Mosaic

I was supposed to have a session at a park in San Diego over the weekend but we had to postpone because it was really cold. Anyway, I took the boys to the park a week ago to scope out some good photo spots. They had this mosaic art in the park and it was so beautiful and colorful.







I also took some on the park grounds but the boys weren't all that interested in sitting still. They wanted to explore, but I was able to snap a few of Dylan who surprisingly is more cooperative than Gavin when it comes to the camera now-a-days.

naughty or nice?

Look who made Santa's list...

http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/2868-711dylan/

Sorry, you'll have to copy & paste the link into your browser.

say what?

Dylan has been saying some random things these days. I don't know where he gets them from.

Yesterday we were leaving the Pediatrician's office and I was buckling in Gavin, when Dylan decided to climb into the Tahoe through Gavin's side. He does it every once in a while. No biggie. So we pull out of the parking lot onto the main street and the conversation goes like this:

Dylan: "Mom you forgot to buckle me."
Me: "Oh, crap. OK, I've got to pull over. Lean back into your seat".
D: "You now mom, you have to buckle me in for safety"
Me: "Oh yes, you are right. Thank you very much for letting me know"
D: "My pleasure."

Say what? Did he just say "my pleasure"? Where the heck did he learn that?

Then today we were driving along and there is a a large construction site being graded down the street from us. There have been about 10-12 enormous Graders lined up along the street for a couple weeks now. Well, today a bunch of them were busy grading, except for one, and Dylan said to me real seriously:

"Hey mom, one of the grader's isn't moving. He must have stepped out for a sandwich."

He boggles my mind.

halloween snapshots

We went to a Halloween Party at Dylan's school in the morning. Here he is doing the O-course (O = obstacle).


Bryan came home on Halloween night to take the boys trick-o-treating. Gavin just rode in the cruiser. Dylan was a little frightened by some of the decorations set up in the front of people's homes and I can't really blame him. One was rather frightening to me. Gavin didn't seem to mind any of it though.

It was pitch black where the boys were standing for this picture and I was using my little point & shoot camera so I couldn't see them in the view finder or on the LCD screen. So, I cut off B's head.




This one cracks me up because it looks like Gavin is howling.


Dylan went up to every door but as soon as it opened he became shy and refused to say "Trick or Treat" or even look at the people. Here he is looking back at us as if we were supposed to say the magic words for him.


When we got home, the boys went through Dylan's candy. In this photo, Gavin is eating a box of Nerds. Not the candy, just the box.


Dylan 'organized' his candy for several hours that night and again over the next couple of days. (Nice lookin' bananas, huh?)

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch FOUR times this season. The boys just love climbing the hay bales, rolling the pumpkins, and throwing hay too. I took a lot of pictures....

Our little walker.












"Hey pretty girl. Wanna see me turn this pumpkin into a stagecoach?"






The next picture was about 2 seconds before we had to drag Dylan out of the Pumpkin Patch kicking and screaming. Dylan threw a pumpkin at Gavin and it hit him in the mouth. Poor little guy is teething already so I'm sure it hurt pretty bad. You can see Dylan winding up in the picture.


I took the next two near the pumpkin patch. Dylan actually trespassed onto this bridge. I couldn't pass up the photo op. This bridge is fab!




Here are some snapshots I took with my little point & shoot too:

Dylan and a big John Deere tractor.


Gavin and some farm animals.


Michelle & Cash

USMC - Drill Instructor and Devil Dog

Gavin never stops moving. Thankfully Bryan was home to help me take his photos. Bryan had to put Gavin back in place over and over and over again because he kept crawling/walking away. I decided to give him dog biscuits thinking he'd sit and look at them & they went with the costume theme, plus the were neutral in color so they wouldn't look bad.





Yes, my little bottomless pit ate one too. That is a dog cookie in his mouth. He didn't seem to mind.




I thought this was cute cause you can see the tail.


Dylan hates pictures lately. He will do everything possible to avoid looking at the camera. I was able to bribe him with M&Ms today and it worked like a charm. It took me less than 5 minutes to get the shots I wanted. I told him what, where, and how to stand, and he followed my instructions the first time. I was so elated, that I let him eat the whole little bag.



His posture looks like he is yelling at recruits. I can just hear his deep little voice right now.




This is his mean face.




Gosh, I love these little guys!

PS: Halloween snapshots coming soon!

1st haircut

I took Gavin to get his first haircut today. His hair lays down pretty well after his bath, but once he sleeps on it, it looks pretty wispy & wild. So, I decided it was time to cut his hair, although deep down I really didn't want to. I loved his curls. I hope they come back.

The place I took Dylan for his first haircut is now out of business. I didn't exactly love the few haircuts they gave Dylan but they had these great elevated cars & airplanes that the kids would sit in. I wanted something similar for Gavin's first haircut. I needed to document the event and I knew wouldn't be able to if he were sitting on my lap.

The place I found had a Blue Angels airplane which I thought was perfect since we are a military family. Unfortunately, there was no seat belt. Sigh. As you have heard me mention before, Gavin likes to be on the move. So, I decided to see if a lollipop would keep him seated. It did for the most part, and he really liked his first lollipop too.





He was a sticky mess. See the hair stuck to the lollipop residue on his hand?

at the ool (notice there is no 'p' in it)

Dylan started swim lessons in April and sadly today was his last lesson until next spring. His instructor, Ms. Jen, was fabulous and he loved learning from her. If he came in grumpy (which was often) he'd usually be smiling as soon as his toes touched the water. She always welcomed him regardless of his mood and he was always comfortable with her. I really hope she is still working at that swim school when we go back in the spring.



Floating. His belly always looked so huge when he did this exercise.


Having fun.


On the dock.


Kick. Kick. Kick.


The fabulous Ms. Jen!

the park

I took the kids to the park last week in the late afternoon. Dylan loves to dig in the sand so I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and let him indulge in his latest obsession.

D loves and knows all the construction trucks. "Mommy, look at that Bobcat & Excavator over dare. Oooh and a Telehandler too".






Gavin just hung out.