Hold on to your hats - the whirlwind is back!

That is right folks, the lull is over.  We have found our footing out here in AZ and our over-scheduling has begun in earnest.

We were blessed last year with our cub scout and girl scout troops.  I really thought they kept us busy but with the weekly meetings we have here I can start to see that we really had it easy in Florida.  I was kind of hoping the first meeting after Halloween would be a restful affair, but no such luck.  The "Rain Gutter Regatta" started out our month.  Ben had never competed in this type of race before and unfortunately for him he did not do well enough and was eliminated in the very first heat of the night!  Next time Ben, next time.

The first week of November also found us wrapping up Flag Football.  Lucy and Ben's team did well but ultimately lost in the finals.  The organizers thought it would be fun for the kids to watch their mothers play in a powder puff game before the end of the season party.  Somehow or another I got roped into playing on a team.  It would have been all well and good but due to a scheduling conflict half of the moms on the other team were unable to play in the game.  So instead of canceling it, the other team recruited female Marines to fill in for the absent players.  Wait, what?  That didn't seem quite fair.  Turns out it wasn't that fair, but our team was able to win anyway!  There was talk of playing another game in the future, but I for one voted we go out winners... 

After the game, we went out to eat at one of our favorite places to celebrate the win AND Lilly's birthday.  Just because it is still a week away is no reason not to get a free dessert.  This one came with a price though.  Lilly had to wear the Birthday Burger hat.  Sorry Lilly.  Way to take one for the team.

Our old school in Florida really did Veteran's Day in style!  We were a little unsure what to expect for the celebration at the new school, but the kids had been practicing for well over a month on their songs, so how bad could it be?  It was actually very nice despite the weather not cooperating.  The kids are so proud of their dad!

The kids had Veteran's day off and they were able to march in the Annual Yuma Veteran's day Parade with their scout troop.  This town really goes all out! There were of course many Veteran's groups represented in the parade along with multiple bands but the floats were all local organizations and scouting troops that all honored the US servicemen and women.  It was really special.  Jim was able to take a few hours off from work to walk in the parade with the kids, then it was back to work for him.

That evening we went out for ANOTHER dinner to celebrate Lilly's birthday!  

Finally it is actually her birthday!!  Can't believe she is 11 years old!  In years past we have come up with some pretty elaborate cakes, but this year we were keeping it simple.  We had a peppermint cupcake mix and we decided to make a giant swiss roll.  It tasted better than it looked.
She really has grown into a very sweet girl!

Last year after Lilly's sleepover party, we made the kids go on a 14 mile bike ride out in the Everglades.  This year, we skipped the party but decided to go on a hike up to Telegraph Pass in the Foothills.  Overall I think it is about 2 miles out and back but the elevation gained is 836 feet or 254.81 meters.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to finish.  It might have taken less, but Jim and the kids kept going off trail to look for Geocaches.  They weren't all that successful (much to Lucy's chagrin.  The big treat beforehand was a stop at our favorite local doughnut place (The Donut Corral) to carb up!

We decided we needed to get a bit more cardio in for the day and signed up for a 5K run that evening downtown to benefit the local Humane society.  Even Wesley got to participate!  Well the run was kind of a bust, not well-marked so we just kind of went where we wanted to go.  On the way back to the finish line, we decided to check out one more Geocache that was close by.  Again, nothing was there.  Lucy did not handle it well.

Up next was the Marine Corps Ball! Man!  At dinner I realized I had not attended one since we left Rhode Island in 2013.  The last two years, Jim had been traveling during that time.  Well this one really reminded me why they can be so much fun!  I haven't lauhed so much in a while.

The very next day we got in the car and headed west to visit Jim's younger sister in San Francisco for Thanksgiving.  Jim and I visited the city while we were dating forever ago and we were eager to go back and show the kids what a cool place it is.  First stop - Golden Gate Bridge!

Of course what is a visit to San Francisco without a Trolley ride or two (or ten).

Not even a deluge can keep people off Lombard Street. We were no exception.  

Somehow Jim found a tiny hole-in-the-wall fortune cookie "factory" (garage) that allowed us to come in and for a small fee write our own fortunes and they put them inside a cookie for us.  How cool!

Of course we also did Alcatraz.  The kids were fascinated with the entire place. For days afterward they would talk about the different inmates that were discussed on the self guided tour we listened to while there.

I wasn't kidding about riding the Trolley A LOT!  Much to Jim's chagrin, we were unable to visit the Cable Car Museum. Every time we went by there they were closed.  We tried MULTIPLE times, and failed each time.  Now we need to go back to San Francisco.  Just for that tour! 

By far the coolest thing we did was visit Jim's sister "Aunt Kaki" at work.  Since it was basically Thanksgiving, not a lot was going on and we were able to score a behind-the-scenes tour complete with sitting at the anchor desk on a working set and doing some on-camera teleprompter readings and camera work. Wisely, the network decided against airing this footage!

Next up was a visit to John Muir Woods to check out some Redwoods!  WOW! Talk about an experience that really makes you feel small (literally and figuratively).  The kids could have walked around on the trails for hours, but as you know, that was not the only thing on the docket that day!  We had to try the Trolley Museum again -- again, closed!

Aunt Kaki signed us up for a Turkey Trot.  I will admit, there was a little resistance from the kids due to the fact that last year's Turkey Trot was a disaster! Jim promised to not leave Ben this time, so with a tad of reluctance we agreed to run.  The kids had spent the night with Kaki at her house, so Jim and I met them downtown by Giants Stadium amidst all the yellow turkey shirts. 

The race was AWESOME!!! Everyone improved on their time (especially Ben since he did not even finish last year) and miracles upon miracles, the kids agreed that they needed to run races more often!  

One of Kaki's good friends invited us over to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. I am not sure if she was aware of EXACTLY what she was getting herself into - HA HA HA
Seriously, we are a handful.  Thankfully the kids were on their best behavior and actually behaved better then we could ever dream.  We had a really good time and it was tough to finally corral everyone in the car to leave.  

All good things must come to an end and our San Francisco trip is no exception. Back in the car for the LLLLLOOOONNNNNGGGG drive home.  Not so much fun. During the drive Jim asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was and they basically named every single thing we did!  Except for the driving.  No one liked that.  

Since we did not do a birthday party this year for Lilly we told her she could invite a few friends to a movie and dinner.  She was kind enough to invite her sister along.  I do not kid myself that this means they are finally becoming friends.  However I was grateful for the small step in that direction.