Lizzo!

Serafina's "big" birthday present this year was concert tickets to see Lizzo and we got to go this past Saturday night.  My friend Kristi was nice enough to drive us up to the city where we had a yummy pizza dinner.  Afterwards, before walking to the arena, we stopped in a big historic building.  At first we thought it was a hotel, but there were endless living rooms set up and no actually hotel rooms.  The girls decided it was a "bougie IKEA".  And sure enough, it turns out it was a Restoration Hardware store with a restaurant and bar on the first floor.  It was kind of surreal experience and I'm glad Kristi was there to marvel about it with me.  

Of course it was a great photo opportunity and these two goof balls had a lot of fun.  

A highlight was the rooftop with fire pits and amazing views of the Bay Bridge.  

A short walk from there is the Chase Center where the Warriors play.  They ususally have these cool mirror balls in front, but because humans are terrible they have been vandalized recently and were covered up.  That didn't stop us from taking some pictures.  

Found our seats!  

Ready for the show.  

First a little ice cream treat.  

It was a fantastic, high energy show.  Lizzo was amazing and did a wonderful job engaging the crowd.  It was an all around awesome night. 

 

Halloween 2023

Halloween is and will probably always be my favorite holiday.  The vibe has definitely changed now that my kids are older and COVID  has changed the dynamics of my friend group, but we still just love it.  

Leo's friend Vivian, who moved away during the summer, was back for a visit this weekend.  Her dad and stepmom hosted a Halloween party Saturday night.  I didn't know anyone, but I wanted a chance to dress up.  I wore a jumpsuit I already own and added a headscarf for a gypsy/fortune teller/witchy/70s vibe.  I was happy with the look even though I didn't have an easily identifiable costume.  

My kids were in charge of my photo shoot and they honestly did a crap job.  This is the only decent picture and it still has Leo's finger in it.  Oof.  

Leo rummaged through our Halloween costume box and came up with this outfit.  He said he's "Bad to the Bone".  

Serafina wore her elephant onesie from last year.  

Vivian dressed as her dad right down to his Google ID badge.  

Tom wore his Vinz Clortho from Ghostbusters costume.  He upgraded the headpiece with some cool LED lights.  

No one at this party knew who he was, which meant it wasn't the right party for us.  Plus, we both had other plans.  

Tom headed to San Francisco to see some live music.  I went to Downtown San Jose with some friends to a tiki bar.  It was super fun.  There were tons of people out and about in all kinds of costumes, and the drinks were delicious. 

Sunday was the dance team Halloween party.  I made his tray of cookies with some gummy spiders added for fun.  

She was part of a group costume with her dance friends.  They were "modern day Disney princesses". She was Jasmine from Aladdin and looked fantastic.  

Here she is with Becca as Rapunzel and Mathilde as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. 

Flying on a magic carpet in the dance studio 

There were a ton of dance team kids there and the studio posted this cute group shot on their Instagram account. 

Monday both kids wore costumes to school  Serafina dug into the costume box to create this look.  

Leo was "Bad to the Bone" again.  He didn't win the costume contest at the pep rally.  Here he is at pick-up still wearing most of the costume.  

After school, we carved pumpkins.  Serafina is a little frightening with a pumpkin knife. 

She made hers winking. 

No pictures of Leo carving because by the time he came out to do it, my hands were too slimy to touch my phone.  Here's his pumpkin.  I spaced them out along the path to our house in hopes of luring in more trick-or-treaters. 

Handsome Mousse won't wear a costume, but he'll wear his bandana.  

Serafina trick-or-treated in Becca's neighborhood.  They added Kiki to the group who was dressed as Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.  

Leo was in charge of handing out candy and we watched Ghostbusters. 

Lake House with Sunny

We were supposed to go to the lake house in mid-September and bring Sunny along with us.  Unfortunately, there was a bad wildfire at the base of the mountain that made the air quality hazardous in the Tahoe area so we had to skip the trip.  Luckily, Sunny was free our scheduled weekend in October and got to go with us.  Yay!  Even better, all the kids had the Friday off so we got an extra day to hang out in the mountains.  

Friday Tom had to do some work so he stayed at the house while Mousse, the kids and I explored the lake during the quiet off-season.  

We pretty much had the whole private beach to ourselves.  (Dogs aren't allowed...shhhh)

Gorgeous girls in a gorgeous setting. 

Forcing them to take a picture all together. 

The girls did some photo shoots.  

Sunny fixed Serafina's hair. 

  Silly Mousse splashing himself. 

In the afternoon, we went to Downtown Truckee for some strolling and shopping.  

The weather was absolutely stunning on Friday.  So fortunate to have a clear, sunny day in mid-October. That nice weather wouldn't last.

Saturday, Tom took the three kids to Tahoe Treetop - the obstacle/zipline course we've done a few times before.  

Sunny is super athletic so I thought she would be just fine, but apparently she was a bit nervous.  Leo was there too but didn't appear in any pictures or video.  

Here's the most ridiculous video of the girls on the course with Tom.  

It started snowing while they were there.  I was home with the dog and looked out the window to see the fattest snowflakes imaginable.  They still had fun despite their fears and the chilly weather.  

After they were home and warmed up, we did some Halloween cookie decorating.  

Look at Serafina's face.  So much attitude just because I wanted a picture! 

Okay, that's better.   

Sunday morning was very chilly as well.  I had told the kids they didn't have to do anything in the morning except pack and strip the beds.  Well Tom decided they all needed to get out and see the lake one last time.  They were cold and miserable.  They walked the two blocks, posed for the picture and went straight home.  

We had a long, slow drive home but we survived.  It was a super fun trip and Sunny was an absolute delight to have with us. 

 

Long Beach trip and Leo's birthday

Last Thursday night, we boarded a plane with my mom and headed to Long Beach for a long weekend with family and celebrating Leo's birthday.  We spent Thursday and Friday with family and enjoying our rental house.  We also got a chance to go down to Seal Beach,  I didn't take any pictures.  Saturday, I only did slightly better with picture taking.  

Saturday was Leo's 15th birthday.  I got up early and got some yummy pastries.  My cousin Monica, her husband Dan and their three boys came over to visit.  It's been a long time since we've seen them. They were very sweet and we're up for walking to the beach.  

Here's Anthony checking out a park on the beach. 

This is the best picture I could get of Darwin. 

We did some family pictures since it was a glorious sunny day. 

With me and Nana too. 

Here's Monica, Anthony and my mom.  He was really wet from getting fully in the ocean in his clothes.  

We didn't pack too many presents for Leo because we had limited space in our luggage (he was understanding and we tried to make it up for him once we were home), but we did bring this hoodie for him.  

Later in the day, more family came over including my cousins' boys.  Here's Leo hanging in the rental house hot tub with Dezi and Jax. 

Zoe wanted to check out the shops on 2nd Street and she didn't have to ask Serafina twice.  

Later in the afternoon, my Aunt Sheila and I walked the kids to a nearby park. 

When we got back, it was time for pizza and cupcakes to celebrate Leo's birthday.  Since I didn't get a lot of pictures of all the family together, I'm glad I got this video of all of us singing to Leo.  

My handsome 15 year old! 

On Sunday, Tracy and Maya made the long drive down and brought this beautiful cake for the birthday boy.  

Awww.  Leo and Auntie Tracy.  

Gotta get a selfie! 

The result

Gotta have a little Seal Beach Pier time before heading to the airport.  

It was an amazing, exhausting, whirlwind trip.  I'm very glad we went and got to spend time with family.  It was also a fun way to celebrate Leo's birthday.