oh, october. we love thee.

weekends like this remind us why we choose to call california our home...
we woke up to beautiful blue skies on saturday morning & knew it was going to be a wonderful day.  while jade and i watched some soccer on tv, nicole tried her best to catch up on some much needed sleep. let's just say jade has not been sleeping through the night lately. we blame it on "teething"...

jade and pappa watching soccer.

jade, as always, in control of the remote.

even though jade hasn't been sleeping much lately,

she's still happy as a clam when she wakes up.

we love waking up to this little muffin!

jade bug proudly showing off her new clothes.

every saturday at 10 a.m. bugs & i go to baby swim.  every week jade grows more fond of the water and is absolutely getting braver by the week, dunking her face in the water during the motorboat song and intentionally falling into the pool from the edge during the "i'm a little teapot" song [this is my favorite].  i should also mention that no one else in the swim class got the memo this was nudist week. either that, or they simply thought it would be appropriate to bring a bathing suit for their kids…
after swim class i took jade with me to the office for a couple hours of work.  she didn't help much since she was snoozing the entire time!  guess waking up several times at night caught up with jade, too... 

cute schnoodle pie after the swim session.

next stop was our beloved bagels & brew where we met up with mamma. tuna melt sandwich for me, salad for nicole, and, of course, pancakes and bacon to bugaboo! after this late brunch we decided to drive out to irvine regional park to visit the opening of their pumpkin patch.

the world's pretties girls hanging out on hay bales.

 this has to be the cutest witch & cat combo ever!

 jade and i riding the make-shift stick pony.

can we get this pumpkin guys? can we?! 

jade, nicole and i had a great time at the pumpkin patch. checking out pumpkins, taking a long walk through the beautiful forest, looking at horses and birds, hanging out by the lake and feeding the ducks, and, the best part, going on a train ride. not sure which part jade liked best - the train ride itself or the delicious snacks they served on the train (the tickets…)

since it was such a pretty evening, and we were only twenty minutes away from our favorite mexican restaurant, we concluded that we pretty much had to stop by rose canyon cantina in trabuco canyon for some mexican food and margaritas. the place was packed but we got to sit outside on their awesome patio area at a little bar and no one was more excited about this than the potbelly truffle piglet.

salsa chip in one hand, lemon in the other. don't mess with me!

sunday morning turned out to be just as pretty as saturday morning, so after watching arsenal lose to spurs in the north london derby (jade and i) and doing some laundry (nicole), we drove down to laguna for a long walk at the beach. october is our favorite month. clear, pretty days, no tourists, no traffic, long evenings and warm water. 

jade longstocking, in her pigtails, explaining the soccer game to mamma.

thalia street, laguna beach - our beach!

the aliso viejo gangsters doing their gang signs at the half way point of our beach walk.

bugsy monroe enjoying the view from dad's shoulders.

we ended our weekend at our favorite italian restaurant alessa with a fantastic pizza and an incredible pasta dish. jade bug, as she always does, made friends with everyone in the restaurant, and sat happily in her high chair, eating her side of potatoes. 

even after ten years in southern california the novelty of living so close to the ocean has not worn off and we are still able to find new places to love. simple things like lounging with our beautiful little daughter in the morning, swimming in the pool, driving in the car, playing at the park, going out for a nice meal, or strolling along the beach is all we need to put a smile on our face for days.  we are constantly reminded just how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place. stefan lindholm once told us "happy parents make happy kids'" and we like to think this is the reason our little jade elisabeth is the happiest, most perfect little baby we could have ever asked for. 

oh, october. we love thee.