As the Veterans Day holiday was drawing near and I anxiously pondered what in the heck I would be doing with my kids for two whole days to keep them happy and entertained, I was reminded by one of my friends of the many fun things to do in the bay area.  Oh, how I love where we live (despite some of the obvious drawbacks)!  It really is a very family friendly place full of so many educational and fun museums, parks, landmarks, etc.  Worry #2:  Erik would not have any of those days off.  Was I really brave enough to treck around to overpopulated areas by myself and risk losing one of my little guys?  Not to worry!  My very kind and patient sister-in-law, Kirsten to the rescue!  Kirsten is Erik’s sister who is a school teacher at Pleasant Hill Elementary and for some reason seems to like hanging out with me and the kids.  She seemed more then happy to accompany us on our two days of adventures (as if she doesn’t get her fill of kids already). Thank goodness, I don’t know what I would have done with out her!!  

Day 1:  Bart ride into the city, lunch with Erik, played at Yerba Buena Gardens Children’s Play Circle.

Waiting for the train to SF with Aunt Kirsten

Playing outside Yerba Buena Gardens

Children’s Play Circle at Yerba Buena (free and has the coolest slides but not recommended for small toddlers)

Day 2:  Chabot Space & Science Center

I’ve always wondered if there was someone we should report Rulon to…I’d like to see their management try and makes some sense of this little guy.

As Lincoln sat with me watching the numbers come in for the presidential election he became inspired to make some “campaign-type” posters for the event.  As you can see he was pretty fair in representing both candidates but don’t let that deceive you, he was totally rooting for Obama.  I am sure that will make his Grandpa Adams very proud.

Rulon made his own posters but it still is undetermined who he was supporting….

If we didn’t have enough going on with Halloween festivities, Lincoln’s Birthday was November 1st and we had promised to throw him a big Pokemon-themed birthday party with 8 little boys in attendance.  So after we finished trick-or-treating that night and put the kids to bed, Erik and I then geared up to make birthday preparations for the next day which included assembling a bike and making a Pikachu birthday cake.  

Our late night efforts were well worth it as Lincoln loved his new bike and had a lot of fun with all of his friends at the party that afternoon.  Erik and I, on the other hand, were still dealing with nervous twitches late into the evening as we recalled what it was like to have 8 hyper-active boys in our house for 2 hours on a rainy Saturday afternoon.  

I do not recommend this balloon stomping game!  So very loud…

I’ll admit that Halloween has never really been my bag but since having kids that’s changed a bit. Let’s face it…adults dressed up and acting rather juvenile just doesn’t compare to a pint-sized star wars character, a power ranger and a small fluffy fairy princess. We had a fun filled Halloween week as Rulon and Ellis got to have fun parties at their preschool and Lincoln in his first grade class.  We had lots of fun squeezing in pumpkin carving on Halloween night and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood for candy we certainly didn’t need.  Ellis especially loved it and took great care in making sure she knocked on each door at least 3 times before they answered and saying in her cute little sugary-sweet voice “trick-oh-tweet!”  

Ellie’s Preschool Party

Rulon, Miss Sonya, Brett, & Jack

Tough Love…

Lincoln’s First Grade Class

Carving pumpkins with Dad!

Ellis refused to stand near the boys for the picture

I’ve had so much fun with my kids this year thanks to a really fun and involved ward.  Every Friday we take our kids on some sort of outing.  A few weeks ago we took a ride on a city bus to a local park for a picnic and sang “wheels on the bus” the whole way (our fellow passengers didn’t quite catch the spirit).  Prior to that we took a tour of a local fire station and then just two week ago for our “big” outing we took all the kids to the Oakland Zoo.  They loved it and it was a beautiful day!