You know how people say when it rains in pours? I think sometimes its the opposite! Sometimes, there are stretches of just good times, orange sunsets and good times. While there has been a lot of work involved, these days have been full of what are now great memories.

First off, as planned we went to the Zack Brown concert. When we were dating, we used to talk about all the places we would go and dreams we shared. Now its been 5 years of marriage and life has taken us through places and things we never would have expected-but we've done them all together.

The Zack Brown Band has been the soundtrack to those years. I think even as we pile more and more responsibilities on in life, their music reminds us of the freedom and joy and vibrancy that surrounds us; so we were ecstatic to go. Somehow, they were even better live! My favourite was the violist, but all of it was incredible. The only down side was how over the top sloshed people on the lawn-lesson learned, next time we will splurge and buy better seats haha. Still-more then worth it.



We've also had the pleasure of a visit from some of Lester's family from Australia. I love every time any of them come for multiple reasons, one of them being that they give me a glimpse of how life must have been for Lester growing up with them in Australia. He's talked about it before, when we spend time with my family; most readers of this blog have been here and know what I'm talking about. Its loud and crazy, and the house is full to the brim with people and warmth-he says it reminds him of those days when they used to get together bi weekly and they were all kids. A few years of ago, some of his family came and I got to see some of this, and I felt that again with this visit. They also always give me and the kids such a welcome and sense of belonging, even though we've never met before. Its family at its best. Because they were here we did a lot of tourist stuff, like fisherman's wharf, Union Square [which was under the construction, boo!] the golden gate bridge, Ghirardelli square, a 49ers game, lots of eating out, some shopping etc. And of course, some hanging out at the house. Its made us even more eager to make our way over to Australia-someday, somehow we will make it haha!






And of course, our big girl is now officially three. For weeks, Addy had been asking when her birthday was [a lot of her friends had just had birthdays] and was it time for her party, and finally the day came. On her actual birthday, we let her open a present and we sang to her over dessert. But we really celebrated the next morning, when we had some of her friends over for a princess tea party. Of course, in all the mayhem I neglected to get a picture of how nice everything looked-like the tea party table, and the cake! But still, I think all the princesses had a great time and that was what mattered.

We started with the tea party itself, then each girl got to decorate her own special tiara. My friend Melissa had shown me a tutorial on pinterest of how to make little crowns out of lace, so we had done this before hand and the got to decorate them. I think it was a hit-they all got to make it their own with jewels, flowers, and leaves and they looked adorable. Afterwards we played 'pin the crown on the princess' before moving over to the table again for singing and cake-and of course of all the details I forgot, the candle was the one haha! So we had to use a 1 candle from Isla's birthday-do me a favor and pretend its a three. Apart from being a little overwhelmed by the attention, Addy loved it and is still talking about it. After presents and some more play time, all the princesses headed back to their castles. All in all I would call it a success! After some clean up, we headed back over to my inlaws to spend their last day hanging out and going out to dinner. It was a super busy day, and we were so sad to see everyone go. But we look forward to hanging out more someday!

People talk about 'ringing in the New Year' and while I am totally behind that, I feel like ringing in the holiday season should be a thing. It is for us at least! Now that the weather has finally started to get a little chillier, the sunsets more orange and the darkness falling earlier, we are all on board for the full schedule of fun holiday related stuff.

On a rare day off, the four of us were able to head over to Lemos Farm for some Fall fun. Last year, we went later in the season and it was packed to the brim. Hoping to avoid that, we went on October first-which is apparently the day before everything gets crowded. When we pulled up, I wasn't even sure it was open bc of how empty it seemed. But sure enough, the gates were open and the rides were going! So we had run of the place and it was nice for the kids to run around freely. They got to do pony rides, train and hay rides, jumpy houses and a haunted house. In fact, it was so empty that they even left the lights on in the house at Addy's request haha. It was a fun filled day for us all.













My brother also had his 14th [yikes!] bday and so we had some fun doing pizookies, gifts and making more memories with him. I still feel so lucky to be around for these birthdays of his, since I was away at college for most of them when he was younger. He is a great Uncle, sarcastic teen, excellent artist, prodigy brother in law and one of my best friends. You don't choose your siblings, but if that was an option I would still choose him. So there's the feelings feature of this month haha.



We also were able to do some traditional pumpkin carving when we had some of my high school friends over for dinner. It was so much fun to be able to spend time with them-even Drea was able to be here via Skype, and the pumpkins all turned out so great. Addy looked forward to to it all day and was sad when it was time to end. She particularly loved playing in the pumpkin guts and having friends who were willing to read with her-she is a girl after my own heart that one. I see so much of myself in her, and so much Lester in our sweet and silly Isla. Isla loved running around from person to person, playing hard to get or sharing oranges with everyone. It was a fun night with lots of laughs and I'm glad we got to do it. We are excited to do it more often as everyone makes there way home at some point or another. Good times!

So this is how we've been ringing in the fall season-we still have so many more fun things coming up,   [particularly Addy's 3rd bday, Zack Brown concert, and of course Halloween festivities!] so I am sure we will be documenting all that later. Life is good!