Spooky season silliness

 

Spirit Halloween in August

Spooky season is upon us....

Shake Shack

School starts in two weeks.  It's been a long time since my kids were in a classroom.  Despite the rise of covid cases because of Delta variant and the return of mandatory masking, the school is committed to bringing kids back on campus.  Last week we did a little back-to-school shopping with our friends at the mall.  It was fun, but of course, we needed to make a return.  So today we went back to the mall and had lunch outside before making our return.  

It was great weather out and we had a table in the shade.  

There were some photo spots in the mall, so obviously we had to take some pictures. 

 

Warm Weekend

We had an unusually warm weekend so we spent a lot of time outside - lounging, playing, doing yard work. 

Mousse loves being outside with his humans. 

Yes, this is Tom getting dirt out of the fake grass with the shop vac.  Leo is in the background with the leaf blower. 

 

Leo's New Glasses

Leo got new glasses last week.  They are pretty different from his prior pair and took a little getting used to but they really suit him.  He looks like a Beatnik poet to me.

Mid-year Spirit Week

I don't know why Serafina's school decided to hold a Spirit Week with dress-up days in January.  It's not something I had the energy to deal with so thank god Serafina is old enough and capable enough to handle it herself.  She loves to dress up.  

I didn't photograph every day but here are the ones I got.  

Wacky Wear and Crazy Hair.  

 Western Day (though she looks like more of a 90s grunge band member.)

 Character Day.  Her character was "Disney Fan" and there were a lot of Minnie ears at school that day.

 The week ended with the Snowball Family dance, which Tom was nice enough to escort her.  He ended up handing out glow sticks to hundreds of kids and I think he enjoyed it.

Here's what she wore - my dress and leggings, her own shoes.

Giant kids on a tire swing

Memorial Day bowling

The weather wasn't great so we didn't host people at our pool.  Instead we went bowling with some friends and it was super fun.

Here's a silly video of Serafina.

And a picture of Leo and his epic bedhead in front of the bowling alley's orange doors.

Spring Break - Magical Bridges

Several years ago we visited Magical Bridge playground, which is an inclusive playground created for people with all different abilities and needs.  We were in the area for an appointment on Wednesday so we re-visited it.  It was very crowded because of spring break and it's overall popularity.  They were also filming a PBS special about the playground and my kids got to be on camera.  I don't know if they'll make the final edit, but I signed the release in case they decide to use the footage.  

Serafina's New Haircut

A couple of Serafina's friends got shorter haircuts and it inspired her go shorter with her haircut.  The result is super cute and of course, more manageable hair.

$5 mug day

 We had so much fun painting at Color Me Mine earlier this month that we went back to take advantage of $5 mug day.

Curls

 Serafina and I went to get our hair cut.   She went first and was waiting for me to finish.  The stylist put some loose curls in my hair with the curling iron and Serafina, who had been looking bored and tired, perked up and said "I want curls too!"  The hairstylist was nice enough to give her lots of pretty curls.

Afternoon in Santa Cruz

Even though I had errands to run in the morning and a play date to host in the evening, I couldn't resist a trip to the beach to take advantage of amazing weather.  

It was seriously perfect without a cloud in the sky and that's not always the case on a Northern California beach.   

 Gymnastics everywhere.

 Of course we couldn't head home without stopping at our favorite ice cream spot first.

It was a very fun afternoon.

Ship in a Bottle

Nana bought herself the LEGO ship in a bottle.  Leo assembled it for her.  He said he really liked making this set even though it wasn't too difficult for him.  

Leo had lots of input on how she should display it too.

First day of summer break

It was our first official day of summer break and it was a bit of a strange one.  We spent the first half of the day waiting for my cousin and her husband to get their rental car so they could return my mom's car (they had been using it along with her apartment).  Once that was done we took a quick trip to the mall for some Father's Day shopping.  Nana went with us for that, but then she went back to her apartment to reassure her cat things were back to normal after a full week of little boys living there.  

Since Serafina can't swim because of her toe, the kids got creative on how to spend the afternoon.  Today it was face masks to give them "beautiful skin".  

 Serafina.

 Leo.

The mask is supposed to stay on for 10 minutes but neither of them made it that long.  I wonder what they will end up doing tomorrow.  

Halloween Eve

When there is a chill in the air and a Halloween costume box in the entry way, you walk to school like Frankenstein and his bride.