Kumquats and such

Now that we're living in a townhouse community, we were stoked for a fun Halloween night! Jason and the girls carved pumpkins on Sunday evening while I was out, then I joined the fun. We were really missing the fancy tools from Gary Mike as we struggled to cut out these basic shapes, but we made do with what we had:)  The sunset was gorgeous and I had the girls pose for a few shots before we headed out. Savannah was a princess and Reagan was Captain Phasma (a Star Wars character). We set out a bowl of candy with a "Please take a couple" sign and began our trick-or-treating fun. Unfortunately, we were one of 12 houses actually participating in this holiday!!! Seriously, each unit has like 8 units and there are 20+ units in the community! What the heck?  It actually worked out for the best though, because the girls didn't end up with too much candy, and we met up with some neighbors who came back to our house for a drink! Win/win!  Playing w...

Last Saturday, we headed inland to the Santa Margarita Trail for a hiking adventure! Jason had done some research and discovered this great, family-friendly spot for the us to explore. It was a beautiful day and we even brought Tommy along!  The trail started off nice and wide, perfect for an easy stroll. Parts of it were a bit trickier, but the girls did a great job navigating the rocks! Ever since Reagan started her ninja warrior classes, she's been climbing on everything! This limb offered a good balancing challenge! The trail followed the Santa Margarita River and there were several spots where you could walk right up to the river bank. Tommy, who usually hates water, ventured in without prompting! We came to a spot with huge boulders on either side of the trail. Jason climbed up on top of one and we urged him to take a giant leap! This collage doesn't do the feat justice, but I did my best to capture the jump! ...

A very belated follow up to the previous post! That same day, we spent some time at home relaxing after a fun morning at the park. In fact, we ALL took naps! Then we headed to the beach! I'm a big wimp and don't even get in the freezing Pacific when it's warm out, but Reagan and Jason have no hesitations! They spent time together body boarding while Savannah played on the beach in a tide pool. She likes to do her own thing when we hit the beach, which is perfectly fine with me! What a wonderful way to spend a weekend! Jason spent 10 minutes unwinding this ridiculously long piece of seaweed!  We were treated to a beautiful sunset that night! This was taken from our balcony!