Christmas Photos

I love that my dad is a photographer. We have a great resource pretty much whenever we want. So, for our Christmas pictures this year, Dad came out and took pictures of us at El Dorado Park. Owen had a blast since he loves the park and he was all smiles. We even had a cluster of geese to mess around with. Owen loved chasing after them...as you'll see in one of the pics. We used a few of the pictures for our Christmas card and we'll eventually share some of Owen's good shots with family. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas this year. It was also a mini Ravelo family reunion. There were about 50 extended family members who all gathered for dinner at the California Hotel (where else) and then again for a brunch on the Saturday after. It was a fun time to see Aunties, Uncles and cousins who we rarely see. We also did a little sight seeing and actually got a night out on the town with out the kids! It was a nice time but I had no luck this round when gambling. Absolutely none! I should have stuck to shopping at the outlets!
The kiddos of the 3rd generation: Taylor, Rylee, Diesel, Ocean, Easton, Owen and Johnny. Cayden is missing (among others who weren't able to make it to Vegas at all) but he eventually joined the group on the Saturday for brunch.
My siblings and I...we're so grown up now!
Johnny and Owen at the hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations which is right next door to the Hilton. It's a nice place, super family friendly and very convenient since both my mom, aunt, uncle, cousins, sister and brother all stayed there too! We would bounce from room to room hanging out!
The Agapay side of the family with the "core" Ravelo family members!

The Keenan's enjoying turkey dinner!

Owen's 2nd Birthday!

Owen loved his birthday cupcakes!

The day of Owen's birthday party, was the day the fires in Chino Hills broke out. We had planned an outdoor party, but because the ash was so thick and the air quality was really poor, everyone squeezed inside to celebrate. We didn't have nearly as many people over as his first birthday, but just enough to make it seem like a big deal! We just served appetizers (which actually turned out to be really good!) and I mad 8 dozen (YES, 8 dozen) cupcakes for the occasion. They turned out so cute and yummy!
Didn't catch too many pictures from the party since we video taped this time around. All in all, it was a good party, Owen had a great time and we can't believe we have a 2 year old!

Halloween Time!

Owen had a great time this Halloween! His first appearance was at Mommy's work to show off his really cute French Fry costume. He was a hit for sure! After Mommy got home from work, it was pumpkin carving time. Then after dinner, we anticipated night fall and got ready to go trick or treating!


This year, we had Grandma Jo, Grandpa Chuck, Erin and Pat joining us for chili and cornbread and then off to a few houses for candy! Owen's first stop was to our neighbor Evelyn who absolutely adores Owen. Owen adores her dog Toto.

Pa's Punkin Patch!

Owen, Jill and I visited Pa's Punkin Patch on October 18th. This was Owen's 2nd time visiting the patch in 2 weeks. He was a pro. He got to ride the cars, the pink elephants, go in the petting zoo, play a game and pick out a pumpkin! Not to mention take a lot of pictures! This was a really fun day! Thanks Jill for coming to play with us!

His favorite part of the patch is the "cars" ride. From this picture, you'd never know it, but he really loves this ride!



We rode the train together. He had fun on this ride too!

Owen went in the Petting Zoo with Jill. He got to visit the sheep, baby chicks, goats, and and ostrich. He was a little scared going in and didn't want to be let down.

It was a really fun day! I'm sure we'll have plenty more pictures because we have to go back and pick out an even bigger pumpkin! According to Greg, the one we picked, just wasn't big enough!

New "Do"

We finally gave in and got Owen's hair cut. But, not too much! We both really love his curly locks so it was safe to trim it up! We took him to the person who does my hair, Jenny. I trusted her and could be honest about what I wanted his hair to look like. Owen was really good while getting his hair cut, unlike the previous two times we've taken him to the kiddy hair cut places. He sat very still in my lap and talked very quietly to Jenny. He was in and out in less then 10 minutes. Love that! There isn't too much of a change as you can see. He's still cuter than ever! (Sorry for the random background...Owen's too quick these days to actually get him to cooperate!)

Humpty Dumpty ran down the hall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

I don't usually refer to Owen as Humpty Dumpty...in fact, he's a pretty agile kid. But if he only has 1 hour of naptime and a really busy day, this kid becomes delirious. And he would fall and we would not be able to put him back together again! :)
Owen had just gotten out of the bath and we were winding down for the night. Greg was on the phone, talking football out in the living room and I was just about to hop on the computer. Owen was running back to his room and SMACK! He hit his head on the doorway of his room...I think!?! I didn't see it, but a bump that big and noticeable wasn't from just any part of a wall. All I heard was the crying and then, picked him up, examined him for blood and looked at his head to see the large emerging blue knot! It was only highlighted so because he was screaming like crazy! It had to have been right next to a vein or something because the more he cried, the worse it got! Poor kid. So I handed him off to Greg, grabbed the ice pack called the "boo-boo bunny"and proceeded to put it on his head. The ice was too cold and made him scream even more. I finally got him to sit on the couch and cuddle with me while he relaxed and allowed me to hold the boo-boo bunny on his forehead. We gave him some Motrin for the pain and he finally fell asleep on my chest. Just like the good 'ol days.
These pictures are from the next night...but you can definitely see the bruise on the left side of his head. The swelling has gone down significantly. He was showing off saying cheese then showed me his "cry face". Even though he has a "hurt" on his head, he is still in very good spirits.

Cool Guy in the tub

Grandma Jo Jo and I gave Owen a bath. He thought it would be fun to wear his sunglasses! So he did...for most of his bath! I caught a few pics of him laughing while he and Grandma said "Banzai" and "Awfum". Awfum is Owen's way of saying awesome...taught by none other than his older cousin Johnny. Here are some pics of him in the bath!

El Capitan State Beach

We went camping with the Davis family on September 9th through the 11th. It was supposed to be 3 nights, but by the middle of the 3rd day, along with at least 1 kid crying almost every half hour, we were all ready to get back to our own homes. It was a fun time though! It was the first time all adults have ever camped with their own kids so the previous camping experiences were quite a breeze. Despite this, we do plan on making this a yearly trip! That way the kids have something to look forward to and hopefully one day they can blog the trips too!
This is Owen's famous squat. He's really good at it! He found a bunch of ants and had to get a closer look!
Family picture on El Capitan State Beach


Our campsite, #4. It was just the right size and in just the right spot. The kids had enough room to run around, kick up dirt and fall. Yes, they all fell a lot! We forgot to bring a table to cook on so Greg's tail gate served as the perfect area to use the stoves on.

Here the kids are patiently awaiting breakfast! This was a rare time for them to all be sitting on their camping chairs...unless it was to eat smores!
Owen didn't care about roasting the marshmallow! He just ate them straight from the bag! After roasting marshmallows on our second night, it was time to get the kids cleaned up! This was truly a challenge! I decided I could shower and get Owen showered at the same time. It involved some major prep to be sure everything was at hand because the showers were coin operated. And Owen hates the shower so I had to talk him through the entire time while he clung to me with the grip of death! Surprisingly, it only took 4 quarters for Owen and I and we made it through the shower all fresh and clean! Next time, he's showering with Greg!

MORE PICS OF OUR DAY AT THE BEACH TO COME SOON!

Muddy Day

Owen turned the nozzle of our random water spout on the side of our house and created a watery mud world for himself and his monster trucks. Thank goodness he was already in a swim diaper! Greg caught a minute or two on video. I guess it seemed like a good time, but after a while, as you'll see in the video, he thought it was "goas".

Playin' at Cubberley

We're lucky to live caddy corner to Cubberley Elementary school. The kindergarten playground is visible from our house and has often been our "go-to" spot with Owen without really having to venture very far. We walked over there this evening to play with Owen and tire him out before bed time. It worked...he hasn't made a peep since we put him to bed and normally it's a battle of climbing in and out of the crib!

I took some pictures of Owen going down the slide. Much to my surprise his first trip down was on his belly! Too cute! He is just a little ball of energy and went up the ladder and down the slide numerous times! He had a blast running around the open playground! I finally came to the realization Owen is a typical boy! We both have our work cut out for us as he gets older. But it's so fun to sit back and watch what his next move will be...although sometimes we have to run right after him, just in case.

Garden of Keenan

We didn't do much this past weekend. We decided to make our house look a little more aesthetically pleasing. We tore up the plants on the side of the garage in order to make way for some flowers. The nasty smelling garlic plants and poor under cared for lily plants were just not cutting it. That and it just looked ugly. So I started to rip plants out, started to dig plants out and then Greg pretty much finished that job. Owen helped by running up and down the front lawn, playing with and getting scratched by the neighbor's cat and then bolting out of sight to play in the neighbor's driveway. We aren't bad parents, I swear. The kid is just so fast! Why doesn't he just stay in one spot!?! Oh yeah, and he loves earthworms. "Whem" is how he pronounces it.
So we went on a trip to Armstrong Garden Center and a few duckets later...voila!! Our lovely garden! Complete with a frog that represents each one of us. How cute is that!? We also bought this really cool mulch that is made of cocoa shells. It smells like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory would, if there really was one! So much better than the nasty garlic plants!

We did a good job. Greg and I planted while Owen napped, thank goodness! It was a hot day out and I'm glad we got an early start. The sun was blazing, but luckily we were planting in the shade for the most part. Hopefully you'll be able to stop and smell the chocolate soon.