October

Chase's beautiful cousin, Stacey married Josh Slater this month on the 13th at a gorgeous ceremony at La Quinta Resort near Palm Springs. Hunter made a great ring bearer this time and happily walked all the way down the aisle with a smile. Maybe it had something to do with holding the pretty flower girl's hand? ;) We spent the whole weekend playing and enjoyed every minute with the extended family. We all had a great time.

I was lucky enough to have a girls day with my besties this month, we decided to go kayaking at the La Jolla Coves. It's always fun being together whatever we do but I always love an adventure.

On the 26th, my cousin Jessie and her husband, Wilber welcomed their son, Max into the world. The kids and I were able to go visit him and the happy parents in the hospital. Another beautiful addition to our family and Hunter can't wait for him to get big enough to play with :)

In preparation for Halloween, we went to Knott's- Campy Spooky and also the pumpkin patch near our house. The kids both love dressing up and, of course, all the candy. 

Hunter's preschool class had another Halloween party, parade and pinata. So cute to see all the excitement.

And then, of course, was the big day. Nana came over for dinner and pictures before we headed out trick or treating with some friends in our neighborhood. Chase made it home from work just in time and  the kids loved racing from house to house to get MORE CANDY! We had a few sugar induced meltdowns and Skyler was determined to walk by herself and hold her Mickey Mouse treat container with no help from anyone. She is very independent this month apparently. But overall it was a great experience and we can't wait to do it again next year.

September

Hunter and Chase have been making good use of their new bikes on and off the race track. Its such a good way to spend time together and get some great exercise. But to them, its the ultimate way to have fun.

On the 7th, we went down to San Diego to spend the day with Great Grandma Opfer for her 82nd birthday. And also cousin Chelsea for her 2nd. We had some good food on the beach and just enjoyed each others company.

The following week, we had Vicki and Tom over for her birthday dinner which ended in a hilarious whipped cream food fight. Happy birthday Nana!

Chase had a vasectomy on the 20th and needed to stay off of his feet for a few days. So the kids and I headed to the LA County Fair with my parents and Grandma Converse. Hunter chose to ride the big slide and bumper cars. We went to feed the animals and, of course, see the trains. Skyler loved all the lights and sounds and even though it was the most crowded we've ever seen it, we all had a great time.

We celebrated 2 more birthdays this month, Great Grandma MaryLou (Gigi) at Tokyo Wako in Long Beach. It was nice to be with the family and the kids loved freaking out over the fire show in front of them while the chef cooked the food.

And then we celebrated Great Grandpa Gene's birthday at Ted and Terri's house in Riverside. We had some great Mexican food and finally got to meet new little cousin, Madison.

August

Holy moly, where do I start? This was a long crazy month, and I'm tired out from all the fun. First off, Happy 30th Bday to my better half! We celebrated the milestone with a casual BBQ/pool party at a friends house, followed by purchasing his big present.. a BMX race bike! He grew up racing and now that Hunter is riding without training wheels, he wants to pick it back up again and ride alongside his son. We went to the track in Orange to check it out, about a 45 minute drive, and plan on getting both the boys started soon on Sunday evenings. What a great birthday!

The following weekend we celebrated my cousin, Curtis' beautiful wedding in Huntington Beach. His sweet new bride, Bianca, is a great addition to our family and we look forward to their big move back to California after Curtis finishes medical school in Florida. Hunter was the Ring Bearer, and although it wasn't a smooth walk down the aisle, he stood relatively still and quiet while standing up front. Not a complete disaster. Luckily Curtis and Bianca are both very easy going with a good sense of humor.

Next was another cousin, Jessie's, baby shower! Little Maximiliano Jacob Martinez. Not sure on the spelling of that... but mommy to be was as beautiful and happy as ever, and we had fun with the "she's about to pop" party. Can't wait to meet another new member of the family. We are growing by the month!

The next day we left for camping trip #2 to Convict Lake up by Mammoth with Nana (Vicki) and Tom. Warm days, cooooold nights. In fact, so cold we ended up staying in Tom and Vicki's trailer the rest of the trip. Our trusty old tent held up well in the wind but sure kept us awake with all the flapping. Hunter had a blast riding his bike most of every day. Skyler liked playing in the dirt, climbing rocks, and sitting in everyone's camp chairs by the fire. She was a little freaked out by her first s'more, but finished it none the less. There were lots of deer around and the kids even got to feed one that came right into our campsite! Such a cool memory. Chase caught a few fish, we had a picnic near the lake, and one day we went up the mountain 10 more miles to the city in Mammoth and Hunter went zip lining, rock climbing, and trampolining. We had a picnic lunch in the forest that day near an earthquake fault and Hunter and Chase had an echo contest. The 4 hour drives turned into 7 because we stopped for a few meals and pit stops along the way, which made the car ride more of an adventure and split it up a bit. We had a great time and although camping with kids is a TON of work, its so worth it.

We had 2 days to unpack and repack and then it was off to my parents' house for Hunter's 4th Birthday Party! Camping theme, of course!  We had a fishing game in the pond, a potato sack race, a bug scavenger hunt, roasted some hot dogs, smore's, mountain pies and banana boats. Hunter's big birthday present was his new BMX race bike, blue and black just like he wanted. Then some of the family chipped in and got him his racing pants, jersey, gloves and helmet! He's all set and ready to go now. On top of all the race gear, he got some great camping stuff, and LEGOS! He loves legos right now and I love legos right now because they keep him still and quiet and concentrated on something. Nothing else has kept his attention like this before. Yay for legos :) Happy 4th birthday to our little man. He's growing up so fast!