Mason, Rylan, and Elli,
We had a big adventure in October, where Mommy and Daddy were gone from Sunday until Saturday morning….in California, visiting Uncle Tony and Janelle, and the three of you stayed with Nonni and Poppy. Mommy and Daddy started the trip by driving to Grandma’s house on Saturday night after you went to sleep, then we slept for 2 hours before Pap and Grandma drove us to BWI, and we flew from there to LAX.
When we got there on Sunday, we went to an Angels vs. Astros game; ate at In N Out; raced super fast go carts; went to Anaheim Packing House; and visited Downtown Disney (falling asleep in the car on the way back).
On Monday, we started with a yummy breakfast at the Early Bird Cafe; visited a car museum; ate Din Tai Fung at South Coast Plaza; went to the Lab Anti Mall for coffee and to hang out; visited Orange (and got an orange from an orange tree); watched the Steelers game while eating at Wing Stop; and Daddy got a donut/ice cream dessert at Afters to end the night.
Tuesday was our explore Fullerton day where we spent most of the day walking anywhere we went. We had Taco Tuesday tacos; visited a music store, thrift stores, antique stores, and other little shops; tried Boba (woah….surprising, even with a description to explain it first); played at an arcade; and got coffee and a cupcake. Then we went to an Asian market to go shopping for supper and breakfast food. Uncle Tony and Janelle made us a yummy supper! We also sat on one of the balconies to watch the Disney fireworks, but for some reason they never went off that night.
Wednesday was our big music/photography day. After eating at Mr. Katsu (where Daddy tried and enjoyed coleslaw on his sandwich!), we went to the studio to help Uncle Tony set up all afternoon for the band (North Morlan) coming to record that night. The band got there in the evening after we had finished setting up, and Mommy took pictures while they recorded their song. It was a long, but very cool day.
Thursday might have been our busiest day. We had Filipino spam and eggs for breakfast, while watching This is Us; drove to Newport to check out Fashion Island (and ate at Yard House - yum!); drove to Balboa Island and got Balboa bars and walked around shops; rode over on the ferry to the other part of Balboa where we got coffee and rode the ferris wheel; drove to Crystal Cove State Park to hang on the beach until sunset; went to Great Park in Irvine to ride a big balloon….but it was closed for maintenance (wah!); went to Irvine Spectrum to walk around a little bit (I mean, do we even have malls in Virginia? These places are insane!); and finished the night by eating at Burger Parlor! It was such a fun day.
After a crazy morning with keys locked in a running car in the middle of the street in the dark, we ended up missing our flight home. We were supposed to get back to see you three on Friday night, but the flight we ended up getting took us to Denver for a layover and then on to Dulles. It was 10:30 pm when we got to DC, so you got to stay an extra night with Nonni and Poppy (and saw the new Lion King in theaters!), and we came to get you Saturday morning!
We heard that you boys didn’t fight while we were gone, and Elli you did great for Miss Rosie on Tuesday and Thursday - and you got to play with Evie one day!
The Saturday we got back, we went to the British car show at Ridgeview Park. The next weekend we had our family’s Fall Opening Ceremonies. We decided to go to Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. It reminded us of the Apple Barn in Tennessee (except it ended up being WAY more busy and more fancy) which we always liked to go to in fall in college. Everyone got a treat, plus we bought some apples, apple salsa, apple sauce, and an apple pie (expensive).
The Friday after that, I took you to the karate place in Staunton, because you had a pizza party there and got to break a board with some of your friends. Y’all had done karate for two weeks in PE at school, so this was the end celebration of that. We went to Klines with a couple kids from Ry’s class and their moms afterwards too.
We also had a fun fall party at our house with friends that Saturday. We haven’t done that in several years, and since I was a little more organized this year, we were able to plan for it. Nichole’s family and Kenzie’s family came over. We had soup, hot dogs, some appetizer snacks, apple cider, apple dumplings, and s’mores out on the patio. The kids had nerf gun fights in the play room and made a big fort/jumping/pillow/blanket-craziness mess in the living room. It was a fun night.
We went to Pennsylvania at the end of the month for Daddy to help Pap work on the built-in thing for our living room. We took a long way up on Friday, since Daddy was off of work and y’all had a half day of school. We rode on Rt. 11 for a lot of the time, and we stopped for coffee in Greencastle before we got up there. For supper that night we went to a new (to us) pizza place in a different town. We also got to see a little of the World Series while we were there, so that was cool. (Daddy, Uncle Tony, and Janelle saw both teams — the Astros and the Nationals— play during this season, which is really cool and unlikely!)
Of course the very end of the month was Halloween. It was POURING rain this year, so Safe House was moved to the gym at church. I actually liked it better in there, and I think the three of you liked it too. Elli, you were a ballerina, Mason, you were Captain America, and Rylan, you were some random, cute, mix of superhero characters.
Mason, you have fun in school. You like being the one to make other people laugh, and you have lots of friends. You still say you don’t enjoy school, but when I see you there, you are definitely enjoying being there. You seem to like math facts more than reading (on your own —- but you still LOVE books being read to you). This month we’re working on our fourth book of the Laura Ingalls Wilder series at bedtime —although we missed the first two books, so we’ll have to go back to those.
Ry, I got to go on a fieldtrip with your class this month! We went to the fire station down the street from the school. You were very happy to have me there, and I was very happy to see your cute face and hold your hand for almost the whole time. We have not done a great job with dates recently, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to owe you some when next year comes. I heard that you mostly did a good job going into school when Poppy dropped you off when we were in California. And you’ve been progressively getting better at going in since then.
Elli, you are cute and a handful at home. Since you’re the only one here most of the day, you have strong, loud opinions that you like to share with me. You have lots of new words, and it’s getting easier for people who don’t know you to understand you when you talk.
Here’s our quote from the month!
“When I grow up, I’m not going to go straight to buy a house. I’m going to go straight to buy a video game.”