Boo Bash at Bridgeport School

There were 4 themed rooms for our Haunted Stage.  The first was a tarot card room, second was the haunted forest/graveyard, third was the strobe light room with hanging spiders and bats and the fourth was the cafe with "finger" sandwiches, bloody wedding cake and amputated arms with rats eating them.  In this room we had a standing mannequin as the waiter.  We had some dummys sitting in the chairs and a couple of real people dressed up in costume so when the people came through they didn't know who was real.  Erick did a great job with this, he scared LOTS of people by being still until they came right up to him.  He was great!!!

When Alexia began school here in August I wanted to get as involved as I could.  They are huge on parent participation and because of it they are an accredited, distinguished and blue ribbor school here in California...which isn't easy to do.  I joined the PTA and have enjoyed all the new friends I've met as well as how the school runs, their beliefs, how the fundraisers work & where the money is going.  I'm so happy that I have done that.

Here was the tarot card room, with a spooky talking witch inside a glass ball.  Battery operated candles, old books and skulls were all part of this room.

I volunteered to help out with the annual Boo Bash.  It's a Halloween festival that has games, prizes, contests and the main attraction...the Haunted Stage.  I was fortunate enough to work with 2 other women on this enormous project (little did I know what I was getting myself into)  We spent several hours a week planning, shopping, decorating and working together to make this better than last year.  Luckily one of the women, Sabrina, had a great vision and the accessibility to many "real props".  Here husband, Al, is the master prop person for the TV show "Criminal Minds".  I have to say, we had some very real looking limbs, teeth along with professional fog machines and whatnot.  The other woman, Dianne is a graphic design artist and created all the signs and menus for the Bistro. It turned out to be bigger & better than any of us could have imagined.  We spent a whole weekend setting it up, lucky Erick was recruited to help and believe it or not had fun and met some great people.  All the hard work paid off and even 6th graders were impressed (they are always the most critical since they are the oldest in the school).  We heard so much positive feedback

The haunted graveyard/forest with spooky music and live branches hanging from the celing and taped to the walls.  We had real leaves, bark mulch and moss on the ground so it made it crunchy and smelled just like a forest when you walked through.  Erick had fun hanging the branches from the ceiling :)  Thanks babe!  Alexia was so proud that Erick & I worked on this project and I got a chance to see her during school hours now & then since I was there.  I love that part, knowing that she sees our participation and how important it is to volunteer.  

We hope you all have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Fall season in Cali

So here they are, Erick and Lexi atop a hay pile at Lombardi's Ranch.  This is a popular place here that everyone goes.  It has the horse drawn carriage rides, train ride around the corn fields, pumpkin patch, sunflower maze, music and food.  It's really pretty, on this day it was in the low 70's which was a pleasant change from the 100's we've been experiencing since we arrived in August.  I guess our blood is beginning to thin because it actually felt cool to us.   

Alexia and I are chowing down on the caramel apples we made as we soak our feet in a warm bath and watch Extreme Home Makeover.  This was a Sunday night ritual we did together in NH and we've tried to continue all the fun things we used to do with her, out here.  I was really looking forward to these caramel apples.  They were so yummy, although we don't have Macintosh apples out here...bummer.  Fall is definitely different out here.  We miss the beautiful tree colors of New England.  In this picture you can get a glimpse of our apartment. But we don't miss the cold and front of October either :)

Alexia picked this pumpkin out of the thousands on display.  When we carved it that night, it came out so awesome, of course I didn't take a picture:(  We used the stencil and carving utensils from that little kit.  Unfortunately it didn't even last a week before it started rotting and becoming moldy inside.  We wanted to preserve it until Halloween so we went online and they mentioned coating it with vegetable oil, so we did but within a day it was looking & starting to smell nasty.  Make a note: no vegetable oil on pumpkins. Guess we learned for next year!
 

Alexia is enjoying a dish of shaved ice as we took a break from the train ride and pumpkin picking.  Look at us in our pants, isn't that funny.  Every day other than this we've been in tank tops and shorts and still are.  It's been in the 90's this month, average.  I thought they said it was going to cool down in October...oh yeah, it has from the 100's.  Although the heat is different, we are loving it.  Sure is better than the 30's and 40's you guys are experiencing back East, and the snow you're already getting in upstate NY and NJ, what's up with that?  Better put snowsuits on the kids and winter boots to go trick-or-treating tomorrow.

We went to a park in Castaic, just minutes from us here in Valencia.  Alexia is in a play area climbing a tree.  It was an interesting visit there, pretty park but not a lot to do.  The lake was beautiful, we had a picnic lunch and watched the model gas engine airplane competitions.  These little planes sure looked like the real thing just smaller and they were performing some cool stunts in the air.  

  Here she is, Alexia in high heels in a store on the famous Promenade in Santa Monica. Doesn't she just look fancy. She just seems to enjoy wearing them.  She is already a size 6 in ladies.  Look how happy she is!
     Here's Alexia with one of the ghouls from Hollywood Blvd.  There were so many characters out.  What a beautiful day it was.  We went on a Beverly Hills/Bel Air tour of the stars homes.  We saw Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, DR. Phil, Angelina Jolie, Victoria & David Beckham, Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise...well, we saw their homes not them.  Just a gorgeous area.  Alexia got a big kick out of it.  And for all of you Borat fans...we went to the sandwich place owned by Azamat. We just missed meeting him. He is so funny.
    Alexia's costume for Halloween tomorrow.  She's a Navy girl.  Can you belive she's actually wearing a dress?  She's usually Darth Vader, Grim Reaper or Spider Man.  She actually wanted to be this, my dad is proud (since he was a Navy man himself).  It's going to be nice to trick or treat without jackets and coats this year.  She can actually wear her costume just as it is.  
Here's the big stud!  He's playing volleyball now on Monday nights.  Alexia and I look forward to watching him now.  He plays with friends we met through Diann and my Dad.  Although Erick is about 15 years older than the other players he keeps up and then some.  Although he's in amazing shape, his body was pretty sore the first few weeks of playing.  He's improved his game quite a bit and the team is excited to have him because he brings some competitiveness to the game.  They play 3 games a night and they have won every one of their games except for one night they lost all 3.  They are really good and hope to continue through the rest of the season undefeated.  We're keep you posted.

California bound

Today is Wednesday July 30th.

We had a 7:00 a.m. flight. Jay was sweet enough to get up early and bring us to the airport by 6:00. We had no problems getting checked in and all. Our flight took off ontime, we flew a different airline than ever before called Sun Country. They even served us a breakfast sandwich. Which we all know is unheard of these days.

We slept for most of the 4 hr flight to L.A. Alexia must have been pretty tired because this kid never seems to need sleep. Before we knew it we were touching down and Erick and I were looking at each other saying "this is it". This is what we wanted, starting a new life here in beautiful California. It was kind of hard to believe it was actually happening.

Dad and Diann picked us up promptly as usual. It sure was nice of them to drive into L.A. to meet us there at 9:00 a.m. (2 hr time difference) After loading all our luggage (we had to borrow a duffle bag from Jay & Toni to fit everything on the plane) we headed off to pick up Erick's car which had come in a few days earlier. It was about 20 minutes south of L.A.

Erick's car had a slight scratch on one of the doors about 2 feet long, later we were lucky enough to have it buffed out. We went to the Corner Bakery for brunch and then off to the apartment to meet the owner and get our keys. It was strange walking into this place knowing that's where we're going to be living for the next 12months but if if we're going to live somewhere temporarily, this is THE PLACE to be!
We've taken pictures of the pool area, which we overlook. It sure cuts down on any road noise.

Erick then had to go to the DMV to get his new license and registration. It was expiring the next day. Unfortunately he needed a passport to get a new license and didn't have it with him. Guess he'll go back another day.

Diann and Dad made us a wonderful dinner and we feel so fortunate that Diann opened up her home to us for as long as we needed to stay.

Tomorrow the fun begins, coordinating the movers, teh ABF truck and the POD...Oh Joy!

Today's Jay's birthday!

Today is Tuesday July 29th.

Jay turns 37 today! I'm so happy we were here to share this day with him. What are the odds of our trip working out this way? We went to watch Alec play soccer this morning at 10:30, it was pretty hot already. He is such a great little player, very assertive. I believe he got 3 goals that day....Go Alec!!!!

We took Jay to Benihana. It's a Japanese steakhouse where they cook in front of you and put on quite a show. The kids love it and to be honest so do we. There was so much food, even the lunch sizes. We had the waiters come over and sing Happy Birthday to Jay trying to embarrass him but to no avail. They sang in English and Japanese, it was cool.

Guess what the kids did when we got back, you guessed it, the water slide. That was quite the smart investment. We couldn't have asked for better weather here, it was in the 80s and sunny everyday. It really is a nice place to visit.........in the SUMMER! Seriously, it really is very beautiful and they are known for their 15,000 lakes.

Tomorrow we're off to our new home!!!!

Mall of America

Today is Monday July 28th.

Again, a wonderful breakfast. I'm liking this place, I can't wait to get the bill.

We dropped my car off to be shipped to CA. It should be there in a little over a week. Then we headed off to the Mall of America so the kids could enjoy the new Nickelodeon Amusement Park (it used to be called Camp Snoopy) It has new rollercoasters and is much larger than it used to be. You see they had to put the themepark "inside", it's so darn cold there in MN it would be such a short season to enjoy outside. I think it's brilliant. People come from all over the world to visit this mall. It's quite amazing to see.

We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for lunch, it was delicious. Alexia ended up with a tall plastic souvenier cup that lights up on the bottom, pretty cool!

After lunch the kids headed off to the Fairly Odd Parents roller coaster. Alexia was so nervous but not Alec. At 6 1/2 he is so fearless. Once the ride was over Alexia was jumping up & down about how much she loved it! We spent a few hours there watching the kids have a blast on all the rides, it was so nice that they had each other to go on the rides with. Jay went with Alec on one ride that was a pretty intense loop rollercoaster, Alexia wanted no part in it.

For dinner Toni made these amazing tacos with all the fixins' and then some. My cousin Paul (Jay's brother) came over with his wife Sara and their 3 children. They brought these amazing homemade pies made by some old man in his 80's. He still bakes them daily in a town nearby. There was peach and apple, mmmmmm! Paul's three kids, Alesia, Noah and Drew all played on the waterslide with Alec & Alexia, they were having a blast.

Later that evening after Paul and his family left we all watched Talladega Nights, even Aunt Nancy. I wasn't so sure how she was going to like it but she watched the whole thing. The kids watched their own movie upstairs.

Another wonderful day with my family, I just love it!

Lemonade stand

Today is Sunday, July 27.

Today we awoke to Jay & Toni making pancakes and scrambled eggs, sausage and lots of fruits. This was better than any hotel we had been at so far. What a breakfast! We wanted a lazy day today, from all the traveling we'd been doing it was nice to sit back and really do nothing. We hung outside and watched the kids go up and down the waterslide. Erick and Jay took turns throwing a sponge ball (no, not sponge bob) to them as they slid down. It was cute to see how many times in a row they could catch it or not, depending on the throw :) It was nice chatting with Aunt Nancy and Toni while we watched the guys and kids play. Again they enjoyed some ice cold beers!

Later in the afternoon Alec and Alexia decided to put together a little lemonade stand in the front yard on the curb. It was .50 a cup and there were many friendly neighbors and kids that came by. Even someone in a minivan drove up like it was a drive-up window to get a cup. They each made almost $5 each. They were so proud of themselves.

Later that evening when the sun went down, around 9:30. It's amazing how late the sun stays out there. We made smores around the fire pit, they were soooo good.