Halloween

Allison got into the Halloween spirit this year and made these cute pretzel treats for all of her friends.

 She also got very creative with her pumpkin design and created this fun one with Matt's drill.

 She spent Halloween at Carson's neighborhood block party again this year.

 They were adorable 80's workout girls.

They got quite a workout collecting almost 18 pounds of candy!!

 Taylor didn't have much time for Halloween festivities, but did manage a quick trip to the pumpkin patch with Andrew and carved the one of the left at his house earlier in the week.  They chose to avoid the party scene and spent the evening with a few friends at the Field of Screams at Storm Stadium.

Matt and I had a very relaxing evening with Kaia.  We haven't passed out candy in so long.  It was kind of bittersweet.

 We brought the fire pit out front, turned on some Halloween music and enjoyed watching the neighborhood kids trick-or-treat.  Once everyone was done, we did go over to the block party to check out the haunted house and pick up Allison.

PINK DAY

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, today was Pink Day at Great Oak.  As always, this group goes all out!!

Light The NIght

After a fun time last year, we decided to do the Light the Night 5K in Balboa Park again this year.  It supports the SD Crimestoppers and both Securitas and the Sheriff's Dept have booths set up before the race.  

The big girls invited their boyfriends to join us and the kids all had a great time.  Half of them were cops and the others were robbers.

Allison and Reanna ran up ahead with Joseph and Lauren and Taylor and Andrew stayed back with Leslie and I after Matt started speed walking ahead of us.  The weather was perfect and it was a fun family environment along a very nice course.

 Taylor and Lauren recreated last year's pose.

These two beat all of us and we all enjoyed a quick stop at Hammond's before making our way home.  

Aztecs vs. Aggies

I originally bought tickets for tonight's game as a gift to Matt for our anniversary.  At the time, I didn't know it would be the same night as the GOHS vs. TVHS game and Taylor just couldn't miss that.

 Luckily for Allison, she got to bring Carson with us!  We picked up Matt at his new office and got dinner at Smashburger before entering the stadium.  The girls looked so cute in their SDSU shirts, sweatshirts, bandanas and face paint.

 We had some time to kill so we hung out in Aztec Village.

 The girls rode a few rides before we headed inside.

 We were 13 rows from the field which I thought would be great.  Unfortunately, Matt had 4 young boys screaming in his ear the whole time and we had a huge family ahead of us that couldn't stay seated.

 The Aztecs scored early and continued to score, with fireworks after each touchdown.

At halftime, we moved up to the club level for a better view and some space to ourselves…much better!  The Aztecs beat the Utah State Aggies 48-14!!

War Week

Friday night is the big football game against TVHS, the cross-town rival.  It was another great excuse for more SPIRIT days…this time called War Week.They had 80's workout, all black, camo and red days.  Unfortunately, I only got pictures from 80's day.

The kids all say this is their favorite SPIRIT day of the year.  I thought it was especially funny that Andrew refused to come to the door (like he does each morning he drives Taylor) because he didn't want us to see him in pink tights.  He just texted her "Here"!  Too funny!  BTW…Great Oak won big in the game Friday night :)

Seafood Heaven

The girls had conflicting games today so Allison went with Leslie to her game in Torrance.  They got to the field a little early so they stopped at Redondo Beach Pier and found a great place to get lunch after the game.  It was a tough 7-0 loss, but Allison was all smiles.  She got her own crab!

She also loved the ceviche, but had no interest in trying Reanna's sashimi. It was a fun afternoon after a long drive and tough game!

National Honor Society

A few weeks ago, Taylor completed a very lengthy application for National Honor Society.  Applicants have to have at least a 3.6 GPA, 75 hours of community service, led a service project and provide 10 references.  Last week she found out she was accepted…quite an accomplishment and honor! 

 Tonight was the induction ceremony for the incoming Juniors and Seniors.  Grandma and Papa's flight got in just in time for them to attend with us. The ceremony was very inspiring.  Some of the NHS commissioners gave speeches on the four pillars of NHS…character, service, leadership and scholarship.  Each inductee received a marble for the fishbowl, a yellow rose and a candle as part of the NHS traditions.

 The school principal and keynote speaker expressed that each student chosen is a born leader and they are the ones others follow because they are trusted and do the right thing even when no one is looking. They are well-rounded and self-motivated and look to make a difference.

 Here is the new Junior group of inductees. 

Taylor will attend weekly lunch meetings and work with a group on a community service project, while continuing her volunteer hours and maintaining her grades.  We are so proud of her and are grateful that she received this honor for all that she does!!

41

I had to work in the SD office for most of the day, but had a nice lunch at PF Chang's with Marie and Kimberly. 

When I got home, Matt and the girls surprised me with Peterson's Donuts, a Baskin Robbins cake and a gift bag full of new clothes!  Allison went to soccer practice and then we all had a good dinner at Uncle Bob's!

Then this morning, we dropped the girls off at school and Matt had one more surprise waiting.  He had asked me to take the day off of work, but didn't say what we were doing.  After about a 30-40 minute drive east, we pulled into a gravel lot at Warner Springs Sky Sailing airport.  Yikes!

I was initially freaking out, but decided to embrace the adventure.

Pollly was my pilot for my flight and she was so sweet and informative.  She made me feel comfortable  since she has been doing this since 1978!

 Our glider rope was hooked to the tow plane and then we quickly headed down the runway.  We stayed attached to the tow plane until we reached 9,000 ft.

 Polly gave me instructions on all of the gadgets and the science behind the glider.

 Once we reached our desired altitude, we released from the tow plane and watched it fly off to the left.

 We spent the next 30 minutes flying over the mountains, with clear views of the ocean and many surrounding lakes.

 We also went right over Palomar Observatory!  It was a beautiful clear day!

 Once we descended to 4,000 ft., Polly prepared for our landing back at the airport.  She monitored the winds, air traffic and altitude and taught me quite a bit about sky sailing.  It was a great adventure and we landed without issue (maybe just a little nauseous, but totally worth it)!!

Matt was waiting for me back at the airport and then we headed a little further east for lunch in Julian.  We had a nice time walking around the cute town and taking in the apple pie smell that fills the streets.  I wasn't all that excited about turning 41, but Matt and the girls made it a great celebration!