Our October 2009 Adventures!

Hello everyone,
Figured I better sit down and get our October blog done before November comes to an end! Really just 2 main things to share for Oct... our trip to Bend, OR to visit grandpa & grandma Mandelkow, and Halloween! Will begin with the trip...

We had planned this trip a few months earlier and our visit was a surprise for grandpa's 65th birthday on the 11th. Bob's b-day was the 22nd, so we decided to make a week long RV excursion out of it to celebrate both. We have RV'd with Zoey every couple of months since she was 3 months old, but this was the longest & farthest trip so far... fortunately for ALL of us, she has proven to be quite a seasoned little traveler :) Stopped just outside of Stockton to camp the first night & Mount Shasta Lake the 2nd night, 2 nice little parks. We brought along our dog Emmy (a little too tight quarters for our other dog Kai), and the 4 of us had a great time together. This trip turned out to be a very big bonding experience for Zo & Em, they have really become good buds & we are thrilled.

We had a really nice time with the grandparents. Spent 2 1/2 days at their beautiful home in Bend, OR and enjoyed leisurely walks in the crisp Fall weather, cozy playtime in front of the fire, and some super yummy food made by grandma Terry, including an incredible crab dinner b-day celebration for grandpa Dale. The time went quick, but was so worth the drive - thank you for everything g & g Mandelkow!

Heading home we hit the biggest rain storm of the season as we approached Sacramento, so stopped a bit early and road it out in the Sac KOA campground... the winds hit the RV so hard a few times you thought it might actually tip! All was good the next morning so back on the road we went. After another stop at our Stockton campground for our 2nd night, we made it home just a few hours behind schedule. A great trip for all of us. A BIG thanks to our friends who took such good care of our dog Kai & Blue Fishy our betta fish... we could not have done this without you!

Halloween this year was so much fun for us... as Zoey gets older these experiences with her just get better & better :) We celebrated with our family at gram & pa Johnson's home - Zo's aunts & uncles, 2 cousins, great grandma and my mom "nana" Lina were all with us. For those of you not familiar with the "Westlake Village Trick-or-Treating Experience", let's just say New Year's Eve doesn't hold a candle to it... we went house to house for about an hour and a half with about 800 other people! Police on horseback are there to keep an eye on things, and there are the most amazing home decorations... one guy even dresses up as Captain Jack Sparrow with his house in full "Pirates" theme. Check out our pic below with Capt. Jack... you'll swear it's Johnny Depp himself! Little Zoey was a skeleton in cozy pink p.j.s - kept her warm outside AND she was ready for bed, very convenient. We'll go for a more elaborate costume next year I think!

Hope your October was fun-filled as well, and we hope you enjoy the following pics of our adventures... until next time,
Holly & family
The Tumas Trio