I Like Pumpkins

Claire looked like a kid in the candy store as she ate at the pumpkin for about 10 minutes. We had to take it away because she had a big chunk in her mouth. Then she went over to the pumpkin and pulled a little pulp out and started to eat that.

Pumpkin Carving

Here is our finished pumpkin. Then we did one more and made him look like Mickey Mouse's face. Everyone was pictured out so maybe we can show you that one sometime soon when the kids want to take more pictures.
Sean was a master carver although he did not want to put his hand inside the gooey pumpkin and pull out the guts.... Claire gnawed on extra spoon while we worked on the pumpkins.
Can you tell that Claire is teething? She has everything in her mouth. I guess the pumpkin tastes like squash so she was chomping on the top with her little teeth. YUM! Claire now says the word "apple". I guess we should work on "pumpkin" next.

Preschool Party

Sean had his preschool Halloween party today. They did some fun centers including making bat hats, decorating cookies, playing bingo, and making popcorn spooky hands.

Halloween Costumes

We went to our local library for the first of many Halloween parties today. The kids looked soooo cute I wanted to get pictures in their outfits so everyone could see them.
I am trying to get the video of Claire dancing on here but it is not working..will keep trying.

Chandler Day of Play

Every year we go to this event at Tumbleweed Park and play some games. We always stop at the playground and play at the end of our visit. This year the weather was nice and the event is getting bigger and bigger.
At night we headed back to the park to listen to music and watch the fireworks.

Pumpkin Fun

Although it was very warm when we went to the farm and corn maze we had such an awesome time. We went through the hay maze and road the barrel train.

Everyone was laughing as they saw the 3 of us going around the track on the pedal cars. We visited the farm animals, played in the kids area, and checked out all of the pumpkins.

Fall Fests Begin

Now Sean is into making silly faces for the pictures so here is one of his classics.

Our first fall fest was at the farm where we were able to go on the barrel train, pedal cars, see the animals on the farm, walk through the hay maze, and try to find our way out of the giant corn maze. Fun times for all and the kids did not want to leave. Claire was making all sorts of noises near the animals and Sean want to play the games. Then we headed to the Desert Botanical Gardens for their fest with games, hayrides, pick your own pumpkin, and a tour of the desert plants.

Gym Anyone

We went to open gym and the kids had a blast in the foam pit, jumping on the trampolines and swinging from the bars. Sean was able to go off on his own and have a great time acting like a crazy guy while Claire and I played near the foam pit. Claire spent 30 minutes jumping into the foam pit and coming back out.

Railfest

This is one of the best times in October. The kids love to go on the train and see all the models in the park. They also were able to go on the caresoul and check out some bounce house.
Grandma and Grandpa chased the kids around and went on the train with them. The kids slept all afternoon.
Claire and Sean were able to make the train move all by themselves. Claire loved to push the button and had a great time running around like crazy. Sean ran with his two friends that came and had a blast finding Thomas on the track. Plus he loved that some of the model companies gave out candy.

Splashing

The weather was still so warm that we ventured to the zoo early in the morning and Sean and Claire wanted to cool off in the splash pad. Sean had a rough morning at the zoo when he fell over a rail at the lions and landed on his head (yep slammed straight down) and then a little girl bummed him while he was running causing a nice bruise on his cheek. The animals were awesome to look at and we were able to see the koala sleeping again.

Laser Tag with Aunt Katie

We went to Amazing Jake's with grandma and Aunt Katie while they were in town and Sean took to the Laser Tag room and tried to get the hang of running around and hitting others with the laser. Then we played some games and had a huge buffet in the movie room where we watched "shark Tales".

Jumpstreet

We went to Jumpstreet for the second time and this place was a blast. Both the kids loved to jump on the trampolines and run into the bounce houses. We went with our friends Addi and Reagan and everyone was having a great time. The moms got some fun time to chat.

Driving in the Race Car

This is Claire's first time in the car cart and as you can tell it was a wonderful time for both the kids. This is a good thing seeing that you barely have 2 kids happy at the same time. Going to Lowe's was a treat this day!
Sean went to Ted's hot dogs after the zoo and wanted to show us his awesome outfit with lunch pail and hat.

Claire is 11 Months

On October 10th Claire turned 11 months. It is hard to imagine our little baby will be a year next month. She is such a wonderful little girl that always has a smile on her face. Claire will sit next to you and hang out. So many people say that Claire is an angel. I think sometimes you forget she is running around because she is so well-mannered and quiet. In the last month Claire has been doing so many new things. So here is a recap....

Claire....

-is running everywhere and now you turn around and she is gone somewhere (I need 4 sets of eyes to keep track of her and Sean)

-can pull herself up to a stand and never cries when she falls

-loves to jump into a foam pit and get tickled at the gymnastics place

-can go up steps at lightning speed

-will run right into the street if she is outside and can take a step off a small curb by herself

-loves to go down the slide at the park, play in the sand, and ride in the wagon

-likes to sleep during her 2 naps and is like clock work with her nap schedule

-sleeps from 7:30-5:30 (yes the whole house is up by 5:30-6am and sometimes earlier each morning)

-likes to drink her 4 bottles each day

-does not eat baby food at all. Will only eat table food and prefers to pick it up with her hands.

-says mama, dada, thank you, Sean, yeah!

-runs over to pictures and points to the picture of herself and then points to her chest

-claps her hands to music, waves to people with an open/close palm, and puckers lips and wakes kissing sound when you say "kisses"

-loves to have her binkie around her at all times

-likes to be dipped backward and comes back up laughing hysterically

-loves to have you talk to her from above and tickle her

-does not like the bath and once you start to wash her she is trying to get out

-wearing 12-18 months clothes now, most shirts are 18months because of her little belly

-weighs 22.2 pounds and uses #3 diapers (which we are almost ready to move to #4)

-likes to jump up and down on trampolines

-likes when you chase her around the room

-if you are eating, Claire better be eating also

-drinks with a sippy with no problem and started to suck through a straw

-loves the song "This Old Man..."

-will talk to the people that are on the tv and wave to them

-likes when you make loud sounds around her..must be used to Sean screaming all day long

-has 5 teeth totally through and the 6th one on it way

-will jump up and down when you are upset

-goes right to bed on time. Yep, just lay Claire in the bed with her binkie and she is a no fuss kind of girl.

-loves to try to run out the door if it is open

-will not put her feet in the grass or walk on it

-only likes food that is room temperature or cold/not an ounce of warmth

-goes crazy if she sees her bottle, will walk over, grab it and walk away with it in her mouth

-has to have a barrette in her hair or her hair is in her eyes

-if you are laughing she will join in to the fun/ likes to beat on the drum with the drumstick

-loves to listen to music..had a great time listening to a violin quartet

-will not rest on your chest because once she hears a sound she is little Miss Busy Body and wants to know what is going on

Of course there are so many things to say about Claire but she is the sweetest, most lovable little Cutie Cakes, Claire Bear, Sweetie Pie, and Claira Belle (as Sean and some of our little friends call her) around :)

San Diego Zoo

We were supposed to have another beach day but Dave really wanted to go to the zoo. So another day of running around with the kids as we went over to see some new animals.
The new polar bear exhibit was really nice and interactive and the polar bears got up and jumped into their swimming pool while we were there.

Sean was helping Claire out and then we went to see the giraffes. They have a new elephant exhibit so we ate lunch on the Savannah overlooking the elephants. Sean loved the skyride so we went on a few times.


Yes another ruler breaker here. Pandas like quiet so Claire decided the be a bit fussy and wake those pandas up. The zoo volunteers were looking our way.
We saw tons of animals and then went to pick up sub sandwiches and eat near the ocean. What a wonderful day.

Sea World

Another one of our adventures was to head to Sea World. We saw the killer whale and dolphin shows and watched all of the ocean animals swim around. Sean loved the Shark Encounter where you walked on an escalator with a big shark tank above you.
Yes, we got into trouble at the Sea Star area because Sean did not understand the meaning of "gentle to the sea creatures". Sean took the sea stars out of the water, slammed them back in, and then climbed on the "no climbing" sea star bronzed structure within 10 minutes. Yes we ran from that area after we broke all the rules.
Claire hanging out with the seals in the back. She wanted to put her hands in the water.
Can you find us near the yellow surfboard?
Elmo and Grover took great pictures with us!
Sean was able to feed and pet the dolphins.
Claire went on her first ride. All the kids had to do to get on the ride was walk 10 steps and Claire pretty much walked right on the ride...she passed the test. The ride was like the tea cup ride that spun around.