Our September was so full of fun that I haven't had time to write about it until now. We have been enjoying very nice (i.e. hot) weather down here in San Diego and we have taken advantage of it by being outside as much as possible with the kiddos. Here you can see Devon is riding a bike along the bay while Mom and Dad hike and Nathan naps...what a life.

Here is Eddie with his mini-me and the two buddies catching yet another nap. Two things the Castillo boys are pretty good at...eating and napping.

We have also been hanging out at the wild animal park with our friends, Jim and Lisa and their son, Jackson...talk about Gerber baby!

And finally, September wouldn't be September without school pictures. Devon obviously loves the camera and is quite photogenic (though I am pretty biased). However, Nathan is not too fond of the camera or the photographer. Yes, what kind of Korean mom am I? I sent my kid out in the Autumn air with shorts and no shoes! In my defense, I was in Chicago on a business trip on the picture day so the outfits and the accessories (or lack thereof) are not to be blamed on me.

Wish I could hold back time.

Wow, another month has flown by and I can't believe we are heading into September. I am still trying to catch up on all of my August plans...which mostly include cleaning the house. I feel like I only clean the first layer of grime every time I get a chance to clean. Which, if you have kids, basically includes putting toys and clutter away, running a vaccuum once a week, and wiping counters down as you brush your teeth. Oh why oh why can't I be stinkin' rich and have a maid? I'd be a much happier (and cleaner) person.

So it goes like this: By the time we get the kids up and ready, get ourselved ready and head out of the door, it is time to pick them up again and get the evening chaos started. Now, if you know my sweet Nathan, he turns into a pumpkin by about 7pm. So it's a mad rush to get home, get dinner started, get him fed and cleaned up (cause he can't wait until our dinner time), get dinner for the rest of us done, then rush him up to bed while we get Devon to get ready for dinner. After we eat and get the dishes into the dishwasher, it's time to get Devon washed and ready for bed. So then, we finish cleaning up the dinner dishes and get last minute work things tied up and then we fall into bed exhausted, usually around 11:00pm. The morning alarm rings and we start this whole madness again! So now you know what we've been up to for the past 4 years...and why we live in a layer of grime. What about the weekend you say? Well here is what our weekends have been full of:

Hanging out at the zoo with friends,

Hanging out at the beach with friends,

Finding time to get gorgeous (see what I mean about layer of grime...check out my inbox in the background - sigh),

And hanging out with family in my parent's air-condition-less house (HOT),

Though I complain about the time I need to keep up my wifely/motherly/housekeeping duties, you can see by these pictures that I'd rather spend it hanging out with my kids and hubby doing things that make us a family....the housework will always be there...unless by some miracle I hit the lottery. THEN I'm getting a maid!

See you all in September.

August already?

I can't believe it is already August! Maybe I shouldn't have joined the blogging world because I'm obviously not a huge contributor. The whole point of my blogging about our family was to keep our extended family all caught up on how the rugrats are doing. Well, at this rate, by the time I write about it, they will most likely be done with it.

As the previous entry stated, we spent the early part of July with our extended family in New Mexico. However, the latter part of July was spent catching up with old friends. Devon got to hang out with many of her friends from SDSU Childcare. It's amazing how much kids grow up when you're not watching them! It's been about a year since we left that daycare and started attending the Merry-Go-Around daycare. But when we met up with our friends at the Night Time Zoo, they looked like they grew about a foot. Many of them are getting really excited since they will be starting kindgergarten in the fall.

Speaking of kindergarten. Devon's best friends from the Merry-Go-Around daycare are these 2 little twin boys named Noah and Grayson. She was devastated the day they left the center in order to attend a camp right before they start kindergarten. However, their family invited us to join them for an outdoor concert at a local park. Devon had a BLAST running around with the boys and dancing to the music. Nathan also had a good time hanging outside in the fresh air.

Now, Devon wasn't the only one catching up with old friends. We had a playdate with our good friends Jim and Lisa and their son Jackson as well as with Steve and Crystal and their daughter Amelia. All of the kids are about 6 weeks apart from each other starting with Nathan, then Amelia and then Jackson. How cute are they?

Well, Devon and the SDSU friends had such a good time that we are planning the night time zoo, part 2. Keep an eye out for more pictures of mayhem at the zoo.... I think the animals enjoy watching us parents try and keep about dozen 4 year olds reasonably contained and fairly behaved.

Rewind to 4th of July

Rewind back to the 4th of July.

Our community of Scripps Ranch has a yearly 4th of July parade. We moved into this neighborhood just before the 4th last year, but we were not able to attend until this year so this is our first Scripps Ranch 4th of July parade.

This is Nathan the morning of the parade, isn't he getting so big?:















This is Devon waiting patiently for the parade to head our way:















I don't think Nathan was too happy to be sitting in his stroller in the heat.














Devon AND Daddy thought the best part of the parade was the Star Wars Group. Still not sure what they were all about...
















All in all, a small but fun parade....although the 90+ degree temperature was a bit unbearable.

We have arrived

We have officially launched into the Bloggers world! Since many of our family members are always asking us how the kids are doing and asking for recent pictures and such, I thought I would enter our family into this arena. Hopefully, many of you will also follow suit so that we can continue to keep updated on the latest and greatest about each other's lives.

Well, we recently came back from New Mexico where we were able to visit with many of Eddie's family members. Eddie's mom and dad had a family soire this past Sunday full of tons of food and family. Devon and Nathan were able to meet with many cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and great uncles. This was the first time that the extended family met our 9 month old Nathan and many had not seen Devon since she was very little. It was so much fun.

Devon's great-aunt Stella knitted Devon and Nathan beautiful blankets and Devon has not let hers go since Sunday. In fact, she took it to pre-school today as her nap blanket. I think that blanket may even accompany her to college someday. This is Aunt Stella and Uncle Luis

We especially appreciated the time we spent with Eddie's grandmother, Grandma T. Many of you may not know, but Grandma T has been battling Alzheimer's disease for several years. As expected with this disease, she has progressively been getting worse and now does not recognize us at all. It was hearbreaking to know that just last year she was able to carry on a conversation with us and still recognized most of us, but now the disease has the best of her. However, she is well cared for by her granddaughter, Tina (Eddie's older sister) and her family. She smiled whenever Nathan was around and even said that Devon was cute. Devon was sure to give her great grandma lots of hugs before our visit was over.

Devon and Nathan had the most fun with their cousins Andrew and Matthew, who were able to spend the night with us on Monday. The four cousins kept each other busy all day and night. Can you see the family resemblance?

The trip was so much fun, but it went by too fast.