Julia's Birthday Breakfast

On Julia's actual birthday (which happened to be a Saturday), we decided it would be fun to go out for breakfast.  We chose Mimi's Cafe.  Julia had a pancake breakfast with Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes.  :)  The server put a candle in her pancake and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  It was a fun birthday breakfast.

 

 

The birthday girl wither her Mickey Mouse pancakes  :)

The sweet brother

 

Love this girl :)

 

After breakfast, we went to the mall and let Julia ride on the Carousel.  :)  She LOVED it.

 

I am so blessed to be her mommy!

Julia's 3rd Birthday Party

Julia turned 3 this year.  She is growing up WAY too fast!  This year we did a Minnie Mouse theme.  My mom was able to be here for the party as well as Ethan's mom and his brother's family (minus his brother who was on location for his job back East).

 

Love this girl!

 

 

We ate Pizza for dinner.

 

Julia's cousins: Jared, Eric, and Ava

We ordered cupcakes from our favorite local bakery/coffee shop. They were super yummy!  Half of them were chocolate and the other half were vanilla (we liked the vanilla the best.  Mmmm!).  The frosting was decious and the baker put oreos to look like Minnie Mouses' ears and white sprinkles.  :) 

 

Julia with her two Grandmas  :)

 

Julia enjoying her yummy cupcake

 

Halloween

This was the first year our kids dressed up for Halloween.  Last year Julia was recovering from the stomach flu so she didn't participate.  I found some costumes at the Consignment Sale - Julia was a penguin and Caleb was a tiger.  They were both so cute.  :)  Someone had given me a maternity shirt that had a jack-o-lantern face on it, so that was fun to wear.  :)  Julia was so excited to dress up and go to some of our neighbors houses.  It was a fun evening.

 

Me (30 weeks pregnant) with my penguin and tiger.  :)

 

Lombardi Ranch

We have a local Pumpkin Farm called "Lombardi Ranch."  I have never been and was excited to go for the first time with our kiddos.  They loved the pumpkins.  Caleb also loved the petting zoo (Julia not so much, hah!).  We rode a train.  It was a fun day.

 

 

Caleb LOVED the goats and sheep...  As you can see, Julia decided she was not into the animals and had to be held the whole time.  :)

 

It was so cute how much he enjoyed the animals.  :)

Train Ride

 

 

Snuggle time...  LOVE those moments!

 

Our exhausted boy on the way home.  I tried to keep him awake by handing him toys, but to no such luck.  :)  He was out in about 5 minutes.

Uncle Phil's & Grandma's Visit

My brother, Phil, came down for the "StrangeFire" Conference at our church in early October.  He only spent one night, but it was so fun to see Julia warm up to him so quickly (she is usually reserved around men, even her relatives).  I wish my brother lived closer...  I love my family!

 

 

In early November, my mom came down for a week.  It was so nice to have her around because it was during Ethan's crazy time at work (Budget time) where he worked late each night and worked on the weekends.  She also came to be a part of Julia's birthday party which was special.  I love my mom and wish she lived closer!

 

Pismo Beach



If you you know Ethan and me well, you know we love going on vacation.  Two of our favorite vacation spots are San Francisco and Santa Barbara.  Recently we discovered Pismo Beach.  We found a nice hotel that was cheap and had a separate bedroom & living room.  This was PERFECT for our family as the kids could take naps in the living room during the day and at night we could put the kids to bed, close our door, and watch t.v.  :)  Since we don't have t.v. at home, it is always a treat to watch t.v. at a hotel...  So, we were excited to have our room so that we could really relax and enjoy our evenings.  We really enjoyed our time.  It was our last "get-away" before baby #3 comes.

 

 

 This was taken the day we arrived.  The kids were so happy to not be in their car seats anymore...  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

 

 

 

Farmer's Market for dinner.

 

 

The kids loved the pumpkins at the Avila Valley Barn.

 

 

 Love this boy!

 

 

The fam

 

 

We found a nice park near Pismo Beach.  It had a nice view of the ocean and the kids loved playing in the sand and climbing on the playground toys.

 

 

Me and my "3" kids

 

 

Snuggle time...

 

 

We enjoyed ice cream at "Doc Bernsteins."  Mmmmm.  The kids were WIRED after eating ice cream!  We took a little walk outside afterward and Julia was literally running in circles and Caleb was walking like a drunk and being super loud.  They were cracking us up!  That's why we don't usually give them dessert before bedtime...  :)



Disneyland!

I. LOVE. DISEYLAND.

 

It has been a couple years since Ethan and I have been to Disneyland...  We used to have passes when we were first married and loved going there together.  We decided we needed to go to Disneyland before Julia turned 3 since it would be free for her and Caleb.  We went in mid-August, shortly after Labor Day, so it wasn't crowded at all.  We got to ride on the Peter Pan Ride, Dumbo, Autotopia (just Julia & Daddy rode on this since Caleb fell asleep in the stroller), The Tikki Room, Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Jungle Cruise.  Julia loved the Dumbo ride (Caleb did not).  She got to go a 2nd time with Daddy right before the parade.  Julia enjoyed most of the rides except for Pirates of the Caribbean.  When the boat went on that first dip, she asked for Mommy to hold her and she closed her eyes the entire time.  Hah.  :)  It was an exhausting day, but very worth it. 

 

 

 



 

Before the Dumbo ride...

 

Julia absolutely loved the Dumbo Ride.

 

It's a small world afterall...

Caleb's nap... 

 

Love my sweet boy!

 

Jungle Cruise

 

Julia was excited to meet Mickey  :)

 

 

Exhausted...

 

Julia didn't nap at all while we were at Disneyland.  So in less than 5 minutes in the car, she was fast asleep.  We were thankful for a quiet ride home after such a long day.