Fall is here!

It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is around the corner and that we are in 5th gear speeding to the end of the year. I try to live day by day, but this time of year always seems to speed by more quickly than I can keep up with.

Axel is loving the fall weather. He learned in one of his Winnie the Pooh books how fun chasing, crunching and falling onto a pile of leaves are, so when he found the opportunity to do so he had an absolute blast. We were getting my car smog tested, so please ignore the litter in the pile of leaves :)

Axel also loves the rain. He loves to watch it, sing about it and most of all he loves to use the umbrella or his hood on his jacket. I am glad he likes it so much, because I am only a fan when it is a full on storm. The day after day light rain gets old quickly, so I will feed off Axel's love for it when the winter weather really gets here.

Axel has also had a love for the moon the past month or two. He always asks where the moon is in the morning and in the evening, when I pick him up. This week the moon was close to full or full so he was really excited every night to see it "come out".

On a fun note Axel is getting better and better at pin ball. Here is a video of him playing.

Axel continues to mature emotionally. I feel incredibly blessed that I can talk to him like an equal and explain to him why we cannot do something or why we have to do something. Most of the time he responds by saying, "Oh". Of course, he still is a 2 year old and when tired is not as responsive, but for the most part it is really nice. A great example of this was when I picked him up an hour early from daycare this week. He really didn't want to go because he was having fun with his friends. I told him that it was almost dark and that we needed to get home because Louis is afraid of the dark and would start crying if we didn't make it home before dark. When we got home, Louis was crying, and he immediately asked to turn the light on and let Louis out because he was sad and afraid.

On a side note, I finally had the opportunity to join Keith for a low key hill climb. It is a series every fall that has a time trial up one of the local climbs, one each week for 9 weeks. Axel and I helped out by volunteering for the first four, so it was really fun to get to ride/race one of them. It was quite invigorating to ride as hard as I could, despite not having the fitness after being off the bike for a few months. This was surprisingly fun for me, because I am not someone who likes to compete without proper preparation :) I am really glad I did and plan on doing the last two in the series if the weather permits. Here is a picture of the four girl team members, who happen to be my close friends :)

Here is a picture of the "entire" team today. We were missing a few of Keith's buddies, but it was nice to have the ladies step it up and help the team out.

That is it for now. Have a great week!

Happy Halloween!

Daddy was so excited for us to arrive home Saturday night. We had a big day of Halloween festivities for Sunday. Daddy wanted to take Axel to the pumpkin patch since he hadn't had the chance to go with us yet. Axel, of course couldn't argue about another chance to pet the pigs and goats.

We actually had the privilege of watching the pigs being caught and caged as the Pumpkin patch would be closing after sun down. The big lesson we learned is that pigs don't like to be picked up and boy can they squeal loudly!


once we got home from the pumpkin patch we immediately started carving the pumpkin. Axel was absolutely excited. He couldn't wait to draw the face and carve it out.

He was a little annoyed with all of the gutting of the pumpkin. I didn't realize how big our pumpkin was! Oops!

The next day I brought Axel to school with his Dalmatian costume and a vegan chocolate cake. His daycare does a great job of celebrating every holiday. The kids were going to the high school to trick or treat around the classrooms. I was really apprehensive at how Axel would do. Last year they went on a Friday so I was able to go with him and he didn't exactly have fun. Well when I arrived after work I was informed that he didn't go! What!! My poor child refused to go and thus stayed home with the baby, while the other kids went. I felt so bummed for him.

Somehow on the way home, whatever I said, helped change Axel's mind about getting dressed up and going trick or treating. He couldn't wait for daddy to get home so that we could go. He even ate dinner with his costume half on.

We went to our new neighbor's house, next door, to see if they were taking their son trick or treating. They moved in just a few days prior. We were in luck and they were just getting ready to head out. Axel and his new friend, Rashawn, were absolutely adorable.

They hit it off right away. Rashawn is 2 weeks older than Axel, so we are all hoping they become great friends over the years.

A funny side note is that Axel had so much fun trick or treating on Halloween night he woke up the next day and asked to put his costume on. He said he wanted to go trick or treating with his friends at school. It was a bit of a sad let down to tell him that he would have to wait until next year to go trick or treating with his school mates. Good thing is daddy convinced him that Thanksgiving was just around the corner which meant that the Grinch was coming back. That saved some tears and put a big smile on Axel's face. For those of you who don't know the Grinch is Axel's favorite movie. I think it is because that was the first TV/movie I let him watch, so he watched it almost every day for months! We had to say good bye to the Grinch in early March because I didn't want the Grinch to loose its charm.

Have a great weekend and make sure to check out the previous post I just did as well!

Prelude to Halloween

A week ago from Saturday the Szolusha's had an action packed day. Axel and I drove to the top of Bohlman where we waited for daddy to race to the top. After watching over a hundred cyclist reach the top we headed over to a teammates house for a BBQ. It was about 84 degrees out and a spectacular day so we had some good for and Axel and daddy even tried to go swimming. The pool was a bit cold, but they were true champs.

We tried to get home in time for Axel's nap, but unfortunately, we were 30 minutes late which meant that Axel was overly tired. This resulted in him playing in his bed for an hour and then asking to come out and play. We had some family fun and then Axel had an early bath and dinner because Annika was coming over to watch him while Keith and I headed to his company's 30th anniversary party.

Billy Idol was the entertainment of the night. We had amazing food and drinks and got to listen to some good old tunes. Here is a not so good picture of Billy Idol on stage.

At school the next week Axel had tons of different Halloween projects. By far Axel's favorite of the week was his very first Halloween mask. It was suppose to by a happy mask, but the more and more I looked at it, it was kind of scary like the joker mask :) Axel made sure to show it off to our neighbors when we arrived home as well as daddy when he finally got home for the evening as well.

On Thursday Axel and I headed to Sacramento to spend a couple of days with Grandma Susan. On Friday morning we headed to the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary. We arrived a bit early so we got to hand out at the park in front of the zoo.

This we our first time at the Folsom Zoo and it was quite different from a regular zoo. They had ducks, squirrels, bob cats, mountain lines, cats and lot of other animals that you don't think of seeing at a zoo. All of the animals were rescued for some reason or another.


You would think because we went to the zoo I would include pictures of Axel looking at the animals, but the two biggest highlights this time were not animals. The first big hit was making a souvenir penny with Grandma. He had so much fun he wanted to make another!

The second big hit was the train that ran outside the zoo. As soon as Axel heard it he couldn't wait to go see where it was. His face absolutely lit up as he watched the smoke release with every "cho, choo" bell that went off.

On Saturday Auntie and Great Grandma Millie arrived. We were all going to head to Galt to our Cousin's baby shower. As I was in the shower, Axel watch Grandma get ready. He was so impressed with Grandma's rollers that he wanted to put them on too. I walked out of the shower to see him like this. Goodness, I thought, this is almost worse than the pony tail and bracelet I have come home to in the past.

We stopped by my Aunt Susan's house before heading to the baby shower. She absolutely loves Halloween and always does an amazing job decorating her house/yard. Axel was amazed by what he saw. He was initially timid, but after a few minutes of realizing nothing moved he couldn't wait to jump in the man made cobwebs.


our trip ended with Denise and James baby shower. We had so much fun visiting everyone. Axel was able to meet my cousin's child, Kaylee for the first time. We told Axel that Kaylee was his cousin and he immediately didn't leave Kaylee's side. He kept saying, "come on cousin" and "cousin, this and cousin that". The entire ride home he talked about his cousin. It was so precious!

We are excited for the arrival of Vanessa, which is expected for the 12th! Good luck Denise and James.

Halloween Festivities

On Sunday, Axel and I, along with his favorite person/babysitter, Annika, went to the pumpkin patch around the corner from us. It was so cool. It had almost everything Lemos Farm had, which we drove an hour to get to. This was almost better, even though it was smaller.

It had a little hay maze that the kids were able to climb up on. Here Axel is at the top.

Here Axel is peeking through a window in the maze.

Axel was able to pet pigs and goats this time. This was the first time that Axel has pet a pig. I think he loved it since he had just watched 30 minutes of the Spanish version of "Babe" the night before.


Axel also managed to pet baby chicks! He thought they were so cute. He stayed here the longest.

Although the chicks were a hit, I think Axel's favorite part of our little excursion was painting his own pumpkin. He picked out pumpkins for daddy, mommy and Annika. Mommy got a little one like Axel's, and Annika and daddy got big ones :)

Axel is really into building things. This week he has been stuck on his magnetic balls and sticks that he received for Christmas last year. Here is one of his creations (of course with mommy's assistance).

The other big news of the week is Axel is now fully participating in everything at daycare. For the past year or so he sits in a chair by himself in another room during circle time. He still sang, but he was always too afraid to be with the other kids. Starting last Thursday he was the first sitting and waiting for circle time to begin. He is also playing all of the time with his friends and never seems to want to leave daycare. It is such a nice change. Mornings are still occasionally tough, but for the most part he is easy to drop off, especially if other kids are already there.

Here is a look at one of the many songs they sing during circle time. He is saying open, shut them over and over. He just might have a career in entertainment in the future. What do you think?

Lemos Farm

Last Sunday, Keith and I, along with our friends, Tyler and Cynthia took Axel to Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay. Since the time that Keith and I first started riding past Lemos Farm together we knew that one day we wanted to take our children there. Well, Axel was finally old enough. We left bright and early, in order to get there right when it opened at 9am. We wanted to beat the horrible traffic and get back in time for Axel to take his nap.

There is a big pumpkin patch, a train ride, a hay ride, a pony ride, laser tag and a petting area. Axel was really excited to see the goats. No matter where we go, he loves animals.

He loves to feed them, pet them and watch them. It was by far where he spent the most time and where he had the most fun at Lemos Farm.

Axel was adventurous and tried the pony ride, but he got scared after going around a couple of times. Keith and I were scared that he might fall off anyways so we were relieved when he started to cry and wanted down. He seems just a bit too small for the saddle and was bouncing from side to side a little more than any of us liked.

We were just really proud of him for trying.

Axel and daddy rode the train around the entire farm. He seemed to really enjoy it.
Here is a our best try at a family photo. Unfortunately, it is not a great shot, but it was a nice try.

We are excited for Axel to experience Halloween this year. We think this is the first year that he will really get it. We already have his pumpkin to collect candy and his costume that was a hand me down. Now all we have to do is get pumpkins to carve and bake our first sugar pie pumpkin in order to make our first pumpkin pie of the year.

We love fall and the holidays because the entire Szolusha family loves pumpkin pie. Let the pumpkin pie season begin!

check back soon for Halloween pictures! Oh, make sure to check out the blog I did earlier today about the past three weeks!

Axel is growing up

Axel turned 2 and a half at the end of September. It is hard to believe the little guy is growing up so quickly. He seems to understand more emotions and situations and is able to make conclusions about situations. For example, he asks me, "Can we talk." He then wants me to ask him how his day was. He will then proceed to tell me who he played with, what he did, what he had for lunch and his emotional response to each. "I cried mommy." And then he will tell me why he was upset. "Mason sat in my chair." or "Brandon took my train away from me." He will even ask me, "Mommy, are you sick?" "Do you need to rest?" If I look tired or uncomfortable. He often wants explanations to why I or somebody responds with a sound effect. He is absolutely adorable in his complete innocence and I hope we can maintain that as he is exposed to more and more life situations.

Since our last blog, we have been busy putting a new HD antennae on the roof and replacing the sink faucet. Although, I don't have the picture of our big antennae, here is the faucet progject at a stand still. We had to have a neighbor help loosen the rusted nut with his pipe wrench. The only trouble was getting the big pipe wrench around the nut. There wasn't enough space under the sink. Luckily, with lots of sweat and a beer each, the two of them got the old faucet out and the new faucet in.

Our family had the stomach bug. Axel did fairly well. He did have a number of small accidents in his pants, but he never full out went diarrhea in his underwear. He always managed to get to the potty to finish even though he had a little spot each time. Luckily, that cleared up after 10 days and he is back on track with very few accidents. While we had the stomach bug Keith and I decided to do a puzzle together. Well, I helped the first night with the border and separating the pieces, but by the second night, Keith almost had the whole thing finished. I went to lie down and rest at 8pm, but ended up never getting up. I fell asleep for the night and Keith worked on the puzzle until 11pm. So much for helping. Keith was gracious enough to leave the last piece for me to put in. Such a loving husband :)

One evening after picking up Axel from school he decided to play with a brown paper bag. I happened to have a creative moment and turned the paper bag into a little costume. Axel had so much fun being a paper ghost. I told him to scare daddy when he got home from work. It put a big smile on Keith's face.

Keith had his last race of the season the last week in September. He did fantastic and won his first race in over 5 years. He was awesome to watch, although it was a bit nerve racking because it was raining and there were several crashes throughout the race. Luckily, he stayed upright and took home the win, plus two primes.

Axel had a blast as well and was a natural at being up on the podium.

Axel was so tired from all of the fun he fell asleep on the way home. Of course, while eating some animal crackers.

Axel continues to become more creative in his play as well. It is because of this elevated train track that daddy thinks Axel might end up an engineer.

Here he is pushing his truck around with his bag of "tools" and "friends".

Ok, time to do the next post on our trip to Lemos Farm.