M&L 3rd Halloween Party and Prep for Sandy

Let the good times roll. Today the kids went to another Halloween Party. This time it was hosted by the music studio where Mateo takes Piano.

Lucia ran into another princess and an OXO buddy, Amelia

Lucia and Mateo ended the party with a dance 

M&L Decorate Pumpkins and Kick-Off Halloween Season

Well what is there to do after one goes to a pumpkin patch and picks out the perfect pumpkins? One must decorate said pumpkins to ensure their home is prepared for the Halloween season. And that is exactly what we did.

Mateo went for all black with metallic dots while Lucia went for an all silver piece...very modern

After the decorations were finished, Lucia and Mateo got dressed in their Halloween best to kick-off their first of many Halloween celebrations. Introducing Cinderella and the Red Power Ranger.

Their first party was hosted by Mateo's school where of course he enjoyed the doughnut tree. Where they had to race to finish the doughnut using only their mouth.

Clearly, Lucia found the handless method to be very inefficient

Next up a brother sister game of twister

Mateo and Jakey finally found one another

And began to play games and win and collect prizes

Lucia preferred this jewelry project ...

...and eating more snacks

Later we headed to an initimate Halloween party at Aba's where they both had a costume change. Mateo went as a 6-year old boy and Lucia dressed in one of Tia Raqui's performance dresses

Mateo and Papi played a game of cheese checkers (please note the winner gets to eat all of the cheese)

Lucia had another dress change into Tia Raqui's confirmation gown

The ultimate classical lady

Mateo's Reading Workshop

Well we were simply delighted by what we saw today. Mateo's first grade class invited us to a reading workshop. What is a reading workshop? Well it is an opportunity for the kids to read the stories they have been working on for weeks to their own and their friends' parents. 

Mr. Mateo with his short story which was about his trip to a Yankees Game with Papi

M&L Go to a Pumpkin Patch

Today was a great Fall day for the kids. The family was on a mission - to retrieve the best pumpkins to be used as decoration for Halloween and to have lots of Autumnal fun.

Lucia is ready in her pumpkin colored puffy vest and shades

Apparently the thought of pumpkin picking is exhausting

What makes this day even better? The fact that they were able to go with their BFFs

Alma was a little worried because her buddy was still asleep, which made the wagon ride less fun, but...

...a few minutes later she was up and ready to pick a pumpkin

Mommy and me with matching vests sandwich Alma

Lucia, Alma, Lucas and Mateo wait patiently for their turn at the pumpkin sling shot

The boys were up first and managed to get the pumpkins to fly pretty far

 Much to everyone's surprise, the girls were able to hold their own and also shot pretty far

 A new take on Children of the Corn - After the slingshot came the corn maze where they got lost for at least 30 minutes

 Later came the hay crawl where the boys raced around and

 so did the girls

 We ended the trip with a nice relaxing hay ride "ahhhh this is the life"

 Lucas was a little less relaxed

 Everyone had a great time

 Simply delightful

M&L Playtime at the Park

In a family with super busy weekends, we never get  enough time to just sit relax and have a family play date. Well today we were lucky enough to get one of those days.

Lucia and Mateo play a game of tag

She is little, but she's fast

And then they enjoyed some bonding time on the slide

A Day with Madrina

It was a perfect day in San Francisco and other than a really odd encounter with a power-hungry restaurant host/waiter, Madrina (aka Jess) and I had a wonderfully day.

This is us before the weird encounter...ready to go to brunch

Later we took a long stroll around Half Moon Bay

It was a truly "chill" day 

Tia Raqui's Baby Shower

Very exciting time for the Gonzalez family. We are very close to getting a new member...a baby girl to be exact. To celebrate, Mommy flew to California to surprise Tia Raqui at her baby shower. 

The shower was held at her friend, Jumin's, house...very nice spread

And yes she was surprised

The happy parents and Mango (aka baby) on the inside

Friends and family were there to show their support and surprise bonus (look to the left), yes that's right folks Jess flew up from LA to attend and hang...yah!

Tribe member Auntie Jamie was also there and of course Aba and Mima wouldn't miss it

Guess who won this drinking game....it was a toss up, but Mima eeked by Aba in the last few minutes

Jon's mom was a very proud grandma-to-be and knit Mango this beautiful quilt

Congrats Tia Raqui!