It's fall!

Ella before a princess party she went to.

The weather is finally starting to feel like fall is on it's way. We had a really nice couple of days before we started to have some cold days. We even brought out the little swimming pool in the back yard. I'm looking forward to taking Ella to the pumpkin patch the first weekend in October.

Charley started a new schedule so that he gets off earlier. He is now working five 8 hour shifts instead of the four 10 hour shifts. He gets off at 4:30 which allows him to spend the evening with Ella and get her in bed at a decent hour. She has been doing better at preschool with her new schedule and getting a little more sleep than she used to.

My family and I decided to have a family dinner once a month. I think it's crazy that we all live in the same area and barely ever see each other. We will take turns hostessing and everyone will bring a dish. It should be fun!

Last Sunday at work my car was broken into. They broke the driver side window and ripped out my xm radio deck. I was pretty upset about the whole thing especially since I was able to order a replacement radio for under $10. The window alone cost me $200! Life just isn't fair sometimes!

Charley and I celebrated 10 years of being together on the 15th. I was 15 years old when we first starting dating and we have been together ever since. We are exactly how I pictured us at this point. Although I think I imagined me being done with school by now... Oh well! It's hard to look back on those days and realize how easy life was even though it seemed so hard. I miss those crazy days cruising around in the old Camaro.

Adventures

Swimming in the "hot pool" at the hotel.

Watching Dora on her new dvd player on the way home.

On the boardwalk with Mema and cousin Shea.

At Grover Beach.

First Jamba Juice!

Sitting in the giant clam .

At the fair

Well, it's been so long again that I don't even know where to start... We took Ella to the fair back in August. She really enjoyed seeing all of the farm animals. She had a very hard time listening to directions though. She was sticking her hands in cages and climbing up the fences. We didn't stay all that long because we were both about to have a nervous break down! Maybe next year will be a little better.

We went on our little family vacation and had a blast. We left on a Friday after I got off work and made it to Santa Cruz. We woke up the next day and drove to the aquarium in Monterey. Ella was thrilled to see all the fish and critters. Her favorite was the octopus and starfish. She sang twinkle, twinkle little star every time she saw a star fish. And there were a lot of those guys! We spent a couple hours there and then headed to Pismo. We took the scenic route which had like 75 miles of winding roads... At least the view was gorgeous, right?

We had a great time spending time with Mema and cousin Shea. Mema took us to dinner both nights. Seemed like our time there went quickly, but at least we were able to make it down there. We drove the whole way back in one day. We shopped a little on the way home. Ella got lots of new school clothes. I am thankful that everything went so smoothly. I'm proud of Ella for being such a good girl on her first big trip. Hopefully we will be able to go back soon.