Round 3

All I have been able to think about are these:

These:

(Chili-cheese nachos from Chevron)

And This:

which I blame entirely on 

THIS,



 Can you tell what it is? (look at the top picture, and no, it's not an alligator)



Round 3, here we go again!

Overtaking October

Lily is so proud of her school colors that she fell asleep in her new jacket. Her elementary school mascot is the sea otter. How cute is that?

On October 2nd was the annual butterfly parade. We have waited 5 years for Lily to be a part of it. Finally, the day has arrived. The kindergartner's always dress up as monarch butterflies while the other classes are jellyfish, flower gardens, otters, bumblebees, and all kinds of other costumes.  

I was a little scared to let her go by herself around town but she stayed right with her class and was so proud to hold up the sign. That is Lily's teacher, Mrs. Guidara, she is great!

The parade is a big deal in our little town. The high school has their class floats in it as well as other local organizations. But why take pictures of that when my daughter is a MONARCH?! :)

After the parade a big bazaar takes place on the school grounds.

The girls LOVED the blow-up slides! They were super FAST!

 The past few years we have had fruit pizza for breakfast on General Conference weekend and I believe it has become tradition. The fruit totally balances out the sugar cookie, my kinda breakfast!

We love to get out and explore our area. This is Garapata Beach, (A.K.A) Naked Man Beach (when we first moved here we discovered this place along with a clothes-less, free spirited visitor). On another occasion, we hiked this area when I was pregnant with Lily and this gully was covered in wild calla lilies. One of the reasons that Lily has her name. They grow wild everywhere here. I love it!

Of course there are always critters to be found. Sean snatched this little lizard and Lily was so proud showing everyone she could find on the beach.



This year, there is a place in Carmel to buy your pumpkins that has a playground of jump-around toys. $5.00 for 30 minutes. Not too bad. The girls had a blast.

This is Daisy and her buddy Tes. We drove out to Gizditch Ranch to pick apples and then found out we had just missed the last apple picking day. :( There were still fun pumpkins to play on and amazing apple slushies and pies you can buy there.

Meg and Lily.

We got a few good days of rain and the girls took advantage of their rainboots and raincoats to do a little puddle jumping. I personally love taking advantage of rainy days with hot cocoa, whipped cream and sprinkles!

I love family home evenings in October! Pumpkin carving and chocolate covered pretzels (witches fingers) are an easy fix.

Getting ready for the costume parade.

The kindergarteners paraded around through the older kid's classes. Lil was so proud of her costume.

I am sad I didn't get a good back shot of her, but her air tank is a soda bottle spray painted silver.

My sea turtle and scuba diver. I promise I did not choose these costumes for them, however I did jump on the idea when they suggested them. (FYI, the balloon pump Daisy is holding is not part of the costume, she just likes to use it as a gun). 

At Lily's school carnival with her buddy and neighbor Bella the witch.

There was a costume contest and Lily got 3rd place!!! Thank you, thank you! (that is kind of a freaky Charlie Brown)

Here they are at the church trunk-or-treat. It was so chilly, after one round the girls and I sat in the car and ate candy.

Sassy Daisy and Tes the magnificent peacock. Cuties.



On Halloween night the girls had more fun handing out candy than anything. So much, in fact, that all of their very own candy was distributed among strangers. Lily would stare out the window begging people to come to our door and when they didn't, she would run out to give them candy whether they liked it or not. Goes to show that giving is always more rewarding than getting.

Spectacular September

For my Birthday, Sean surprised me with an all day pass to the BLUE Ocean Film Festival. It was SO cool! I was able to spend a whole Saturday viewing documentaries and other films and then rubbing shoulders with the film directors and those involved in them. Sylvia Earle (below) was there who is a world renowned marine biologist as well as Jean Micheal Cousteau and famous underwater photographers and film makers for National Geographic, BBC, etc.  Don't laugh, it was extremely exciting for me!

Birthday celebrations continued. #30 is cause for at least 30 days of partying. Olive Garden with my gals Steph and Sarah.

Myo, which is the funnest build your own frozen yogurt place ever!

Family and neighbor party. Sean and the girls made me a yummy cake.

Then, I got to fly to New Mexico for my b.f.f's wedding, spend time with my parents and even got to drive my dad's '66 cherry red Mustang.

Nikki's wedding was beautiful. I was just ecstatic for she and Sam! Congrats you two!!

Here is the happy couple as well as Nikki's cute Grandpa.

Nick and Jo Raye. My amazing parents.

After a weekend in Carlsbad. I came home to my sweet in-laws, a Baskin Robbins Pralines-n-Cream cake, Michaels Craft store gift card, and a clean house!

Sean's dad and step-mom were visiting while I was gone and made a little trip out to Gilroy Gardens, a horticulture themed amusement park. Hence the spinning artichoke ride.

I have never actually been there but hear that the gardens are amazing. I also heard that Daisy hated the lines and refused to ride anything but one ride with Poppas at the end of the day. Sean got her on the train ride and she screamed so much the engineer asked her to get off. Looks like Disneyland is going to have to wait a few more years.

Randa and Daisy patiently watching others enjoy the rides.

The morning after I got back from NM we took a quick family photo and then,

Mike and Randa took me to First Awakenings for a Birthday breakfast where we revealed the big news to them that we are expecting baby #3. SURPRISE! Randa loves puzzles and so I put the message and an ultrasound pic on the pieces for them to put together.

We later announced the news to the girls and they were sooo excited. Lily is learning to read and so I wrote out "Big Sister" for Daisy and "New Baby" for Lily to sound out. She immediately got it and looked at my stomach and said, "You have a baby in your tummy?........ How did THAT happen???" Uhhhhh, that caught me off guard! Fortunately 'when a mommy and daddy love each other very much they are able to have a baby' explanation works great for now. Plus the candy bottles helped to distract from a more in-depth conversation.

Sean has been out snorkeling a few times this month with his buddy Jeff. Sean wrestled this monster decorator crab up to the shore for the kids (and adults) to enjoy.

There have been some gorgeous days this month. Sunday strolls around town are common for us as are the deer and golf courses...they are everywhere.

Sean is partial to strolls by the golf courses so he can find stray golf balls.

Another monumental moment...Lily lost her 2nd tooth! Her two permanent teeth were growing in behind and pushed her front bottom baby teeth right out.

Just more beach days. Lil sporting some feather boa kelp.

She found a washed up bat star.

Daisy didn't want to put it back or let anyone else hold it.

There ya have it, a little bit of September with the Conroy's.