October in Review: The Back House, Carnival, Fires, and Halloween

I'm a couple of months behind on my blogging and when we're talking about house projects, that means I'm really, really behind on documenting our progress. In looking at the older pictures I've taken, I realize I need to snap new ones because things have already changed and the photos I currently have are now dated. I'll get to taking new pictures as soon as I can. For now, I'll share what I've got from the past few months. 

Remember this shot of our pool/jacuzzi when we bought the house and first tried to clean it?

This is what it's looking like after we cleaned it and hired a pool guy to give it an extra dose of love. The boys use it pretty much every chance they can. It serves as a pool by day and a jacuzzi by night.

This is a dark shot of it but I like it because it kind of captures the tropical vibe of the back house. The door and exterior of the house need to be painted. We have new light fixtures to install on either side of the door, too. Oh, and we'll add a nice walkway and plants along the base of the house.

We did quite a bit of work on the inside, prepping for a family who would be coming to visit. We painted, replaced the baseboards and took out the super heavy door from when this was a recording studio and replaced it with a light, simple door. We added some trim to make the panels for a little added character. Seen in this pic is just a coat of primer and no door handle. Besides completing the door, we need window coverings and a few key pieces of furniture. It's functional and it was fun to use some of the boys' old furniture and toys to furnish the space since the kids coming would be much younger than our boys.
Toddler bed #1

Toddler bed #2

A look back from the opposite direction.

The main room of the guest house looks out over the jacuzzi and has a nice, tropical view from the windows and door.

 

This isn't a great shot, quality wise, but I love the peacefulness of this view directly across the room from the bed.

Walking in, this is what greets you. I'd love to get a nice, soft rug on the floor and a more comfortable seating area with perhaps a fun table and chairs. I've got my eyes/heart set on something in particular when the budget allows. For now, the bench helps for a place to set luggage and bags. The rocker is indeed a place one can sit and we did buy a new, comfortable bed. Most everything you see is what we already had, just trying to make things work for now. 

 Since taking this picture, I've bought a bed skirt and changed out the accent pillow on the bed.

Don't mind the dirty, unpainted exterior...I bought these fun, flowering succulents to flank the entrance. However, during our 100 + degree heat wave, they were partially scorched and I've been trying to revive them to their past glory ever since.

Since it's football season, we have to give a little shout out to the Chicago Bears! This gnome gets moved to various places in our backyard.

To get a break from all the projects, I took the boys to our city's carnival. We had a blast and ran into many school friends, teachers, and neighbors.

 The boys loved riding everything together!

 Gavin ran into his neighbor friend and together, they rode on quite a few rides.

 The boys went on this ride over and over and over again. :)

Then, we had a couple of canyon fires that had us heading home one day after school in a hurry to pack up our things should we be evacuated. Fortunately, the mandatory evacuations were one house away from ours and we were allowed to stay at home to see how things progressed. The fire wasn't ever too close to us but the strong Santa Ana winds brought embers dozens of miles and started many smaller fires close by. This was what we saw driving home. Honestly, my heart just sank at the thought of losing our home after so much blood, sweat, and tears had been put into it.

A few days later, the sky was still filled with smoke and this traffic gave us a 2 hour commute to school. The fires were arson this time.

On the way home, we clapped and cheered for all the firefighters who lined this hillside and had put a stop to it.

 The boys were ready and waiting all year for Halloween! Here they are practicing their roping skills.

 The east meets the west...

 Gavie in the parade. What a handsome young cowboy he makes!

 Gavie and Kyle finding each other as their classes passed by. ;)

 Gavin and his teacher

 Kyle and his friends

 After school, I'm often greeted by some sort of animal. This day it was a spider! :)

 Fuzzy picture, but once home, we baked cupcakes for our neighborhood party and carved a pumpkin while listening to some spooky songs.

Our Napa friends block party and trick or treating. It was great to be in this neighborhood because we could stop in and catch the world series game from house to house since almost everyone was "like family."

 Back home with the loot! (Not all candy pictured here.)

 Happiest of smiles! Gavin asks, "When is it Halloween again?" ;)

And that's October in a small nutshell. 

Happy Birthday, Gavin!!

No. 5!!! Our "baby" hit a milestone a few weeks ago. Hard to wrap our brains around how fast these years have gone. This is a belated birthday post about Gavie's day. ;)

Gavin's birthday fell on a school day so we celebrated as much as we could that day and made plans to take the boys to Legoland for G's birthday outing. I enjoyed my view from the kitchen as he ran down the hall and out to greet me, so proud of the fact that now he is 5! I had to put that memory in print here, because I hope I'll never forget it. I was touched with his pure, sweet innocence and youth. In that moment, I saw him as the little boy he has been and yet at the same time, I became very aware that he has indeed grown up, and all too quickly he'll be coming out to greet me as a young man. Crazy how we can have these flashes of visions. I want to bottle him up just as he is. :)

We opened presents and then Daddy ran out to get donuts. After school, we had dinner and dessert with family and then had some friends come over for a little play and some brownies and ice cream. Gavin loves friends! Both boys really enjoy people and having people over!

Opening presents in the morning!

A 5 dollar bill!!!! 

I loved that Gavin wanted Kyle to read him each and every card.

 You are special, Gavin! Love the red plate tradition from my childhood...thanks, Auntie Jan!

Painting in Mommy's classroom after school! Then, a trip to the yogurt store with Brother.

Grandpa, Grammie, and Auntie Michelle helped us celebrate when we got home.

Then, a GG package arrived! Those are always loads of fun to open!

Since my boys love blowing out candles, I give them every chance I can think of to be sung to and blow at some flames.

 Gavin's friends helped celebrate him, too.

Gavie and his friends! :) We didn't come up with a birthday plan until pretty late, so we are grateful to these wonderful friends for coming over on such short notice!

Then, Saturday morning, we headed for Legoland!! None of us had ever been so we were excited to check it out. I love smaller amusement parks that aren't as crowded or ginormous as Disneyland. Legoland also allows you to bring in your own food and beverages, so we were able to snag a few "buy one get one free" coupons that helped make this trip financially reasonable.

 This was the cutest ride, ever!! K and G never did get enough time to get their cars over towards us for a closer shot, but we saw them driving around, obeying the traffic signals all around the town.  There's Gavin rolling up to a stop sign.

 Kyle running back to help Gavin get out of his seat belt.

Helicopter rides!

And a little rest by Uncle Fred.

 They tried to Urkle their pants up, too.

The temperature was awesome (considering we'd had such a heat wave for weeks prior) but you can always use a popsicle/ice cream break!

I didn't take any pictures of the roller coasters we rode, but aside from a really fun Dragon roller coaster (that even Daddy thought was good!) we enjoyed smaller rides, too. Look at the Birthday Boy's smile!! Makes you feel like every penny was worth it!

Gavin drove this green boat all around the harbor of New York City.

This Lego masterpiece of big US cities was super cool.  They even had some South Dakota represented...!

After this, we had to head home. One of the fast roller coaster rides didn't agree with Kyle and he spent the rest of the day showing us the food he ate ... :( Poor guy. The boys did have fun, though, and it was great to celebrate Gavin as a family while away from the "House of Projects" back home.