Trick or Treat

Tatum the Peacock hanging with the Arboretum's Peacocks

What do you get when you cross a pea and a cock?  A Peacock of course! 

This year Tatum dressed as a Peacock, myself as a Pea, and Andrew as a Rooster.  Unfortunately there are no pics of my sweet pea costume, but there are plenty of others to share.  And just to answer your questions that i am sure you are to ask, no - i did not make Tatum's costume, but yes - i did make Andrew's.  I made my costume too, but I guess you won't be able to check it out :(.

So our Halloween weekend was a whirlwind of fun festival activities. Tatum's preschool hosted a Halloween parade on Friday. That night the family dressed in costume and visited a friend's preschool carnival.

Saturday we met our fave twin toddlers Jack and Sadie at the LA Arboretum for their Ghosts and Goblins in the Garden celebration. This cute bat girl wanted her photo taken with our three kiddos.

Sunday night we took South Pasadena by storm (at least four blocks of it) and trick-or-treated. Tatum stayed away from the houses that were too scary and quickly approached the more friendly ones.   Too bad I didn't have my camera on this outing, but more pics may post soon.

Today after I picked Tatum up from preschool she asked to go trick-or-treating.  She'll have to wait until next year.

Singing the ABC's

For weeks now Tatum has been spending her days (and nights) singing.  Her favorite songs are ABCs, what we call "The Barney Song" (I love you... you love me), Twinkle Twinkle, and Baa Baa Black Sheep.  This clip was taken today after her afternoon nap.  Enjoy!

Camping in the OC


Last weekend we joined our San Diego friends half-way along the coast for one-night of camping at San Onofre State Beach at San Mateo Campground.  The campsite was located 1.5 mile hike from the ocean.  Tatum enjoyed being carried to the beach on her dada's back as we marveled at the ocean views and open sky.  San Mateo is a cool site because of it's world class surfing at nearby Trestles State Beach. 

On Sunday morning when the entire campsite seemed to be asleep, we were up with Tatum and took advantage of the morning night to hike to the beach.  By the time we got there the sun was up and by no means were we alone.  There were already two dozen or more surfers enjoying the morning waves after a luminous full moon night.  Also, to our wonder and joy, was a school of dolphins catching waves right beside the surfers.  Dude, it was awesome!

and now doo-doo

Tatum went doo-doo in the potty this morning!  We are a far way away from getting rid of diapers, but this is REALLY exciting, for all of us.  Does this doo-doo make your day too?

And A New Do!

The other day Tatum and I were driving home from preschool with the windows down.  And I knew it was time for a haircut when she said to me "I need a hair cut" as she swiped her long bangs away from her face.  Granted Tatum got this expression from Andrew who for the past month has been bugging me to get it cut.  Nevertheless, it was hilarious, and it was time.  So on Friday we visit the $8 hair cut shop up the road and Tatum was outfitted with a robot smock and got her hair chopped.  Prior to this experience, Tatum's day care providers always gave her a hair cut, and now that she is in preschool we opted to pay to have the service done.  Tatum did a fine job.  We brought a book and the hair dresser (Jasmine) gave Tatum a small brush to clean the hair off of her book.  This was the perfect task to keep this toddler busy as Jasmine tried to cut straight lines.  Although she has a hat on, you can still get an idea of this cutie pie hair cut!

A New Ride

About three weeks ago our old stroller, which I never really cared for, broke upon taking it out of the car for the farmers' market.  It may have been caused by an impromptu off-roading trail ride through Deb's Park the weekend before, but whatever it was, I was thankful.  It served us for Tatum's first two years, and now with a new baby on the way, it was time to take the leap and invest in a new stroller for two.  I've been scoping out strollers for a long time now, which in LA is an easy thing to do.  Go to the Americana or the LA Zoo and you are bound to see 100 different strollers.  So I had my eye on the Joovy, and after reading a ton of reviews, decided on the Caboose Ultralight.  I let Andrew pick the color (blueberry) and we ordered it the next day off of Amazon, where it was on a super sale.  And let me say, it was an awesome move by me because the stroller ROCKS!  Tatum enjoys the standing platform because it dubs as a scooter (she uses one foot to push the stroller along) as well as sitting in the front.  It has all the bells and whistles included (the parent pouch, the car seat attachment, the snack tray, and an extended sun visor).  And although it is still three months (THREE MONTHS!!!) until the new babe is here, it is super useful now.  Just yesterday while we were on a play date, us two moms shared a single stroller and both the girls were able to ride comfortably.  Oh, can you tell, I finally am in love.  So here's a shot of Tatum in the stroller taken today while at the Arboretum.

Friends with Frances

Meet Jocelyn and Frances.  We met these two cuties one day in May when Tatum and I decided to ride our bike to a different park.  Lo and behold Tatum and Frances met on the playground that fate filled day and Jocelyn and I exchanged numbers.  Since then it has been awesome to have a new friend for both Tatum and I to spend a morning or afternoon together.  Yesterday we joined forces to experience Kidspace's Pumpkin Festival where there was plenty to do for the toddlers including jumpers, a petting zoo, pony rides, and, of course, pumpkins!