Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a great turkey day, filled with family and fun! We have many things to be thankful for this year, but our greatest blessing is having such wonderful family and friends.

With love and thanks,

The Mitchell Family

Going home.

Carson mailing his postcards from our hotel.

Katelynn liked having her own seat on the way home and took a long nap.

Carson was exhausted and slept on the plane too!

The North Shore

We spent our last day of vacation on the North Shore. We started off with shave ice at Masimoto's, then were on our way to snorkel at Waimea Bay. We quickly changed plans since there had been a sighting of an 8 foot long shark the day before! We went to a tide pool area that we found out later was called, "Sharks Cove." Later, we checked out the surf at Pipeline and Sunset. What a great day! Pipeline Beach on the North Shore.

Shark sighting sign at Wiamea Beach. There was a helicopter out all day, flying back and forth along the shoreline, looking for sharks.

Carson looking for a crab that scurried under the rock.

Katelynn enjoying shave ice. (She had mostly ice, without the syrup, but she still loved it!)

Grandad Schulz's 80th Birthday!

We went to Hawaii to celebrate Grandad's birthday. It was so much fun to have a party with all of the family in his honor. Grandad was touched to have us there to celebrate with him.

A Three Hour Tour...

We were very fortunate to be able to get a private tour of Coconut Island. It is the location of Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and was the actual island that was featured in the opening scenes of Gilligan's Island. The property and views were breathtakingly beautiful. Carson loved seeing the sharks and fish.

Surfin' USA

Teeny Wahine Katelynn loved standing on the surfboard and laughed the whole time!

Surfers lining up, waiting for a wave in Waikiki.

Surfer Carson was a little scared, but had a good time on Grandpa Tom's surfboard.

When the band is away...Carson will play.

Our first evening in Hawaii we were enjoying the live entertainment in the courtyard of our hotel. Carson was dancing to the Hawaiian tunes and playing his drums (a stick broken in two on the banister above the sidewalk) The band was watching him as they played and as they went on break offered for Carson to come over and play the bongos. (Only in Hawaii, are they laid back enough to let a toddler pound on their instruments) Carson played the drums with Grandpa Tom by his side, while many tourists snapped his picture. He got a great round of applause from the hotel guests when his performance was over.

Hawaiian Halloween

Katelynn celebrated her first Halloween in Hawaii. We walked up and down the street in Waikiki and trick or treated in the stores. We went in everything from the ABC Stores to Godiva (which by the way was handing out Snickers). Nana, Grandpa Tom and Jason joined us. Carson tried to eat all the candy as soon as it was handed to him and Katelynn fell asleep early in the evening.

Pumpkin carvin' time

Carson enjoyed carving his pumpkin and Mommy enjoyed having a helper to get the "goo" out of the inside. Joanna likes the Halloween tradition, but hates the pumpkin guts. Paul dislikes the smell so much that he stayed in the house for the whole cleaning/carving time. After Carson cleaned out the pumpkin, he told mommy where to put "eyes"...."nose"....."mouth"...( He also asked for ears, but we pretended not to hear that request)

Pumpkin festivities

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Big Girl in her Crib

Last week, Katelynn started to pull herself up to her knees when she was in her crib. We quickly realized that we needed to lower her bed. She was happy to help Mommy fix her crib. We lowered it one knotch, thinking that she would be safe inside. This week, she started standing in her crib! We are not ready for her to be standing up yet. So, I guess after we get back from vacation, we will lower her bed again!

Poor Reggie

Katelynn has started crawling! Poor Reggie now has two kids to deal with. Katelynn tries to grab Reggie's shiny tags and he just lays there and enjoys the attention. On this occasion, she tried to climb over his head and got stuck halfway. She teetered and tottered for a little bit before she was able to make it over her "doggy climber toy"

Look Mommy...Clouds!

It has been almost 6 months since we moved from Seattle. I think Carson has already forgotten much of his birth city. I was in the kitchen one morning and he called me outside, frantically pointing to the sky. I thought there must be a plane or large bird, but no...he wanted to show me the clouds in the sky. How soon we forget...

Swinging in the park

Katelynn had her first time in the swings. We stopped by the park one quiet afternoon and had the whole place to ourselves.

Katelynn loved the swings and giggled the whole time. It reminded me of Carson's first time swinging at Lincoln Park in Seattle. The kids had a great time together.

The Blue Angels

Grandpa Mitch, Grandma Gretchen and Auntie Shannie came up for a visit. It was Fleet Week in San Francisco, so we went into the city for the day. It was another beautiful day in SF, warm and clear. Carson loved watching the planes dive and twist in the air, so we were excited for him to see the Blue Angels. But, he fell asleep! He slept through the entire hour long, loud airshow. Katelynn was really good and only got scared with one "fly-over".

We finally made it to Alcatraz!

Jon, Sheree, Joanna, Katelynn, Carson, Paul and Nate at the end of a long day touring Alcatraz and San Francisco.

Katelynn enjoying the boatride back to the city, letting the wind blow through her hair.

Carson showing us that we have arrived.

For those of you who have ever gone to San Francisco on vacation and were unable to visit Alcatraz...we understand. Paul and I have made several trips to San Francisco over the years of our relationship, but due to timing constraints or sell-outs, we were never able to make it to "The Rock." My loving husband was always willing to hand me a quarter so that I could check out the island from the viewfinder. Thanks a lot. So, when our friends Jon & Sheree were coming to town, we planned ahead, started researching our trip and bought our tickets several days in advance. Of course the trip would have been a bit easier a few years ago before we had to carry a diaper bag and two kids on a boat, and up the hills of this previous penitentary. We would have been able to listen to the headphone guided tour, if we were not tending to a toddler and hungry, tired baby. At least most of the tourists were wearing headphones and did not seem to mind the echoed screams of Katelynn as she fought falling asleep. Finally, Katelynn fell asleep and Carson got tired of running though the cell blocks,so I was able to hear a bit of the tour and history of the island. It was a beautiful and clear day (somewhat rare for SF) and we enjoyed the city views of San Francisco from Alcatraz. It was tiring, but a lot of fun to spend the day in the city with our friends.

Froggy flop & caterpillar crawl.

Katelynn has started movin'! She can make her way around the room, which means we have to keep the floor free of small pieces, shoes and dog toys. Of course, we can put a perimeter of baby-safe toys around her and she will make her way over them, and head straight for Carson's shoe to suck on...gross! She has not mastered the "conventional crawl". Sometimes she gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth for a bit and then lunges with her arms toward the item she wants (The Froggy Flop). She does this move in combination with the Caterpillar Crawl, in which she reaches and stretches with her arms and drags her body behind her. Basically, she looks like a bad actor in a war movie that has been shot in the leg and has to use all of her strength and endure the pain , just to drag herself to safety.

Road Trip

We drove back from San Diego last Sunday. Reggie and the kids were snuggled in the backseat and slept for most of the 7 hour drive. We stopped for a short break for dinner and diaper changes about half way through the trip. Carson was happy to have his dog close to him in the car, except when Reggie put his head on the DVD player and blocked the movie. We were very luck that everyone did a great job and was in a good mood during the long trip home.

Katelynn's 1st USC Football Game

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Fight On!

First of all, I have to apologize for the video at the top facing the wrong way...I am new at this blogging thing and not very good with computers, so I couldn't figure out how to rotate it! So, here are a couple of videos of Carson at the end of the USC football game. He tried to put up the "victory sign" like Daddy. He had a great time doing a victory dance with the band at the end of the game. Go SC!

Legoland Fun!

Carson, Katelynn and Mommy went to Legoland with Gran while we were in San Diego. Carson has such a great time walking around an checking out all the legos. His favorite part this trip was the Lego Farm. He danced to the blue grass band and had fun pushing the buttons to make the animals sing along with their sounds.

Carson's Playhouse.

Carson was so excited to see his new playhouse in Nana and Grandpa Tom's backyard. It is in a perfect spot, just under the shade of their big pepper tree (the same pepper tree that Mommy and Uncle Jason had a tree house in when they were little). Carson had a lot of fun playing with his cousins in the house and of course, his dog after everyone went home.

Gardening with Grandpa Mitch

Carson's favorite activity when we go to Grandpa Mitch and Grandma Gretchen's house is yardwork. He can't wait to run in the backyard and help Grandpa water the plants, pick up the leaves and dig in the mud. Carson was a little confused and disappointed this time when the orange tree was bare. He loved to pick as many oranges as his little arms could carry. He would bring them inside the house and then go back for more. This visit he watered not only the lawn, but the patio furniture, the windows and a little bit of Grandpa too!

Wild Adventures.

Carson, Katelynn and Mommy went to the Wild Animal Park last week while we were visiting family in San Diego. We invited Nana, Grandpa Tom, Gran and Grandpa Bill to join us in celebration of grandparent's day. We all had a great time, even though it was over 90 degrees! Carson had fun looking at the animals and called most of them "Cow....Moo" (Ever since we went to The Little Farm and fed the cows, every large animal with four legs is a cow) We even got to see a baby rhino and baby giraffes. What a great day!

Sitting Pretty.

Katelynn was sitting in the front yard a couple of weeks ago with Mommy, watching brother and Daddy ride bikes. She decided she was ready to sit up all by herself! So, here she is on her first night of sitting up like a big girl. Doesn't she look proud of herself?!?

The Sweet Taste of Summer.

Carson loves watermelon! He also makes a big, drippy mess when he eats it and refuses to eat it as little, cut up pieces. So, we have found the best way to enjoy his wedge of watermelon is outside, with only a diaper on. Afterwards he also enjoys playing with the hose to wash off his sticky snack.