cave tours

We had a busy little Saturday, but of course we had to make it back to the pup and Fenway before too much time went by.

Passed out.

Notice the resemblance? 

Casey & Jess threw their annual Halloween party and since we couldn't be there, I had my dad send me a picture of James and his new favorite thing.. pumpkins!

Even more precious when she's sleeping. :)

Mike and I finally got to go on our Cave Tour in La Jolla -- it was canceled a few weeks back because of a storm coming through.  It was a fun tour that consisted of a little La Jolla history and the obvious... a tour through the caves.  Inside was a mama sea lion and her babies.  There was also tons of sea life in the water, which was extremely neat to see so close up.

And Cali had her first visit to the vet.  We brought Fenway along to keep her company and the two were a little too eager to leave the room.  Good news, though, Cali had a clean bill of health! 

and then there were four

When I got back to Cali I finally was able to meet our newest member to the family in person-- Cali.  She is a white boxer, about 8.5 weeks old.

Mike is obsessed with her and the two love to cuddle -- just like Mike and Fen always do.

When she finally takes a moment to breathe she is such a cutie.

Story of my life... these two going at it nonstop.  To my surprise, Cali is the instigator and won't ever leave Fenway alone.  Therefore, Fen resorts to jumping up on the couch so that Cali can't reach her.  I have a feeling in no time Cali will be up there with her-- she has no boundaries and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything.

Despite growling and barking at each other on a daily basis, they do make me smile when they stop and just chill together.  I was too late for the picture, but Cali was sitting right between Fen's legs.

And again when they sleep together on Fenway's bed... oh how I wish these moments would outweigh the ones where they're jumping on each other all the time.

off to meet Cali

See you later's are never easy, but at least I was coming back to a HUGE distraction.

I'm aware how blurry this picture is, but it's the first one we have of Cali from when Mike picked her up.  I thought it was adorable the way she was looking at him-- clearly petrified.

My little man is a little conceited.

But why shouldn't he be with this adorable face and amazing side part?

Mom played hooky today and went did a little shopping and met Jess for lunch at the Town Center.  I love when I encourage a little rebelliousness in her... and she accepts the challenge.  Plus, who doesn't want a little QT with their mom?  :)

playgrounds are for all ages

Today's activity was the neighborhood playground!  Little did we know it was 80 degrees outside and a walk around the block was going to be tiring and hot for all.

Molly couldn't contain herself when I told her it was time to go on a walk.

Someone mailed in their ballot application!  (Thank you, B, for all of the reminders).

I went to reach for a water and looked up to see Harley pulling James... genius. 

let the Christmas shopping begin

Today Smalls and I started a little Christmas shopping...

James and his vintage rocker.  It was my brother's, and now James loves to play on it.

Debating a Coach wallet for Mike... it turns out James was more excited about it than Mike.

Molly & Harley... new good friends.

This little girl has been through so much and now she finally has a happy home where she's ridiculously loved. 

pumpkin patches

Every time that I'm home I try and plan different events for James.  Today was Cox Farms!

On our way out he stopped and hugged all of the giant pumpkins.  James is such a lover... and his hugs are the absolute best.

Smalls never misses an opportunity to flirt with a gentleman, even if that gentleman is the driver of her tractor (get your mind out of the gutter...Meagan).

I'm not sure who enjoyed the ride more, but James was the only one who took a souvenir with him.

Here they are pulling in.  Smalls and I didn't realize how long the ride was but apparently it was worth the long wait in line!

And he wanted to push the wheelbarrow before we left as well.

I gave Smalls the camera to take a picture of James and I on the slide.  I always love when I give her the phone because I get the most random pictures, including this one of the girl in front of us.

James went down the frog slide all by himself.  He's one determined little man.

We were walking by and it and he immediately went in the direction of the slide, so I figured he wanted to go down it.  I'll have to admit I was a little surprised since last time I was home we went down a slide and he clung onto me for dear life.

Surprisingly, James didn't even hold onto me during this ride.  Instead, I had to hold onto him!

When we got home we painted the pumpkins we had gotten.  He got a little off course and started painting my pants.. you win some, you loose some.

I just loved this moment as we exited the farm.

Extremely cheesy, but I think it can apply to both dogs and humans.  Think about it.

Another obsession of James is choo-choo trains, so I had to take advantage of a few photo ops.

And of course Smalls is game for anything you ask her to do.

I'm not sure who's helping who up here...

We have a winner!

taking in so much love is good for your health

Sunday Funday at the rents house makes me miss those weekends when we'd come over for football and food.

Mike's parents were sweet enough to get James a truck (his current obsession) and he couldn't get enough of it!  He wanted everyone to share his joy with him, especially Smalls.

Of course the truck made noise when you stuck the little man in the front, so he kept doing it... on repeat.

My mom was so moved by her horoscope for the day that she cut it out and put it on the fridge.

Kaitlyn and Molly really bonded while everyone else ate apps and caught up.  Fingers crossed that everything goes well and the in-laws move to Northern Virginia within the year!

Two pretty ladies out for the night.  :)

romney's future home

Mike and I got to wake up at 7 to meet some of his co-workers in DC to continue their "wooing" while they make the decision whether or not to move to DC when we move back this summer.

After the White House "tour" we met picked up Joe and Jamie and headed to Great Falls to meet his parents and sister for a little afternoon of hiking and picnic-ing.  We grabbed Cosi for lunch, something else I miss out here in Cali and a delicious cake from Crumbs (which was hard to get since it's right by where we used to live... literally across the street).  Man do I miss Clarendon.

We were supposed to get a tour of the West Wing, but since the president was in instead we just did the  typical tour of the lawn, garden, etc.

The pencil!  

I never realized how much I miss the leaves changing until I no longer had that option out on the west coast.  This move has really opened my eyes to all that I've taken advantage of at home... and things I start to appreciate when we finally move back.

Driving into DC we saw a beautiful sunrise. 

And I forgot to take pictures, but today was my father-in-laws birthday so we spent it at his favorite restaurant in our area... Maggiano's!  The family style meal definitely does you right.

everyone finally on the same coast

I was so thrilled about this trip back to the east coast that I only took one picture...

Mike was already there for work, so I took the 8 AM and got to meet him there.  Someone else who was super stoked to see him was Jamerson.... he hasn't seen his Uncle Mike since August and the look on his face gives you a little glimpse into how much he misses him (and vice versa).  :(

At around 7 Katy (my sister-in-law) got in from Tech so we met Mike's parents at the Metro Station and all went out to eat.  We hadn't seen them since early July, so it was definitely long overdue!  

Finally, after hours of traffic, Jamie & Joe (my sister-in-law and brother-in-law) met us at the hotel downtown.  It was wonderful just to get to lay around and catch up since we hadn't seen them since I can't even remember when.... at least the summertime! Being on the west coast is definitely bittersweet (sometimes more bitter than sweet).

prepping for the east coast

Tomorrow I head back to the east coast for a week and I couldn't be more happy.

Watching Christmas commercials always puts me in a good mood-- especially when it's the first one of the season; thank you, Target!

Just another day of cuddles.

Alyssa turns 26 on October 28 so I was prepping her surprise.