October 2011

October is birthday month, and I told Mario I did NOT want any kind of a party, but I would love to go to Sedona for the day, just the two of us.  So we pawned off our kids on my family members, and headed to the beautiful red rocks.

 We had gone once before, but now are pretty sure that we stopped at the little town just before Sedona and never made it to the city itself.  It was beautiful and amazing and we have vowed to go back more often.

 We did lots of my favorite activities.  First, we got exercise and saw beautiful surroundings by going on a hike to a natural bridge, which was stunning.

 IT's kind of hard to tell, but here is Mario on the natural bridge.

 and me.

 and us.

 Then we did another of my favorite activities, shopping!  It's an artists compound, sort of, with lots of little boutiques and beautiful courtyards.

 and even a little chapel.

 And then we did my most favorite activity, eating.  We went to the most delicious MExican restaurant.  The wait was insane, and we only got to sit in the bar, but it was totally worth it.  It was a beautiful day and we had the best time just being together.

 We also Halloweened in October...but more on that later.

 On my actual birthday, Mario planned a surprise party for me, because he didn't believe me when I said I really didn't want a party.

 So we got together with our lovely friends the Reyna's, the Hidalgo's, The Larrietta's and the Lista's for cake and ice cream.

 It was a nice evening.

 Lucia also turned TWO!  And I was pregnant, exhausted, working too much, and finally made myself okay with just a small family party one Sunday after family dinner.

 She was completely obnoxious.  She somehow got the idea that she had to take her dress off, so went to her birthday in her birthday suit (and a diaper).

 We did have cake.

 And the families from my birthday party again participated, plus cousin Olive.

 Gabe helped Lucia open every present.

 And Lucia could never find her happy side that night.  Good thing I didn't go to a lot of trouble, I might have been really annoyed!

 We also celebrated Halloween, again, and again, and again, and again in October.  Gabe was Astro boy.

 And Lucia was a sock monkey.  I had fun making their costumes, and definitely feel like they wore them enough to merit the effort!

 Gabe and his blue core energy...

 First we went to a carnival at Gabe's preschool.

 Where Olive the chicken was the total star of the night.  She was so cute.

 Then we went to the party at church and collected way too much candy at the trunk-or-treat.

 Then we went to a hot air balloon festival where the kids could trick-or-treat at each balloon.

 Some costumes were a little scarier than what you find at the preschool carnival...

 But we loved looking at all the amazing balloons.

 Then on actual Halloween, we went to my parent's church party and trunk or treat, and Mario dressed up for work.  And was the only one at his work who did so.  I was really done with Halloween by the time it was over, and I ate WAY TOO MUCH of the candy that I hid from my kids so they wouldn't overdose.  Next time I think I should just let them eat it...

We didn't carve any pumpkins, because it was still 100 degrees every day and they would just rot, so why bother?  But we did make pizza in the shape of pumpkins and ghosts, and ate it for dinner.  And we made pumpkin rice crispy treats, so that kind of counts, right?  I'm a lazy mom, I admit it.

September 2011

My attempts to recap our lives for posterity continues...  Looking back through photos, it seems September wasn't super eventful.  We did go to a local pool "movie night" where everyone hangs out in the water and watches a movie on a huge screen.  My kids were not interested in watching the movie, only in annoying the other patrons, so we didn't stay long after the movie started.

 They LOVE the water, and Gabe is an amazing swimmer.

They were, however, interested in eating watermelon.  And making a big mess with it.

 We also took them to some scummy indoor amusement park - the kind of thing you do in Arizona when in September it's still to hot to go outside.  Lucia was terrified of the carousel,

 Gabe loved it because it was a horse.

 He was also big enough to ride the bumper cars.

 Lucia did do better on the little train and other rides.  Overall, not a terrible day, not great enough that we really want to return.

 We also took our very first family camping trip with our friends Diego and Shannon.  Luckily, my dad has everything one could need or want in the way of camping gear, including a large 2 room tent so big even Mario could stand up in it, so it didn't matter that we pretty much only own flashlights.

 During the day we had lots of fun.  Eating camping food,

 Going on nature walks, playing games, etc.

 Sleeping was a NIGHTMARE.  First, Lucia made her first and last attempts to get out of the port-a-crib...by hurling herself over the side and falling on her head numerous times.  Mario finally calmed her down enough to nap a bit with him.

 Gabe begged and begged to cook "marshes" over the fire, cooked one, and then declared "I like them better just plain."  Too funny.

 But then we got to nighttime sleeping again...Lucia took FOREVER to be calmed down enough to sleep.  Then I went to bed, dressed warmly and in a sleeping bag on an air mattress, and was freezing and trembling so much I feared for the lives of my children, had a minor freak out, and got up in the middle of the night and went to sleep in the back of the van.  I took Lucia with me and we turned on the heater for a bit, then turned it off to sleep, then when it got cold turned it back on for a bit.  Needless to say, the night was so miserable that I think our next "camping" trip will be to a lodge somewhere.

 I also attempted to make Raspberry jam.  I didn't make freezer jam b/c my freezer is too small.  I got special recipes to make it low-sugar, I brought flats of raspberries and jars and lids.  Then after an entire day making it, I stored away all my little jars.  Then, a few weeks later, Mario and I hear this crashing sound, but can never find the source...until a few days later I open the cupboard where they are stored and discover that somehow my jars did not seal, the jam fermented, and now the lids are EXPLODING off the jars.  I'm done with canning, I'll just buy it from now on.  But the one that went to the fridge and I consumed, was delicious!

And apparently, we did nothing else camera worth in September!