Halloween Night

After a full day of Harvest Partying at Luca's school I was so ready to go home, put on my velour (cannot have a fall without it) and cozy up with Rick and the kids. But we had to do our parental duty and go trick or treating. We all (my mom too) went over to Stacy and Steve's house and had chili and and then we all went as a group. We had so much fun watching the kids and it was another moment that we realized how fast they are growing. Some of Stacy's friends went with us and they had a little girl, 18 months, and to see her toddle along just made me really miss that age. When we got home that night I crashed I was so tired. I put a movie on for the girls and Rick and I started to watch a scary movie but I was asleep no more than 2 minutes in. It was a fun day and it is crazy to think that we are on to Thanksgiving!

Fall in Southern California

I had to post some pictures of Luca's Harvest party. It was such a fun day. Some of the moms and I went and raked leaves so that these poor So Cal kids could experience what it is like to jump in the leaves. They were not even maple leaves they were avocado tree leaves but it was the biggest hit!! The kids had so much fun. Luca tried it but it she decided that she did not like leaves crunched in her shirt. It was the perfect way to celebrate a 95 degree fall day. Oh another great part of the day was that Rick was a scarecrow. He read books to the kids and it was so cute! Check on my room mom list and now time for our Thanksgiving party.

My American Girl

Ryley chose to be Kit Kitredge the American girl doll for Halloween this year. She looks just like her! I thought I would post this picture of her that I took today at her School Halloween Party. She is so precious and I am sure that moms with boys only probably did not even think she was in a costume! I love my sweet little girl.

Family Halloween Party

I understand why people do not celebrate Halloween, or at least make it very tame and fluffy but in my family the gorier the better. Our Halloween party was last friday at Brian and Julies lake house. The tradition is that all the BIG boys (grown ups) put together a haunted walk for the family. We have yummy food and all the kids play games. We all dress up and everyone talks about it all year long. In fact on our way to San Diego Luca said "I cannot believe this day is finally here!" Well this year October kind of crept up on everyone so we were actually thinking of not doing it. We decided that we had to do it for the kids. As it always turns out. It really is for the adults. We had so much fun and the guys put together a very scary walk. I have so many friends who think it is crazy that we make the little ones go through the walk but we love to terrify them and they love it too! Ryley always plays the role of being scared and then says I want to go again. This year I was actually taken from the group of walkers by monsters and wrapped in spider webs. Very creepy I know! Cousin Ryan's eye was falling out, Uncle Shawn was a 10 ft tall scary guy and Rick was pretty gross in his mask and fake tattoos (they were actually for our other costume). The kids bobbed for apples and played pumpkin golf and we all ate chili, mummy fingers and brains. Oh I cannot leave out my mom! The haunted walk always begins by checking out the witches brew. My mom is the witch and she cackles and has them all feel eyeballs and brains in her cauldrons. It is so hysterical! We love this holiday and the fact that we have created so many fun traditions that we hope all the cousins will continue on. I know they will.

Luca the Tennis Pro

Luca has her sports camp this week and these are pictures of today's tennis lesson. She loved it. I think she really liked the cute outfits that the high school tennis player wore. She actually could hit the ball pretty good. I love watching her learn new things. Here are some action shots.

Triathlon Mama

On October 5th I competed in the Mission Bay Sprint Triathlon. It was my third Tri and my 2nd time doing that race. It was so much fun but I was not sure if I was going to make it to the race. A week before my race I broke my toe. Yes, it was only a toe but toes are important especially when running. Well I tried to put the fact that my toe was turning a very dark purple out of my mind and focus on the fact that I had big time goals for my race! You know I'm so hard core and all. :) Anyway the thursday before the race I was feeling good. A lot to do to get ready, but feeling good. Well Friday on my way to pick up Luca from school, I crashed my car. No, I did not crash my car someone crashed into me. There that's cleared up. Well after hustling around to get a rental and a new bike rack we were once again ready. I say we because we made it a little family getaway weekend. We stayed in San Diego for the weekend and turned our phones off and tried to get away from all the drama of life. It was glorious. Ok back to the race. Saturday night it started to rain. I had been doing a lot of swim training for this race and if it rains on race day they cancel the swim portion. I was a little nervous that I would not get to challenge Dara Torres but I realized I could not control the weather. On race morning, I got all my gear (twice and 3 times checked) and got to the transition area. I set up all my stuff and then went and met some people from my tri-club. I was feeling calm and collected. Just as we started to walk over to the swim start I saw Rick, the girls and my mom. They were all pretty excited and the girls thought it was great to see me in my wetsuit. At the start I warmed up, my cheering group were standing on the dock right there for me to see. I loved that. There is nothing greater than having your little babies cheer you on. Swim starts and I am feeling perfect. I knew I was to the front of the pack and that surprised me a little. I drafted off a girl who I knew was really good. I really could have swam forever, it is amazing how that is now my favorite sport! I swam all the way till I practically had sand in my face (which is what you are supposed to do). I knew I had a good time. I ripped my wetsuit top off then my cap and goggles as I was running. My swim time was 9:15. I am more than thrilled with that. Ran into transition and got the rest of my wetsuit off, put on all my bike gear, grabbed my bike and took off. I had an ok trans time 3:17. My bike time was 37:06. This is a little faster than last years time. My trans from bike to run was super fast 1:13. I was super happy with that. The run was fun. I was well aware of my broken toe but pretty soon it just went numb. I paced with someone and we talked a little. I knew I was not going to have my best time but I am trying to not be so hard on myself. I had whiplash and a broken toe for crying out loud! My run time was 24:28 for a 5k I am usually around 22 mins. My overall time was 1:15:19. I placed 16th. I am happy with that but not satisfied (you all know me!). My goal was 1:09 and top ten. I will do it!! It was a super fun race and I have discovered that my new passion is swimming! Can't wait for the next one.