Uvas Reservoir

There are a couple big reservoirs near our town, both very low on water currently.  But we've had a few rainy weekends so maybe they will fill up a little.  We went on a little Sunday drive past the reservoirs last week.  We had to stop and throw rocks in the water at this one - Uvas Reservoir.  Uvas in Spanish means grapes.  There are lots of grape vineyards near the reservoir but not sure that's why its called that.  Throwing rocks in the water is surprisingly satisfying.  There weren't many flat ones for skipping but Scott and Matthew still managed to skip some.  Here are a couple pictures of our reservoir visit.

John was resting in the car with Scott but eventually got up and came down to try his hand at rock throwing.

Totally worth it.

It's the little things.

Our Own Backyard

or Happy Day: The First

Our backyard landscaping is finally done.  It took us a long time to get a landscaper who was available and even then we had to wait until mid/late October.  The crew got started last week and finished up today - a day early.  They were rushing 'cause its supposed to rain tomorrow and the next day.  So now they are done...and it looks great!  See before pictures of the yard HERE.

Emma checking out the yard.

One side of the yard

another view

Other side of the yard

One side yard

Gravel place for a future shed or our picnic table.

Skinny side yard

Some of our plants and trees.  We have some dwarf trees in our yard: lemon, tangerine, navel orange and peach.  The citrus trees all have fruit on them already.  :)

All the kids playing in the yard

Emma running in the side yard.

The kids planning something.

I'm glad its done.  I think it looks nice.  Hooray!

They didn't take the chemical toilet away.  This is the view of it from our front door.  I think its supposed to go away tomorrow.  So another thing to look forward to.  :)

A Day in San Francisco

We headed up to San Francisco this past weekend to hang out with Scott's sister and her family.  And during the week they, along with Scott's other sister, Angie, even came down to our house for a little visit.  Here are Emma and Norah together.  They are about 18 months apart.  Emma really likes "baby Norah."

Cousins!  This is at our house.

And then the next day after Anna's soccer game we headed up to San Francisco.

It also happened to be our anniversary!  We'll probably celebrate for real next weekend.

Here we are on the Golden Gate bridge.

We walked a short way on the bridge and then came back.

Another time we'll go the whole way.

 Checking out some of the displays near the bridge

And then we went to Ghirardelli Square

Grant and Owen were having a lot of fun together

Ready for ice cream!

So good!

Playing in the little pumpkin patch at Ghirardelli Square

The kids were starting to get a little tired so we didn't do all the activities we had planned, but played at a fun park near Alycia's house.  The kids had a blast playing together.  Hope we can have more cousin time soon.

Countdown to November

I'm looking forward to November, or rather the end of October/beginning of November for several reasons.  And it's almost here!

Our yard landscaping halfway done.  See our new concrete pad.

Backyard landscaping:  It's finally happening!  After months of trying to find a landscaper and then waiting until one was available we are finally having our backyard landscaped.  The whole thing is supposed to take about 8 days and we just finished day 6.  So close!!

Porta-Potty Gone:  To go along with the landscaping...our landscaper brought a porta-potty for the workers to use and set it on the street directly in front of our door.   We didn't ask them to bring one, but here it is.  Standing in the hallway inside our house I can smell the chemicals from the toilet.  I'm looking forward to it being gone.  Two more days!!  I'm glad its going to be gone by Halloween!

Halloween: Hooray!  It's almost Halloween and Scott is actually going to be here on Halloween this year.  He has had to travel a lot on Halloween.  And yes, he does have to leave first thing the next morning for a work trip, but we will enjoy our time together.

Scott's Promotion Ceremony:  Also on Halloween the kids have the day off school and we are heading to the Air Force Base for Scott's official promotion ceremony.

Sitting in painful construction traffic

Roundabout finished:  Since we moved here the street outside our complex has been under construction.  They have been building a roundabout there to handle the traffic from the new development.  And they've been working on it since July.  Because of the construction Anna and Grant have to be dropped off last on their bus route (they would normally be first).  The construction is supposed to finished on November 1st!  I can't wait.  Since summer we have had to drive down to the next street (not close) and do a U turn to go anywhere north.  The construction has been ramping up this week.  It took me two hours to get Matthew from school today (normally takes 30 minutes) because of the waiting in the construction traffic.  Ready for it to be done.

Election Day:  And also wrapping up in the beginning of November is the presidential election.  I've got my mail in ballot.  Ready for that craziness to be over too.  Be sure to vote!!

Emma's Birthday:  Also on election day our little Emma turns two years old.  And Scott has to travel for work that day too but I'm sure we'll find some time to celebrate.  Emma's been practicing singing Happy Birthday.

So welcome November!  All my happy days are coming at once.  I think I'll be happiest about that porta-potty being gone.

Matthew's School Play

Matthew participated in his school play this year.  The play was called "Generations" and was about good character throughout history.  They've been practicing for a few months.  Each scene was a different time period.  Matthew was the in the California Gold Rush scene.  He was a prospector.  

Here he is with his pickaxe.

He also had a few lines in another scene where he got to be a computer voice.

That's him in the purple on the right.

At the end of the play the kids got take a picture with Matthew on the stage.

The theater arts teacher also works at Anna's school and Anna just tried out for their school play, so we'll be watching her play in December.  Glad we gave theater arts at the schools.

Goodbye Colorado House

For anyone other than Scott and I, this is just a side note, but we sold our Colorado house this past week (see inside pics HERE).  We lived in it for about two and a half years and then rented it out for three years while we lived in Illinois and our year of transition last year.  This summer we put it on the market.  We listed it for quite a bit more than we paid for it but consistent with neighborhood comps and got a full price offer within two weeks.  I think it took a little over 45 days to close, but now its all done.  Phew!  Here we are almost six years ago when we bought the house.  That house is by far the largest house we have ever lived in.  It was nice to have so much space. 

Here is our backyard in Colorado.  I thought it was small but a decent size at the time.  Compared to our yard here and in Illinois its large.

We had the house painted while we lived there.  A slightly different green and white trim.

Hard to tell in a picture but it looks a lot better.  So the house is off our hands now.  It's kind of nice to have one less thing to worry about.  And in the nearly six years since we bought it, it appreciated quite a bit!  We were also making a little bit of money renting it out, so it was a good thing.  It would have been nice to be able to sell it before we bought our house here, but we had to wait until our renters contract was up.  Oh well.

Now we only have one house to worry about.  And one is enough for right now.

 Here we are on the front step of our new house before getting in the car to head somewhere.

Another day John and Emma wanted to take another picture on the step.  I like how they left room for Grant even though he wasn't there.  Grant always needs plenty of wiggle room.

And here is a completely non-related Matthew and Grant story.  

It demonstrates their different personalities if nothing else.

Emma was sad in the car on the way home from a late soccer practice the other day.
She was crying and whimpering about the dark.
Matthew (age 9) spent the whole ride home trying to comfort her.
Matthew:  It's ok Emma.  Don't worry, it's ok. (after several minutes of this and Emma's continued whimpering)  Mom, she's so worried and I can't get her to feel better!
Me:  Emma, everything is OK.  It's dark because its night time, but we are all safe in the car.  Everything's ok.
(Emma stops whimpering...a moment of silence follows)
Grant (age 5):  (in a scary ghost voice)  OOOOOWOOOOOOOO!!!!
Whimpering resumes
Matthew:  GRANT!!

One of the kids took this picture from the front step.   A view down the street.  This week we are having our backyard landscaped.  We had our first rain of the season the weekend before they started work (other places people talk about their "first snow").  It rained and rained for days on end and our yard was a muddy mess, but the landscaping (and associated muddiness) are marching forward.  I'm looking forward to it being done.  It's supposed to take about 8 days but more rain is on its way.  Hopefully we can still get it done soon.