccer...side-outs, corner kick, huh? All I know is that you need to get the ball into the right goal. Oh well, being a literal soccer mom has a certain kind of appeal too.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Presseeenting...

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My manager, Joyce, gave a harmonica to the kids. It was an old promotional item, inscripted with an Acuson product back when there was an Acuson entity. The kids found it great fun and put on many shows for us. I love how Erin follows exactly what Ryan does.

Ryan's Soccer Debut

This video shows a segment of Ryan's 1st soccer game. It is much more exciting to watch than a t-ball game. No wonder my co-workers took days off to watch the World Cup. Soccer seems to be Ryan's preferred sport. He's proactive and gets right in there showing good defensive and offensive skills. Ryan is #2 in white. As you can tell towards the end of the video, Wilson got so excited when Ryan started to make a play, all we get are bouncing grass. I still can't recall what happened.