Better Together

We have seen Jack in concert at least 5 times together and one of my favorites was the most recent show in San Diego.  I saw that he was playing on our last night of our San Diego trip and booked the tickets immediately.  We usually go with all of our friends and bring the kids and make a big deal out of it, which is tons of fun but this time it was just Matt and I and we had so much fun (maybe a little too much!).  We drove down to Cricket Amphitheater after a full day of family and friends and had a little tailgate party with just the two of us.  It was a great way to end the trip and get some quality time with each other.

Right after In Between Dreams came out I was driving up to Matt's house in Hale'iwa listening to the CD and I heard the song Better Together and instantly loved it.  It was so perfect for Matt and I (1 1/2 years into our relationship).  As soon as I got to his house, I couldn't wait to play it for him since I had finally found a song that could be "our song".   His response: "I like it... but don't you want something that is more popular and that you will hear on the radio?  Seriously?!!!..he said that! I love to remind him of this whenever we hear it..and luckily that is quite often.  It ended up being the first song that we danced to at our wedding and make me smile every time I hear it.

Jack closed the show with Better Together and brought everyone out.  It was awesome!  I got a little video and then enjoyed it LIVE!

Pumpkin Patch

Just up the road from my parents house a pumpkin patch popped up on Saturday, our last full day.  We had a busy day but ran up to check it out before we had friends and family over.  We ended up having a blast.  The kids got to see pumpkins and Abby got to ride a pony and go on  a few other rides.  Zack was content just hanging out and exploring the sights!

Abby and Zack's first wagon ride together

Abby climbed up the stairs for teh slide almost all the way by her "zzzelf!".  One of her new fa

My little pumpkins

Such a big girl!

She rode the piny without any help and loved it!

My little man just taking it all in and waiting for his turn to go on all the rides.

Guests for the Day

My mom is teaching 1st grade this year and it getting back into the swing of things after her year in Honduras.  She was so excited for us to come visit her class and show off her grand kids.  She brought out all of her animal books and called up the kids in groups to share their books with Abby.  Abby didn't miss a beat and started naming animals in the books and telling the kids what noises they made.  Matt and I both agreed that my mom had set  it up perfectly...she is a fantastic teacher!

After all the kids got a chance to share their books with Abby.  My mom introduced Matt and told the kids that he was an author.  Matt read his book, Princess Abigail.  The kids loved it and when he was done they asked him to read it again!  So cute!

On our walk down Matt and I pondered how Abby might do in school in a few years so it was cute to see her just jump right in with the "big" first graders.  I think she'll be just fine.

Slides!

We spent some quality time a the parks nearby my parents house and any other ones we could find.  Abby loves the slides and consequently every time she sees one she poops without fail.  She is going to LOVE us telling that story when she tries to bring a boy home:).

Scoping out the newest slide

Loving the see saw

They were so cute on the swings

6 months old...time flies!

She always has so much fun:)

Let's Go Chargers!

The first weekend of our trip my parents took the kids to church and Matt and I met Candice's family and Shannen and Lori at the Charger game bright and early to tailgate.  We had a blast!

My dad and Uncle Mike met us there right before the game with Zack and we watched the Chargers kick the Cardinals' butts from awesome seats in the Press level.  Zack is  the best little Charger fan!

As for the Padres, unfortunately, they lost the game on Sunday that kicked them out of the playoffs.  We were really hoping to go to the game on Monday but as the San Diegans are used to saying, "There is always next year."

Wild Animal Park

We debated between the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal park since they are so expensive and our days were limited days we decided to just pick one.  Candice had free guest passes and recommended the Wild Animal park to see the animals up close.  My mom took the day off work and came with us.  

As soon as we pulled up to the park, we realized that we left the bag with the bottle and formula at the house.  Lesson learned- it really isn't more helpful when more people are packing!  Super dad, Matt took off to the closest store (which happened to be a little Mexican market in the heart of Escondido) and got us formula and a bottle.

Luckily, that was an easy fix and the rest of the day went fairly smoothly and we had a blast!

Feeding the ducks

Who's the little butterfly?

The lions were so cool and big!

Elephants...my favorite.

Gorillas

The Lorikeet's were a big hit!

Abby on the Safari tram through "Africa"

Loving the carousel

San Diego Trip

We had a great trip to San Diego for our October break.  Although the flights we less than fabulous, the trip made up for it!  Grandpa and Grandma Hughes had a blast with the grand kids.  The kids both enjoyed their special time and are now going through constant attention deficit shock:).  They are lucky to be so loved!

Hanging out with Grandpa

Enjoying the park with Grandma ( and drinking water like a big girl!)

Zack meeting his namesake and uncle,  Andy

Abby loves her new Padre hat

These two can't get enough of each other

Relaxing after a long day

Family seesaw

Abby's first visit to Grandma's school.  They are so cute!