A Beautiful Weekend

On Thursday my Mom and Jesse drove down and picked us up, and we headed west to Carpinteria State Beach for the weekend. We had a lovely time! We could not have asked for better weather (sunny and 75 degrees) and as always we enjoyed spending time with "Grandma" and "Grandpa Jesse".

Gathering wet sand for a little sandcastle-making

Busy at work

Jonathan was intrigued by the water and would smile and giggle when the water touched him.

I love this picture of my mom! She looks so happy and it will always remind me of her and Jonathan's giggles that could be heard from my chair on the beach.

The weather was so nice and warm the boys actually got sunburned cheeks! (despite their hats and sunscreen)

Digging with Daddy


Jonathan loved toddling around on the beach...he'd follow all the seabirds calling out, "Doggie, doggie..."

Aden spent a lot of his playtime "mowing the lawn" both at the beach and at the campsite

Beautiful Carpinteria

On Friday night we let Aden stay up late so he could roast marshmallows and make s'mores with the grown-ups. He was so excited to eat the marshmallows that he would hold his stick over the fire for 2 seconds then say, "It's all done!" at which time he would pull it off and shove the whole thing in his mouth. Needless to say, his s'more making experience never made it past the marshmallows. Maybe next year he'll get to experience s'mores in their full glory.

Looking out the window of the motorhome at cars passing by

My monkey boys crawling on Grandma

Halloween Fun

Surprisingly Jonathan was really into the pumpkin carving. He had fun playing with the "guts" and carrying around the lids to the pumpkins. He also (as you'll see in the video) enjoyed toddling around with the jack-o-lantern cut outs in his mouth.

Aden wore the cutest little chicken costume and he had a great time trick-or-treating!

Jonathan missed his afternoon nap and was ready for bed by the time we were leaving to go trick-or-treating. Poor guy, he was SO tired and was having a meltdown in this picture because he didn't want Grandma to set him down. Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures of him in his adorable elephant costume.

All done with trick-or-treating and ready to transition from costumes to jammies.

Jonathan discovered that he can fit through the doggie door at my mom's house. He thought it was the best thing ever! I can't tell you how many times this kid ventured back and forth through this thing! Aden kept saying, "Jonathan's a really silly boy. He went in the pet door!" I'm sure Aden wished he could fit through it too since the garage houses really cool things like the lawn mower and Grandpa's "mokeycycle".

Lombardi Ranch

Our first visit to Lombardi Ranch this year was with the Page Family. We had a lovely evening and the kiddos had fun together looking at the animals, playing in the pumpkins, and "driving" the fire truck. Summer had her camera along and (as always) got some great shots of our time there.
Our first family shot since last year's Christmas card! Thanks Summer!

Aden loved "driving" the antique fire truck.

Aden taking his girl, Maddie, on a date =)

I love his little profile...it's so sweet.

This was Aden's first choice for a pumpkin...a spaghetti squash! What a goose!

Daddy with his little boy

You can tell by the look on his face that Aden was SO excited to be there!




Peek-a-Boo!

"I want this one Mom!"

Our second visit to Lombardi Ranch was with my Mom last weekend. She treated Aden to a pony ride and boy was he thrilled to be on that pony! He had a huge grin on his face the whole time.

Meanwhile Jonathan (who was too young to ride) stood outside the pony ring saying, "Doggie, Doggie, Doggie!" Yes, (with the exception of cats) all creatures with four legs are "doggies" to little Jonathan.

My Little Love Bug

Aden has been so loving and sweet lately that I wanted to post a few of the things he has said and done that have melted my heart.

1) The other day he brought these flowers in from outside with the proudest little grin on his face, handed them to me and said, "I cut these flowers for you Mommy!"
2) Lately he has been really good about starting his requests with "please" and he often stands in front of me, reaches his little arms up and says, "Please hold me Mommy." How can you say "no" to that?
3) He's learned the art of giving good hugs...a true embrace. I love it!
4) Yesterday morning when I went in to get him my hair was still down. As many of you know my hair is pulled back (either in a pony tail or in a twist with a claw) 99% of the time. Anyway yesterday when he saw my hair down he said, "Mommy's hair 'ook' good!" (he can't pronounce his "L's" yet.)
5) This morning he said, "Mommy's a princess!"

He really is a little love bug and I am cherishing every minute of it!

Parades and Princesses

The boys LOVED the parades at Disneyland! In our three days at Disneyland we saw California Adventure's Pixar Play Parade twice and Disneyland's Parade of Dreams twice. The parades were definitely a highlight for the boys...lots of smiles, squeals, and clapping! Anyway, last week I was folding laundry on the dining room table (that looks out onto the patio) and I heard Aden say, "Jonathan come! See a pay-ade (parade) in the gass (grass)! Where is it, Jonathan? Where's the pay-ade? Where's the princess? Where is 'em?" (He liked the princess float a lot!) and when I looked out on the patio this is what I saw.

Aden and Jonathan patienly waiting "on the curb of Main Street" for the parade to start.


Now almost every day Aden asks if he can "See a pay-ade in the gass?" and I can't figure out if he's using his imagination and pretending that he sees the parade or if he actually thinks the parade is going to come. I hope it's the former of those two or once again this poor kid will be waiting a LONG time for his wishes to come true!


Last spring this Sleeping Beauty figurine (probably from a Mc'Donald's Happy Meal) mysteriously showed up in the basket of our stroller after a church gathering with a bunch of little girls. Aden liked playing with it so we've kept it in our toy box ever since. Since our trip to Disneyland this princess has secured a spot in the top ten "Most Played-With Toys" in the Moore home.
The backpack was spotted by Aden in the clearance bin at Wal-Mart this week and he just had to have it. He was SO excited about it and was so sweet about it (no fit-pitching or anything and saying "please" in the cutest little voice) that I decided to indulge him and his fondness for Disney princesses. It is actually really cute to see a litte boy innocently enjoy something that is very girly. I know it won't be long before he'll respond to things like princess backpacks with comments like, "Ew, that's for girls!" so until then I am going to enjoy the innocence of my sweet little boy!


"Jonathan look! It's a other one princess and a other one princess too!"


Yes, he actually wears it and he is so proud of it! The best part about though is that he normally fills this very girly "back-kack" with his oh-so-boyish cars and trucks.

Disneyland

Rebekah (Daniel's sister) is back in the US after a 10-month tour in Baghdad and to celebrate her homecoming a group of us all met up in good ol' Anaheim, CA to spend a few days at Disneyland. It was great to see everyone and the boys had a blast!

Above: Aden and Cousin Kyle sharing popcorn and swapping stories about their adventures in Tarzan's treehouse.

Below: Anaheim was experiencing a bit of a heat wave while we were there. 100+ degrees in October! Needless to say all the "water play" areas in California Adventure were quite the hit with the kids. Honest to goodness I think they would have stayed here ALL day if we let them.

Jonathan loved playing in the water and was squealing and clapping the whole time! This picture brings a smile to my face because it does such a good job of capturing his sweet excitement.

The Boys!
Uncle Jakey, Jonathan, Kyle, Aden, and Uncle Lucas

Splashing around in the water at "Redwood Creek" (a.k.a Brother Bear Park) continues to be a Disneyland favorite for my boys.

Tuckered out after a several hard days of water play, carousel riding, tea cup spinning, Dumbo flying, and parade watching

Here's proof that Disneyland is (at least for this little one) the "Happiest Place On Earth!" Maddie LOVED the parade and was SO excited to be watching it!
On Sunday evening we met up with the Pages for a few hours and enjoyed watching Aden and Jonathan experience some of Disneyland with their sweet buddy Maddie Ruth.

Aquarium Fun

Last week Carolyn and I took the boys to the Aquarium of the Pacific. The boys enjoyed seeing all of the marine life and they loved spending the time with their Grandma. We had a nice day together.

Aden seemed to enjoy the sea lions and sea otters the most and I thought this picture was pretty cool!

Where's Nemo?

You can't miss Aden in his orange hat!

The boys were amazed by the size of this halibut. Aden said, "Big fishie!" about 100 times.

So colorful!

Of course, swinging on all of the railings was a highlight too!

This boat in the water play area was quite the attraction for this little boy. It was even more exciting to him than sharks and stingrays. He didn't want to leave it and repeatedly said, "I ride in a boat!"