How to do this without whining? I am feeling almost all the way back to normal after what I think I would call the worst illness of my life. Not totally sure what kind of virus I had but the doctor thinks it was possibly viral meningitis. Isn't that a scary sounding word? Basically, it boils down to that it felt like a horrible flu that wouldn't go away. I think I spent 10 days in bed which is hard when you're the mom. My hubby and my kids rock - they helped so much. I really appreciate every one's love and concern and it really did help to know there were family and friends thinking of me and praying for me.
The kicker of it all was that we didn't get to go to CA for Thanksgiving. No visiting my mom and dad's remodeled house, no new niece snuggling, no Amy belly seeing, no game playing and eating, no laughing and hanging out with my wonderful fam. At first, I was too sick to think about it. Now I'm so sad. I am glad that we get to go to Camryn's blessing this weekend and see part of my family. I am missing Mike and Amy and Owen and Chris and Lindsay and Hudson (Thanks so much guys for all you did for my kids while I was sick. They loved coming to visit). I hope to see you all as soon as I can.
Our Thanksgiving wasn't bad though. How lucky are we to have such great friends that have us to dinner and don't mind when I spend the day on the couch. The food was great and the company even better. I stole this cute pic from Riley's blog.
We enjoyed a lot of Watson family time as well. It is always great when Patrick has time off. He works so hard and it's so fun to have him home. I am grateful for many things this time of year but right now I am super grateful that I am back among the living! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!
We had parties o'plenty. Each of the boys had one at school that I was able to go to.
Dylan and I made a toliet paper pumpkin. They are really easy and cute. He thought it was super cozy and so he's giving it a hug.
Jake making his "whack o'lantern" with golf tees and a hammer.
What a nice visit we had with Patrick's dad and his wife, Sun! It was a quick weekend but we packed it with all sorts of fun things. First on the agenda was a belated birthday party for Grandpa Watson. The kids had fun signing the Happy Birthday song for Grandpa and he got a kick out of it as well.
Saturday, Dylan had a soccer game and then we headed over to the community park for Anthem's Autumnfest. We enjoyed some fun activities and vendors' booths, had some tasty lemonade and watched the boys jump in the bounce houses. Jake also got to try the bungee trampoline jump that he has always wanted to do. We had lunch at Sonic (gotta love their yummy drinks!) and spent lots of time coloring with the cool markers Grandpa brought. Later we went to the carnival that is part of the Autumnfest. We hadn't taken the kids for a couple of years (can you say rip-off!) but we thought it would be a fun thing to do with Grandpa and Sun. Little did we know....
Carter enjoying the car race. You know you wish you had an orange mustache too.
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Is this not the best way to celebrate the 50th day of kindergarten?! Dylan was all into making sure he was dressed up like the perfect "greaser" - down to the rolled-up jeans and slicked back hair. All the kindergartners got together the last half hour of school for their 50's dance.
Come on, baby! Let's do the twist! This was my favorite dance - he was so into it. He said his favorite was the stroll. That's the one where you dance slowly down the aisle of kids with a
My nephew Hudson! So adorable, mellow and good-natured. The boys thought he was awesome too and pestered him way too much. He tolerated them pretty well. Dylan loved that Hudson had on an undershirt and promptly went upstairs to put on an undershirt of his own so that they could be twins.
I got to hold Hudson lots which was my favorite. Carter brought "nay-nay" downstairs for Hudson to cuddle with. I thought it was nice that he decided to share. He did not appreciate the suggestion from Chris, however, that Hudson take nay-nay home with him.
Look at this cutie! We had so much fun with them. Aunt Lindsey even jumped on the tramp with the boys and completely solidified her coolness. When Dylan came in, he asked if I could do a back flip. When I said no," he replied, "Well, Aunt Lindsey can!" He was in fine funny form today. 
The proud boys with their cousin. We were so glad that they took the time to stop in and see us. Can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving! 
We spent about a month at my mom and dad's in Sacramento and it was just so relaxing and fun. We had a lot of mellow days spent just like this - crazy kids by the pool! Yes they are superheroes, thanks to crafty Aunt Carrie who made them!! Carter got the Batman one for his birthday, such a great idea! Dylan borrowed Sean's Superman and we had cute caped crusaders.
Carter's infamous belly-flop! I love Dylan's face in the background too. Carter did this over and over until he finally hurt his belly one day. Then he wouldn't jump off the waterfall at all. He got his courage back before we went home to Arizona, though. We discovered the muscles this year. None of the other boys had worn them before because I was always worried they wouldn't learn to swim and only rely on them. Well, we may have made that mistake a little with Carter because he loved the freedom of being able to go wherever he wanted!! He loves them! We have been working hard on his skills here at home so hopefully we won't have to big a set back! 
Before Amy and Owen had to go back to Pittsburg, we were able to spend a fun day with them at the zoo, Fairytale Town and Funderland. Such great childhood memories and so fun to share them with my own kids!! Here's Carter in the train at Fairytale Town. I don't have any others because Jake and Dylan were running around like crazy with Patrick. I think they ran the Crooked Mile a million times!
Jake and Dylan - cute brother buddies at the zoo!
All my boys on the roller coaster at Funderland. It was fun to have Patrick with us because we were apart so much this summer, what with us playing in CA and him having to work. I love how Jake is bored with the too-easy ride.
Cute cousin Owen loving the fishies. He looks very serious but cried when he had to get off - a true test of how fun it was!
Thumbs up, dude!
Of course, no trip to Sacramento is complete without a day in San Francisco. Here's 3 cold boys at Pier 39 while we were waiting for our ferry. My mom and I decided to be a little adventurous and take them to Angel Island, where I hadn't gone since a field trip in 4th grade. Our idea was to hike around a bit and have a picnic. 
Grandma and Carter hiking Angel Island. The island is beautiful and not crowded at all. It has great views of the bay and the weather was amazing!
My handsome guys in front of an old army hospital. Angel Island was an army base.
These are the barracks my class stayed in when we had our field trip. Can you believe the view?! I don't remember much about this trip - really only have memories of being cold and sleeping on the hard ground. But I do remember having to do the night watch (we were soldiers, after all) and seeing the beautiful view of the city at night.
Jake and Grandma on the ferry ride back to the city. Once we got back, we headed over for a mandatory stop at Boudin Bakery. I singlehandedly bought out the store's supply of sourdough bread. Okay, that's exaggerating but I think my mom and I brought home about 10 loaves. Best bread ever!!! And when you freeze it, it tastes just like the day you bought it. Delicious!
This is a sourdough crocodile. Of course, the boys wanted to buy it but I didn't know how to get it in the freezer.
I haven't ridden a cable car in years so I was so excited that it wasn't too crowded to wait to ride on this day. I have wanted the kids to ride for a long time. We rode from the wharf to Union Square then went back again. We attempted a couple of stores in Union Square but shopping with 3 boys is not fun so we gave up. The ride back to the wharf was eventful, to say the least. Our cable car basically barrelled through an intersection that cab was dashing through. I'm sure the cable cars and cabbies play chicken all the time - I just didn't appreciate them doing it when my family was sitting 
In our family, no visit to S.F. is complete without a little Blondie's pizza. Here's Jake enjoying the goodness.
Grandpa and Carter at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. I was so glad my dad played hooky from work one day and we were all able to go down. My mom and I were grateful to have him come along and accompany the kids on all the spin-y rides that you couldn't pay us money to ride on! Thanks Dad!
Dylan and Jake enjoying the swings. We had such a fun and busy day that I don't really have any pictures. It is such a great park - kind of a combination of Sea World and Six Flags because it has the animal shows and the rides. It's a really great balance. My kids are so fun at amusement parks - not really very nervous and excited to try lots of rides. Jake was especially gutsy and a good height too. He tried his first 2 upside-down roller coasters and loved them both! Here's Grandpa and Jake on the Boomerang. I tried to zoom in the picture as far as I could but no luck.
My dad is wearing the white shirt close to the top and Jake is on his left. The highlight of the day was probably the last ride that Dylan, Jake, Grandpa and I took called Tony Hawk's Big Spin. The boys loved the skateboarding angle and it was a fun ride - a roller coaster that also spins! Grandma and Carter were patient as it was really cold by this time and the ride broke down with us sitting right there after our turn was over. Good thing it didn't happen while we were on it!!!
Look at all these handsome boys! I love getting them all together - they play soooo well, it's almost freaky. This is the day that we went to Remlinger Farm, which was a farm, an amusement park etc. all rolled into one. It was a great day with great weather, except that after the first half-hour or so, Andrew didn't feel well. So he had to go take a nap in the car which was a bummer.
Playing on top of the fire truck. The kids could get in and pretend to drive it or just climb all over it. Perfect for a bunch of boys but it was hard for Carter and Austin to decide who's turn it was to drive!!
Snack time on the choo-choo train.
Uncle P and the boyz!
Jake, Dylan, Andrew and D.J. chilling on the bow. Note the Space Needle in the background. So pretty!
Cute skating boys!!
Is this not the nastiest thing you've ever seen?! It's a tomato worm from my dad's garden. The boys and Sean and Ryan were completely obsessed with it. Then they had to take it out and smush it to death.
Me and my pretty sis Ames. She's prego here but you can't tell because she's annoying like that. She's having a little girl!
