Pumpkins of the year...

Not so surprising was the theme this year: dinosaurs. I managed to sneak an owl on the lineup, though...

On safari

For the first time in years, we went to the Halloween Party organized by work. Michael and I were dressed as explorers, and the kids, our finds. It was especially funny to see all these little costumed guys jump on the dance floor...

Early morning

And since the weekend was splendid, as much in Monterey as in San Francisco, we went to the beach early in the morning. The beach was ours, the water not so chilly, and, of course, we all ended up wetter then expected...

Guests...

We were in Monterey this weekend for the wedding of a couple of friends. For the event, I had made a bunny kimono for Anastasia, and a vest (inside armadillo prints, to go with his jacket) for Kyan.

Big words

It's been now two months since Kyan started kindergarten, and he loves it, like he loves the after-school class where he spends a good part of the afternoon drawing, crafting and playing with his new friends. Every day, we bring back a whole bunch of things he made during the day, and some of his projects are quite elaborate (picture: a triceratop on an iceberg, fimo sculpture to add at the end of a pencil).

He's also learning how to read and write (in the US, you start at kindergarten; the earlier classes are pretty good, it's later that the american education goes down...). The other night, Kyan was busy making a book with dinosaurs (surprise), when he asked how to spell "Mesozoic" for the title... I first had to find out what it meant... For Kyan, it was clear, it's "The age of Reptiles". And he was right...

First outing for the Goblins

Halloween has started early this year. We went to the Discovery Museum which had a special "not scary" children party, with witches school, bat cave, petting zoo, crafts... I finished the costumes just in time, the kids having chosen what they wanted to be a while ago: a giraffe for Anastasia, and a kylosaurus for Kyan...

The pumpkins have landed...

For once we didn't wait for the last minute to go get our pumpkins. And the weather was gorgeous...

Another attempt to keep our very creative children busy, and try to contain the crafty "mess" within a shoe box... We created habitats with felt, sticky foam, pipe cleaners and pompoms, for dinosaurs or other well-loved creatures...

West Coast pony

One more opportunity for Anastasia to ride, although the look of the californian pony is rather surprising...

In big

Kyan's armadillo jacket has been a big hit on the net (more than 500 visitors in less then 48 hours, and several potential orders I'm not ready to fill in...). I did make one jacket of the same style in an adult size, special order for a woman about the same size as me. Well, now, I would very much keep it for myself...