Tons of Fall Fun

It's Fall! And we have had a lot of new adventures. The first is that Jack started soccer! He is playing in the Elite Soccer League and his team name is the Blue Thunder. Jack really enjoys playing, but he is definitely not aggressive. If the ball comes right to his feet, then he will usually kick it in whatever direction he is facing. But he is not the one that gets in there and attacks to get the ball. Oh well. He's still having a great time and it's been fun watching him play. He only has 2 games left until the season is over.

The next new adventure is that Jack started Preschool! He is going to the school just down the street from us (Robinson Elementary) and he LOVES it! His teachers are Mrs. Pat and Mrs. Mary and he is always excited to go. Each day when I pick him up, he can't wait to tell me all about his day and show me him homework. Sometimes we do his homework 2 or 3 times. And it's only things like, matching, writing letters, or other fun activities. So his "homework" is still fun :)

The next adventure this fall was the CHOC Walk. On October 12, we woke up at about 4:15 and got ready to head to Disneyland. Jack had requested donuts for breakfast, so we had the donuts, water, and other snacks piled in the stroller. There were TONS of people waiting on the Main Street of Disneyland for the walk to start. Finally, at about 6:30, people started moving and we made our way through the park. This is our second year doing the walk, so we had a good idea of what we were doing. All Jack could think about was going home and making cinnamon rolls, so he was gradually getting more grumpy throughout our walk. But Joey was actually very good and sat quietly with her snacks. I thought the walk was very enjoyable and it was good to be doing it as a family. As soon as we crossed the finish line, we made our way back to the car. We were all tired from being up so early and just wanted to get back home. As requested, we made cinnamon rolls and had a relaxing morning.

On October 22, Jack, Joey and I went on a little field trip with Jack's preschool class. We all met at Tanaka Farms where we rode a wagon behind a trailer, pet some sheep and goats, picked some veggies, and Jack even picked his own pumpkin. Joey was NOT having a good morning so she was definitely testing my patience. But Jack had a great time and Joey did have a few moments of fun too. Jack pet a few goats and made monster faces at them. They took a class photo and it was so cute seeing them all together being just goofy kids. While picking veggies, Jack was so excited but he didn't want to get his hands in the dirt. He picked up the carrots, radishes, and onions that were already out of the ground, but did pick the green beans off the plant. The best part was saved for last. He ran out and picked the perfect pumpkin! He was showing me how strong he is and tried to get the biggest one he could find. Of course, after about 1 minute, I ended up carrying it the rest of the way to the car. 

Now with all this talk about Jack's new adventures, I can't leave out my little Joey! She's been right there with us watching Jack from the sidelines at his soccer games, dropping off and picking up Jack from school, and coming right along everywhere we go. She's definitely trying to be independent and the terrible 2's are here, but she still loves to cuddle with me and I enjoy every smile I get.

Now as I mentioned, Jack picked his own pumpkin at Tanaka Farms. Well that night, as soon as Kyle got home, he wanted to carve a happy face on his pumpkin. He "helped" Kyle get it all ready to stick on our front step and was so proud of it. 

On Friday, the 24th, we had the trunk or treat at church. Joey was Princess Anna from Frozen and Jack was Captain America. They both looked so cute! Jack was so excited to get a hot dog for dinner, and when the time came to start getting candy from each car...we were almost running to the first car. Jack held his own bag and said "trick or treat", and then after getting candy would say "Happy Halloween". It didn't take Joey long to get the hang of how things worked. I helped her hold her bag and with a little prompting, she would say "tee" (for trick or treat). She wanted to hold her candy in her hands, so it was a little juggling act of getting candy from her hands into her bag so that she could grab another piece. But both Jack and Joey had tons of fun and got lots of candy. We can't wait for Halloween!

Second Half of Summer

The second half of the Summer has been crazy busy. We have had a lot of things happen and can't believe that Summer is already over. Back in July, the kids were busy being loud and crazy (and cute) as usual. We celebrated the fourth of July and went to see the Fireworks down by the lake. We had some lazy days where we didn't do much. And then at the end of the month, we had some real fun. Our family went to Mormon Night at Angels Stadium and had a blast watching the game, eating nachos, and getting Hawaiian Angels shirts. Jack even got a "foam hand". He begged the entire night for one and was so excited to finally get it! The Angels won, and we all went home very tired...

On July 26, Jack celebrated being 1 year cancer free! Woo-hoo! It was a Saturday, so we decided to make it a "Jack day". The morning started with pancakes. Then it was off to the beach to have some fun in the sun and sand. Lunch and snacks were packed and the afternoon was spent making sand castles, getting our feet wet, and just relaxing. On the way home, Jack got a slurpee and both Jack and Joey fell asleep. For dinner we went out for pizza and dessert and since we were all so tired, dinner was kind of chaotic. But hopefully Jack enjoyed the day...

On July 29, our family got a plane and headed to Nashville, TN to visit family. We hadn't seen my family in quite some time so we were all excited for a long vacation. While on our vacation, we did a lot of different things: Jumper's Playhouse (where the kids were able to jump on the big inflatable slides and bounce houses), the Smyrna splashpad, a couple of different civil war sites, the Space and Rocket Center, the Murfreesboro Discovery Center, and the TN Aquarium. Jack LOVES spaceships, so he was so excited to visit the Space and Rocket Center. We spent all day there looking at the different rockets and exhibits. Jack even got his own rocket shirt, toy rocket ship, and toy space shuttle. (And he tries to wear the shirt everyday!) At the Aquarium, he loved seeing all of the different fish (especially the sharks) and even got to touch a huge snake. Joey was not as happy at the aquarium, but I think there were at least a few moments where she was having some fun too. After the aquarium, we all drove to lookout point on Lookout Mountain. The view was beautiful, even though we only enjoyed it for a few moments...

One thing we did while all together as a family was get a few new photos taken. It was good to have everyone together again and see how everyone is doing.

Our vacation to Nashville was well worth it. We had so much fun with family and did a lot of fun activities. However, when it was time to go home, it was tough to say goodbye.

Moving on... Shortly after we got home from our vacation, we got Jack a new set of golf clubs. He swings left handed, so we had to be sure to find him his own special set. And he loves it!

Joey is back to playing with her toys and her princesses. She loves her little dolls, but still tries to get her hands on Jack's planes and cars too.

One last thing for the summer...We took Jack to the beach to take some special photos to show his progress this last year. He is a year cancer free and that is quite an accomplishment. We love him and Joey and are so happy that we were able to have an amazing summer together as a family. 

Now it is back to reality...school, work, and other Fall activities.

So long Summer! It's been a great one!