Halloween!

 Riley had decided many months before that she wanted to be Aurora, Sleeping Beauty, for Halloween!  

She was one beautiful Sleeping Beauty!  I blow dried her hair, put a little makeup on her, and she picked out a new pair of earrings to wear that her Daddy had just bought her!

 We had taken Jason back to Beale AFB the night before but he and his class were headed to Travis AFB for the next couple days so he got to come back home for one more night.  We were hoping he would make it back to get to spend part of Halloween with us but we didn't know how it would all work out!  

Hannah had all of us over to her house and we walked up to the local church for their Trunk or Treat and then did some trick or treating on the way back.

Here's the best shot of most of the kiddos before we took off!  Riley...with all her boys! :)

 Riley loved the Trunk or Treat and especially loved talking to the police man!  Everyone was so sweet and made her feel like royalty!

 Me and my princess!

 Madelyn met us at the Trunk or Treat and the girls were so excited to see each other!

 After getting lots of loot Riley had fun playing games and bouncing in the bounce house!

 As soon as we finished up at the Trunk or Treat Jason had called and said he was about to be dropped off at our house so I left Riley to trick or treat with her friends and ran home to pick him up.  It worked out perfect and he made it back in time for the last house they had stopped at to Trick or Treat...she was so excited!

After all the festivities we went back to Hannah's house and she had made a wonderful tortilla soup for all of us...it was a great night!

Jason spent the night at home and then we all got up super early to take him to base to meet up with his class and have breakfast with all of them.  Riley loved meeting everyone and chatting away.  We were in the lobby of the base hotel and after she had eaten her breakfast she went off with Jason to meet more of his classmates while I was chatting with some of the others.  When I went to find them I turned the corner to see a bunch of grown men with the lobby television turned on to the Disney Channel watching Chuggington with Riley...it was so cute!

Daddy's Weekend Home!!!

 After many weeks of Jason being gone it worked out that he got to spend some time at home with his girls and we were SO excited!

Part of his course they visited Beale AFB and Travis AFB and his trip happened to fall over Halloween weekend so it was great timing!

We drove about an hour to Beale AFB on Friday afternoon to pick him up and bring him home...first we stopped to get the Tahoe all cleaned up...we know how much he loves a clean car!

This little girl was super excited to see her Daddy!

 Once we picked him up we headed to On the Border in Sacramento to grab dinner...these two and their silly faces!

 And of course Riley had lots of smooches for Daddy!

 Saturday morning we headed up to Davis to go to Impossible Acres!

Riley once again loved seeing and holding all the animals!

 Cute bunny!

 Love my girl!

 Riley loved the hay bale maze and so did Jason..the two of them had quite the time playing chase and hide and seek!

 There may have been a little rough-housing too!

 Such great family time!

 This time we made it over to the pumpkins and picked out a couple to carve!

 The joy in her face says it all!

After all the fun at the pumpkin patch we headed to Burgers and Brews to grab some lunch and then it was home for all of us to take naps...such a great day!

That evening I made PW's meatloaf and these two carved their pumpkins!

 Riley, who has her Daddy's strong sense of smell, was not too keen on the smell of the pumpkin or the yuckiness of the seeds.  She loved the carving part though!

 She did a great job getting all the seeds out!

 She drew the faces on the pumpkins and then Jason carved them...she did such a good job!

 The finished product!

She wanted to carve a little one for Tessa..so sweet!  We had to turn all the lights off and check out the glowing pumpkins...too bad they were covered in mold just three days later..yuck!  They were fun while they lasted!

Sunday we went to church, had sushi for lunch, and then had a lazy afternoon.  Jason took Riley to shop for some earrings and some feathers for her hair..he's such a good Daddy!  Then we had to head back up to Beale AFB to get him back...it was a quick stop at home but we all needed it and soaked up the family time!

Our little butterfly!

 Riley got to have a special Animal Party at school!

Since her class had been studying the rain forest they each were to come dressed as a rain forest animal!  Since I knew we were going to have a princess for Halloween I didn't want to invest too much in an animal costume.  We had a cute tutu already and I found some dainty little butterfly wings at the mall one day so a buttefly it was...we weren't the only ones with this idea but it turned out cute!

The parade started about 20 minutes after drop off time so I, along with all of the other moms, drove through Starbucks and I got my pumpkin latte so I was in the mood! :)

There was a big parade and all of the classes strolled through the playground showing off their costumes...here comes Miss Stacey with all the class!

Riley was so excited to see me...love her little wave!

 Our sweet little butterfly!

After all the parading around each class sat down on a blanket so everyone could take turns hitting the pinata!  All of us parents were amazed at how patient all the kiddos were as they waited for their turn!

Finally it was Riley's turn to take a swing at the pinata!

 Then the kids got to pick up all the loot!

 Here's Riley's class...such cuties!

Fun at Scientopia and Real Fish Tails!

We are always looking for new fun things to do...one Wednesday my friend Jill texted me and said they were heading to Scientopia, a fun play place in Napa, to check it out.

Riley and I first took a meal to my friend Erin who just had a sweet baby boy and then we headed to the brand new Chick-Fil-A and ate lunch on the drive to Napa.  

Scientopia turned out to be a great little find...lots of fun things for the girls to do!

We started off in the smaller age room with lots of mats and soft toys for the littler kids and then we headed to the big kid room where Riley and Vanessa had a BLAST!

They had this huge castle with lots of prince and princess figurines and Riley loved playing with this!

 The girls each played their desired roles and rescued each other and had many "happily ever afters"

 I think Riley could have stayed here for hours but there was much more to do and see!

 They had an art area, a science area, a grocery store, and of course a dress up area!

Now...here's where I will divert with a little story about this girl.  It seems that she will always have a specific item she requests from Santa.  Last year she wanted "a doggy and a leash" and she got Macy, her Fur-Real pet.  This year she has specifically asked for a "real fish tail."  Let me explain and give my appreciation to Disney for this one (note the sarcasm here)!  As of late her favorite princess is Ariel and Riley wants "a real fish tail" so she can swim like a mermaid.  Obviously this has been quite the tricky thing to acquire.  She has a mermaid dress up dress but it only goes about mid calf and you can see her feet.  So I wasn't sure if a mermaid costume that would cover her feet and give the illusion that she was a mermaid would suffice or not.  She would also talk about using her "real fish tail" in the pool to "really" swim like a mermaid so I was assuming she meant much more.  Alas we were at Scientopia and she found this Ariel dress up dress and claimed it had a "real fish tail"!!!

You see how this "real fish tail" sort of covers up her feet so I was pretty relieved when I realized that a costume meeting these requirements would most likely suffice.  Jason was relieved too because when she started talking about wanting this "real fish tail" we sort of directed her to ask Santa for it but she has mentioned to Jason several times that when he comes home he needs to bring her a "real fish tail."  So...this costume she found must be an older Disney one and I couldn't find it anywhere but I did find this one and since it will completely cover her feet I think she will love it...and even better it's already wrapped and ready for her Daddy to give it to her when he comes home! :)

To top it off my friend Nicki, who knew about this crazy request for a "real fish tail", sent me a link to this mermaid swim fin the other day and it's EXACTLY what Riley is talking about so I had to get that too but I think that will be a special gift from Santa!

Back to our fun day at Scientopia...I think these two girls had fun...don't you?

After all this fun I decided to treat me and Riley to a special sweet treat...we were so close to my favorite little bakery, Sweetie Pie's, so we stopped and shared a huge Oreo cupcake...yummy!

We hit some traffic on the way home and Riley took a snooze...it was a good thing because we had to head to the Commissary to get groceries so I needed her to get a little rest so we could get through all our shopping!

DiDi and Doc come to town...

 DiDi and Doc came for a special visit with Riley and we had such a great time!

We were worried they wouldn't be able to come because DiDi got pretty sick right before their trip but thankfully she recovered quick and they still made it out!  Riley was really looking forward to it and so was I...they entertained her and gave me a little break which was so nice!  I am lucky to have such great in-laws!  Riley didn't quite understand why Bubba and Gaby didn't get to come too...she sure loves her aunt and uncle...but they were busy with sports and school.  This also gave Frank and Des special time to just be with Riley.

They got in late Thursday night and we picked them up from the aiport and of course made our usual run through Inn-N-Out for a snack on our way home.  It was a late night for Riley but she wasn't phased by it with the excitement of DiDi and Doc being here!

Friday they had a fun full day...

First off there were some piggy back rides for the princess!

Then they were off for some soccer at the park.  Doc is a great soccer player so he gave Riley some tips!

They grabbed lunch at McDonald's and then they headed to the Jelly Belly Factory!

I made some headway on the baby bedding while they were out and I also got a super special package from the mail man!

Jason had gotten Riley some special presents the week before and he had shipped them to her because he wanted her to have the joy of getting a package!  He told her about it a little too soon because she literally checked the mail moments after he told her he shipped them and every day after looking for her "treats"...finally the package had arrived while she was out with DiDi and Doc so I left it on the doorstep for her to open after her nap!

To say she was excited was an understatement...it was so fun to watch her open it!

She got a princess video camera, a fun splashy pig toy, and Ariel and Prince Eric dolls...they were truly a hit and she literally didn't go anywhere without them for days!

As soon as we got all 500 pieces of plastic off the dolls and got them out of the package...she let them have true love's kiss!

 Such a great Daddy!

We went out for a nice dinner that evening at Vintage Cafe..one of our favorites!  I knew Frank and Desiree would love it!

Riley wanted to wear DiDi's glasses and she looked pretty cute in them!

 The she started making funny faces and so far this is my favorite funny face from Riley...she is such a hoot!

Saturday morning we headed to Suisun to eat at Bab's Delta Diner...a fun spot for a scrumptious breakfast!

We walked around a bit before our table was ready...it was a gorgeous day!

We got some pics with DiDi and Doc!

 And of course we had to do funny faces too!

 Ariel and Prince Eric came to breakfast with us...of course!

  I just can't get enough of this sweet girl!

 We all cleared our plates at breakfast!  I headed home to get some more sewing done and DiDi and Doc took Riley for more soccer at the park and a trip to the pumpkin patch!

 

She had fun in the corn bath...and can you find Ariel in the pic? :)

I got a text from DiDi when they were on their way home that said "headed home with a tired, dusty, hungy girl :)" so I made some homemade pizzas and salad and had dinner ready shortly after they got home.  We got Riley fed and bathed and it was off to bed for her!  DiDi and Doc were wiped out too but we had rented Lincoln Lawyer and watched that after Riley was asleep!

Sunday we went to church, came home for lunch, and then spent the rest of the day checking out Muir Woods!

 It was a busy day but the weather was great and it's just so beautiful!

 It's just amazing how big these trees are!

 

 We had a blast and a workout...when we got all the way inside the park almost to the point where you would turn around Riley had to go potty...and badly.  Thankfully Doc pushed her fast in the stroller and we made it back to the bathrooms on time.  Then we went all the way back in to keep looking around.  I didn't think we would need the stroller but I'm so glad we ended up taking it...Riley was still worn out from the few days before so she actually spent quite a bit of time riding around rather than walking.

After Muir Woods we went into downtown Sausalito and ate at a restaurant overlooking the bay...we had a great seafood dinner and then headed home...we were all pretty wiped out!  DiDi and Doc had to leave bright and early the next morning so it was straight to bed for all of us!  We had such a great time and Riley got to do so many fun things while they were here and I got to work on some projects and get a little bit of a break...it was wonderful!

Thanks DiDi and Doc for everything!