Halloween

This year for Halloween we trick or treated for the first time. The girls had a blast. We went over to one of Tim's brother's house and Lilybelle and Claire trick or treated with all of their cousins. At first, they were a little apprehensive about going to a stranger's house, but once they realized that they got candy at the front door they took off running to the next house. Lilybelle kept yelling that she wanted to be the line leader to her cousins, but I don't think they heard. I think Lilybelle was convinced that if she wasn't first in line she might not get any candy.

Before trick or treating that night, we went to my friend's annual Halloween party. It was a video game theme so Tim went as Mario and I went has Carmen San Diego from the game Where is Carmen San Diego? It brought back a lot of childhood memories. I used to love to play that video game as a kid.

We also went to our ward's trunk or treat. We didn't stay the whole time because Lilybelle wasn't feeling well. But it provide me with the opportunity to tweak their costumes. I had bought them both black tights, and I bought Lilybelle a size 3T to 4T. Big mistake. I took them out of the package and realized they went up to her armpits. I had to put Claire in black pants and give Lilybelle Claire's tights. I also realized that neither of them had black socks. So between trunk or treat and Halloween I had to go get black socks because I couldn't find black tights in Lilybelle's size.

Lastly, what is Halloween without the trip to the pumpkin patch. My dad came up one day and we all went to the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins.

Reno Balloon Races & Birthday Part II

We went to the Reno Balloon Races this year. Tim and I haven't gone since we were first married. It's one of those events that you go once and you've seen it. It doesn't really change year to year. I figured that the girls would like it, and so I got us all up early and we trekked to the park. We didn't make the glow show and just caught the tail end of the dawn patrol, but I think it was the best time. Seeing the balloons in the air when it was still dark outside was amazing. I usually see them launch which is cool, but having them right over your head is better (that was neatly arranged by arriving at the tail end of the dawn patrol, and entering the park at just the right time).We found a spot to sit and had muffins and hot chocolate. Later I took Lilybelle over to see them inflate some of the balloons on the field. We didn't sit on the field for two reasons: 1 we arrived late, and 2 we had a stroller with us which was not allowed on the field. We stayed for the mass ascension and then left.

Once we got home and showered we picked up Lilybelle's balloons for her birthday and headed down to my parents' house for a family party and the swim center. We dropped Sophie off at my parents' house and then went to go swim. We didn't last long because the water was a little cold and the girls didn't like it. We stayed long enough for Tim to go down the water slides a few times. We went back to the house and had lunch and cupcakes. For her birthday I made a total of 48 cupcakes and a cake. I was so over it by the end of September. I don't want to frost a cupcake for some time. But they turned out cute.

Birthday Part I

We sorta kinda celebrated Lilybelle's birthday over Labor Day weekend. We only did it because that was the weekend that the stream trains were running. We still plan on celebrating her birthday with a family dinner this coming weekend. That party will be a Frozen party per Lilybelle's request.

The train ride was a lot of fun. My parents came up and rode the trains with us. It wasn't anything special, just a few loops around the station and the engine changing from front to back, but the girls liked it. Lilybelle was mesmerized the whole time. I asked her afterwards if she liked it and she uttered "yeah" in a very enthralled tone. Afterwards we had lunch at a restaurant per Lilybelle's request. She wanted to go to a restaurant with Nana, Papa, Mom, Dad, and Claire Bear. She's so funny.

Pigtails

Claire's hair is finally long enough to do. I've done the single Pebbles top knot, but lately I've branched out to pigtails, and I've discovered that I LOVE pigtails. Claire  (unlike Lilybelle) leaves the rubber bands and hair bows in her hair. Once Claire's hair is done, Lilybelle wants her hair done too, but it usually only lasts for about a half hour. This past Sunday though, Lilybelle left her hair alone until we came home from church. Anyways I just wanted a post on my blog to show off all the pigtails.

Swim Lessons

I started the girls in swim lessons last week. Lilybelle was finally old enough to go by herself so that Claire and I could take lessons together. I thought Lilybelle would be anxious or want me in the pool with her, but she did great. She had a little fear of the water, but did better this week. Claire on the other hand, who I thought would LOVE swim lessons, cried for almost all of the first lesson. She was glued to me. I could barely pry her off of me to do any of the activities. This week she did much better and even went under water. I'm loving swim lessons. I love to see them learn something new. I also want them to be strong swimmers. I know as a parent I shouldn't  choose their extra curricular activities based on what I like, but I can totally see them on a swim team and me going to the meets. They have time to decide. I have time to let them choose.

Lilybelle's ribbon after her first lesson for doing so well.

I also found a new park in our neighborhood that is close enough for me to walk to. It's so much nicer to go for a nice walk in our beautiful neighborhood and arrive at the park, then it is to load up everything in the minivan, unload at the park, and then pack everything up to go home. This park also is shaded which makes it easier to stay longer. It has just the right amount of equipment too.

We also went to the annual Best in the West Rib Cookoff. It's the one time of year that I eat ribs; they are hands down the best ribs ever. We've gotten smart though as the years have gone by. We no longer go down to the rib cook off and eat there. No, I send Tim down to get ribs and sauce, and then he brings it home and we eat our ribs with corn on the cob and beans that I've made at our table. This way we save money, we're not trying to eat on the ground in a windy environment (it's windy every year), and we are not chasing our kids around. Especially Claire, she's a little crazy.

The fun continues

On Thursday my dad came up for a visit and we took the kids to the park where they played in the water and rode on the little train. It was a hoot. My dad took on the role of the water button pusher so that the girls had a continuous stream of water. He pushed Lilybelle on the swing and held her for the train ride. We then went to lunch and afterwards we went to the library where Claire ran around like a wild child. That one is super independent. She doesn't seem to care if I am close by. Lilybelle was never like that at her age.

On Friday we made our way up to the splash pad and the girls had a blast. Lilybelle more so than Claire, but by the end Claire was getting into the groove of things. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy following the two of them around making sure they didn't get in the way of the bigger kids or accidentally find themselves under a bucket of water. The life of a paranoid mother. It was a lot of fun though. I could see us going back.

Yesterday we went for a hike up to the waterfall on the Mt. Rose hike. It's a nice seven mile (round trip) hike that isn't too hard. Still I was the slow one, but in my defense I was caring the three year old and not the one year old. See we thought that Claire would go in the Ergobaby and Lilybelle would go into the big fancy backpack. That plan lasted for about five minutes. Claire cried the whole time she was on my back, so we switched the kids and Lilybelle tolerated the Ergobaby much better than Claire. On the way down, she even took a nap in it. We had a great time with family and the views of Lake Tahoe on the way down were gorgeous. I sometimes forget how pretty Lake Tahoe is. I think I take it for granted some times.

Things to Do

Recently I was complaining to Tim that it just seemed like we didn't do anything or go anywhere. I felt like we sat at home way too much. Enter in last week. A jammed packed week of summer fun. On July 19th, we celebrated our 7th anniversary by having dinner sans kids. I forgot how nice it is to have just adult conversation without being interrupted with the word why. I would ban that word from being said if I thought I could. We ate at a nice steakhouse, with great views. I didn't have to share, deal with potential meltdowns because someone was hungry, etc. A blissful hour and a half.

After that, we enjoyed a movie at the drive in movie theater. It was great. We took both the girls and turned the back of our mini van into a comfy place to watch a movie. I put the third row down and put down blankets and pillows. I also popped some popcorn. Our minivan has cup holders in the back and a nice sound system with speakers in the back so the movie came in crystal clear. If someone had told me five years ago that I would love having a minivan I would have laughed and said they're crazy. But it's true, I love owning a minivan. The girls didn't go to sleep right away like I expected, but we finally got Claire asleep and Lilybelle stayed up the whole time! I was amazed. I was more shocked by the fact that she watched the movie and laughed at it. She really got into it. It's so great to watch her grow up.

The next day we got up early and headed out to Bliss State Park to enjoy some beach time with family who were camping up there. The morning was great weather, but by the afternoon we got rained off the beach. On our way back to the campsite, we saw a bear. We hung out a little bit longer and then made the long trek home. I would definitely go back and camp there, but I don't think I would make a day trip out of it again.

On Wednesday we had our ward Pioneer Day BBQ at a local park and it was good. Anytime we go to the park it pretty much means nonstop slide and swing time for Lilybelle.

Thursday was a down day, a chance to get caught up on laundry, go grocery shopping, and workout.

On Friday we went to an Aces baseball game. It's hard to watch a game when you are trying to make sure that two little kids don't wander off, but we still had a great time.

On Saturday Tim had to work so I took the chance to clean the house relax. Overall it was a great week, a little draining, but I can't complain that we didn't do anything this summer.