November Happenings

November has come and is almost gone. Where did the month go?

On the 10th Paul and I went to the Marine Corps Ball. We were very skeptical about that night. All the previous Balls we've attended have been quite the flop. This year's blew us away. The venue was nice, food was very palatable, free candy bar with Red and Gold themed candy, and we heard the Marine Corps Band play. They were really talented. We haven't been to a Ball since 2009, needless to say our picture was way outdated. We shine up pretty nice I think.

Recently we went camping at Palomar Mountain. It was very cold but we were prepared for that. We ended up leaving a day early because we did not think the sleeping arrangements out thoroughly. Stubbornly we thought we could handle the hard ground. Nope! Even with sleeping mats and an extra blanket Paul and I slept most unsoundly. Our next camping trip if we spring for taking the tent, we'll be bringing the blow-up mattress as well.

Today since Paul had the day off and Terra is officially on Thanksgiving Break we all took off to the San Diego Botanical Garden. I wish we would have checked the weather before going, apparently some Santa Anna winds came through so it has been unseasonable hot and dry today. Aside from that, the Garden was pretty spectacular. I took notes of all the plants we really liked  so we can make sure to plant them at the Fellowship. The rest of this week Terra and I plan to take it easy and enjoy time off. It is getting harder for me to keep my inner "Clark Griswold" quiet, I want to unpack all of our Christmas Decorations and skip ahead a month.

Perhaps a little too much fun...

Halloween was a blast!

Halloweenies

                      Halloween is almost here, we're pretty excited. Here's a picture of Webber.

                                                      Our front porch was infested too!

Paul snapped this picture of Terra coloring in her Pokemon coloring book. When there is no noise coming from upstairs it ISN'T a bad thing, maybe she just found something quiet to play with.

We are so proud of Terra, this month she got selected along with Tyler as Student of the Month. Here they are getting a charm for their spirit necklaces from the Principal during today's Friday Flag
assembly.

As Ms. Ortega's (Terra's teacher) Room Mom, I was in charge of organizing the Halloween door decoration. Who knew I had a creative side? The crooked ribbon still bugs me but the class loves it!

What's Fall?

We've been in the SoCal region for four months now and the one thing that I really miss is weather. The weather in Hampton was so nice because we got to experience all four season. So far in Oceanside we've had "Hot" and "Cooler." Even though some trees are turning it does not feel like Fall. Recently the temps have not risen to the high's we had a few weeks ago and I am grateful for that, maybe we'll see Fall-esque temps in Nov.

Here's what we've been doing so far this month. Starting off with Paul's promotion to Gunnery Sergeant! Next we went to an Apple Days Festival in the mountain town of Julian. Today we visited Lavender Hills Pumpkin Farms to hunt for our Great Pumpkin. We found her and Terra named her Spook Lee. Along with Spook Lee we found a delicious Rouge Vif d’Etampes variety to cook with while Terra found some small babies and gourds to decorate our table.

                                                                Paul being promoted
                                         

                                                                        Apple Days

                      Awesome music with a stage for children to dance. I was very happy when they played their version of Mel McDaniel's "Louisiana Saturday Night." Maybe I am a country gal after all.

                                      Paul and Terra dancing to "Jambalaya on the Bayou."

                                                     Lavender Hills Pumpkin Farm

                                     We even ran into the Huff's! Maggie is in Terra's class.

Jog-a-thon

Terra's school had a fun run fundraiser today. It was postponed because of heat advisories but today was a great day for it! She was smiles the whole time and of course a big goof. Paul was able to get off work to come and cheer on the side lines. It was really cute to see all the kids running their little feet off. Some took tumbles, some lost their shoes, some held hands, but all of the students had a great time. Terra ran 28 laps and by the end she was pooped. Thank you if you donated, Terra will be sending out cards this weekend.

Dogwood

We went camping last weekend and had a great time! We drove just about two hours North into the San Bernardino National Forest and stayed at a family ground called Dogwood. It was Paul's and my first trip since high school. We were trying to prepare as much as possible, knowing full and well that we'd forget something. I think we did pretty well for our first time out in so long. There wasn't really anything that we forgot, just supplies we wish we had. There is an Outdoor Recreation facility on base where one can rent supplies, that's where we'll go until we can build up our own arsenal of camping gear.

We were very fortunate to have a more private camp site compared to all the rest on the grounds. I think if we go back to Dogwood we will request that same site. The San Bernardino National Forest is up in the mountains and Dogwood is located just off a highway known as "The Rim of the World." From up there the scenery is breathtaking. Unfortunately our digi camera was broken at the time so I didn't get a picture of it. I did get some film pictures of it though and if they turned out I'll get them scanned and turned into digi files so I can share them.

With Fall approaching I'm not sure how much longer the family camp grounds will be open. I'm afraid if we want to go camping in the winter we may have to go to more of a resort style facility. We'll see.

                                                               Showing off the dirt

                                                                         First roast

                                                        Beware the Hammock Head

                          Some of the largest pine cones we've ever seen, The Sugar Pine.

                                        Lunch one day in town at the local sports bar, Yum!