Skater Dude

Brandon had lots of fun for his birthday. We did the usual Chuck E. Cheese dinner. Brandon and Austin are so obsessed with getting the most tickets possible. I think now they're up to 2,000 tickets? We keep saving them to get a really good prize. Finally, Brandon got his Lego Batman video game. He said he was so excited the night before, that he could barely sleep. They've played it hundreds of hours by now. I think their eyes are going to bug out. We surprised Brandon with a new skateboard. It's really nice and BIG! They all wanted to immediately go to the skate park to try it out. Are you crazy? They think there's nothing to it. Just get on and go. Here's a video clip of their attempt at riding a skateboard.

SLUMBER Party???

Now what part of the title "Slumber Party" means sleeping??? No, we did not get much sleep at Brandon's Slumber Party. This is a special birthday for Brandon and so we gave him a big party. Of course his original choice was Air Kids Party Zone. Too much money, sorry Brandon. He invited nine of his friends to come over. Including our boys, that totaled 12 squirrely boys! What were we thinking? They had so much fun. Luckily, the weather was warm. So we were able to swim instead of just go in the jacuzzi. Could a jacuzzi fit 12 people? We played some games, played pool, bowling, and of course dart wars. We managed to get them to bed at 10:30 p.m. However, right when the sun started coming up, they were all up. Six in the morning??? Where do they get all their energy?

Jeremy's Football Game

The kids and I went to Jeremy's football game. Uncle Dave and Daniel came along too. Jeremy plays on the freshman team. They are doing really good this year. The game we watched, they smashed the other team. Way to go Jeremy!
The kids enjoyed playing with Daniel in the football stands. During half time, they played tag around all the benches. Look how good Jeremy looks in his uniform (number 70).

Halloween Haunt

This years trick or treating was pretty sad. We went around our neighborhood and found few houses passing out candy. I would say about 1/5 of the houses were participating. Brandon and Patyon pooped out after about 10 minutes. Austin wanted to go on and on for hours. He wanted to get as much candy as possible. (he's just like his mother.) So, Tom stayed out longer with Austin and me and the other two went home. After Brandon had said he was extremely tired, he answered the door bell every time it rang. He definitely has short term energy.

Trunk or Treat!

We went to our first ward Trunk or Treat in our Eastvale ward. McKenna, Keilani, and Lucas came along with us. First we had some yummy chili and cornbread. Then they played a couple of games. Brandon and McKenna loved doing the donut on a string game. McKenna also tried the cake walk several times and had no luck. Poor McKenna! The grand finale was the trunk or treat. That's my kids favorite part. All Halloween parties are rated on the quantity of candy. So I would say this is a five star party! Unfortunately, Austin learned the tricks of the trade and ended up with pounds and pounds of candy! He was very sly in which cars he went to and how quickly he did it. Sounds like we'll be making a trip to the dentist soon. If I didn't say anything, they would eat candy all day long. Isn't there such a thing as stomach aches?
This year we (I) decided that we weren't going to spend an absurd amount of money on costumes. After all was said and done, we didn't spend any money on costumes! We borrowed and used some from previous years. Payton was Spiderman again, Austin was the grim reaper (Taylor's), and Brandon was a wolf ninja (Austin's). Oh, and I was a pirate again. We tried to get dad to dress up. We loved his rocker costume a couple years ago. He didn't feel like it.

Kissing Cousins

Lucas and Sawyer are the cutest peas in a pod. We just went to Sawyer's baby blessing last week. He's going to grow up to be a wonderful man. Lucas has his blessing next week. Yeah, another family get together. I love hangin' with the family. It's going to be great for them to have a cousin so close in age. And don't forget about Shae! We'll have to get Mark to do a photo shoot for the three of them. I remember pictures of Miles and Brandon when they were babies. Brandon always towered over Miles. (I guess the Cavanaghs have all the braun in the family!) I miss having a baby for myself. It's been over five years. Payton is too big to hold in my arms now. I guess that's good I can steel some time with my nephews. They are both adorable.

Bolsa Chica Babes

We camped two nights at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Dad didn't get to come with us because he had to work. It was still really hot even though it was October.
We played in the ocean and the kids thought it was freezing. That's because they're used to swimming in the 86 degree pool. They're so spoiled!
Because it was October, the beach was pretty empty. We went on a couple bike rides in search of a snack bar. None of them were open except the one at Huntington Pier. The kids rode all the way there and back on their bikes. I was so proud of Payton! The next day we went north on the bike path in search of another snack bar. None to be found. We had to cross PCH and go to a gas minimart and buy some goodies. (All of our excursions are motivated by food!)
While at the beach we tried several times to find sand crabs. Austin found ONE. That was it. Are we doing something wrong? When I was little, we used to find tons of them along the shore line.
For one of our campfires we had Austin prepare the fire, make a foil dinner and cook it. (He is such an excellent Webelo scout!) He loved the foil dinner! We saw Scott and April make one once at Barton Flats and decided to try it ourselves. Yummy. Brandon was gobbling up all the onions. I was so shocked. Our foil dinners consisted of hamburger, potato cubes and onions. No vegetables pleeeez.
While we were riding our bikes one night, Austin asked why everyone makes a big deal about sunsets. I told him it's because they're are so beautiful and romantic. Girls love sunsets! He didn't understand why a sunset would be romantic. Later that night, I told the boys we were going to take a walk on the beach along the shore. "Why?" they asked. Because it's romantic!!! Just wait Austin, I'm sure you'll use this idea for many dates. P.S. Maybe Tom and I can enjoy a sunset together?