School Thanksgiving Party

Dan's preschool Thanksgiving party was on Friday (since they have this entire week off) and I helped out.  Ben's party was on Thursday (since some kids go M-F, some only go MWF, and some go Tu/Th, there were two parties--lucky for Dan, since he goes every day).  I didn't help out on Thursday, so I don't have any pictures of Ben, but I did sneak away from my station for a bit to grab a few shots of Dan and his friends.

Ben played at a friend's house while I was at school, but I had Hannah with me.  She slept in her stroller and played around in the reading area.  The stage she's in now is one of my favorites: she can sit and play and reach for things, but she can't go anywhere!

Dan and Gavin

Gavin, Dan, and Ryan

Mayflower craft

Dan and Anna Higgins

Corn taste-testing

Making mashed potatoes

Enjoying the feast!

Happy (belated) 238th birthday, USMC!

The actual Marine Corps birthday is November 10th, but Zach's squadron held its Birthday Ball a little early this year, on November 1st.  And I'm a little late posting about it, since it's November 12th.  Oh, well!

The Ball was at Pechanga Resort and Casino, a little north of us in Temecula.  We didn't spend the night because my sister was watching all the kids and we thought that might be a little much for her on her first big baby-sitting job.  Lauren survived and so did all the kids, with just some minor bruising (Ben whacked Dan across the face with a pail, standard stuff).

It was nice to have a night out, but the Ball isn't always the most fun.  Long ceremony, uncomfortable uniform for Zach, not-great food, etc.  Since we're pretty new to the squadron, I only knew a few people.  Next year will probably be more fun.  I just love getting dressed up and having my hair and makeup done.  I rented a designer dress this year from Rent the Runway.  That's definitely the way to go since I'm probably not ever going to own a $600+ dress.  But I can rent one for the night and feel like a million bucks!  (I wish I'd taken a picture of the back of the dress because it was draped and open-back and my favorite part.)

Love the sparkles in the sunlight,

With Gaby and Liesel (Gaby's dress is from RtR too!)

Halloween fun

The day started with a parade at school and ended with trick-or-treating, so I'd say it was a good day.  Dan and Ben's preschool is attached to the K-8 school and a big Halloween parade is a yearly event there.  The preschoolers and kindergartners were definitely the cutest.  Lots of pretty princesses and (fake) muscled superheroes.  Dan and Ben were lean and mean in their Mike the Knight costumes (minus the swords because I guess they're considered weapons?).

After their parade, the baby and I headed home while Dan and Ben had a morning of Halloween fun at school.  They came home with lots of tricks and treats.

The afternoon was pretty long and boring, waiting for dusk and trick-or-treating.  Zach was on his way back from a trip to Yuma so it was just me and the kids.  Which is why I only took like four pictures, since it was kind of hard to keep track of all three by myself.

With Derek and Leo

Dan and Remington

Ben and Harper

Ben and Matisse

Mrs. Ana, Mrs. Lisa, and Mrs. Kim

Our neighborhood turned out to be really great for trick-or-treating.  Lots of little kids walking, not a lot of car traffic, and some houses that really went all out with decorating and scaring.  One house even had a very elaborate haunted house set up in their garage.  Both boys were brave and went in!  In Ben's case, he only went in because the person handing out candy was at the end of the haunted house and he's a bit of a sugar fiend.  

By the time we got home, Zach was there and we all had fun handing out candy.  We didn't have a lot of kids, probably because we live in a cul-de-sac at the top of a hill.  More candy for us today!

Just two knights, out for their evening stroll on the golf course.

Afternoon sun spot

Baby Hannah loves to play in the afternoon sun (in the comfort of the master bedroom).  She is becoming an expert in sitting and loves to play with this same musical table that Dan and Ben had.  Eventually we'll put the legs on the table, but I don't want her pulling herself up anytime soon, so I like it on the floor now.

MAG Halloween party

All of the squadrons at Miramar are part of Marine Air Group 16 or MAG-16, so instead of each squadron having its own Halloween party, the MAG had one giant one.  But none of that logistical mumbo jumbo mattered to Dan and Ben, who were mostly interested in the candy.  The party started out a little rocky because this mom forgot their trick-or-treating buckets, so they had to make do with little plastic baggies for all their treats.  Dan adapted and overcame but Ben is a little more set in his ways and it took him a little while to get out of his funk.  But we ended up having a great time!

Dan even braved the haunted hangar!  It was advertised as being for adults and kids over age 10, but Dan insisted that he was ready to go in.  Zach took him and he said that Dan loved it and didn't seem terrified, even though there were chainsaws and bloody people and zombies.  He hasn't woken up in a panic since then, so I guess he's just a little guy who loves to be scared.

After the haunted hangar, the boys bounced in the bounce house, played cornhole, ate popcorn, went through a maze, and had fun looking at everyone else's costumes.

If you can't figure out what Dan and Ben are dressed as, they both wanted to be Mike the Knight (a character in some books and cartoons that they like).  The costumes have a headpiece too, but it was a little too windy to wear.  As for Hannah, she was pretty mad at me for dressing her up as an octopus.  She especially hated the headpiece.  Oh, well, what's Halloween for if not for dressing up babies in things that they hate?

Bates Nut Farm

Yesterday was the preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch.  Dan and Ben and all of their classmates (plus a lot of parents) rode in a big yellow school bus out to Bates Nut Farm.  By the end of the day, I felt like I could have made my permanent home at a nut farm.  I took Hannah with me and I was assigned one extra kid, in addition to Dan and Ben, to chaperone.  At one point, I had Ben and the other kid, plus three large pumpkins, in a wheelbarrow, while Dan pushed Hannah in the stroller.  And it was 90 degrees, just to make things even better.  

We went on the hay bale ride and chased each other through the straw maze and climbed on piles of pumpkins.  Hopefully the kids had an okay time but not such a great time that they ever want to go back there.  Because Zach is on his own for the next round of family fun...