Palm Springs King Wedding Weekend (aka Our Mini-Babymoon)

Last month we took one last final family vacation with Taj before his little brother enters the world, this month Brad and I took a solo 3 night trip of our own...... our friends Jane & Griffin's fabulous wedding extravaganza weekend at Le Parker Meridien Resort in Palm Springs, CA! Even though we mingled with friends every night and partied it up in celebration of our friends tying the knot, I like to think we had a "baby-moon" (yep, just like a honeymoon!) of our own. Why? Because it was the first time we left our 1st baby for 3 nights (Taj was on his own fun vacation with cousin Chloe and the whole Fetters gang), we wined and dined each other (I only had wine one night), dressed up every night, slept in every morning, and got some much needed and uninterrupted quality time together. Even though we missed our little stinker and can't wait to meet our second little stinker, Brad and I enjoyed not having to chase around a toddler or shovel down our food, or rush back home to relieve the babysitter, or have to get up early in the morning. :) The first night, we attended Jane & Griffin's rehearsal dinner, as they referred to it, because they opted not to have a wedding party this was a very special dinner for the close friends that would have been in their wedding:
but first, quick flashback to 3 years ago, just before our wedding with the couple. I can't believe how young and skinny I look in this photo, hope I can look like this again after 2 pregnancies!
Rehearsal dinner:

Brad was the first to stand up and give a speech, toasting to his CA best friend Griffin, who he has known since he moved out here from NY.
Lovely 1st night catching up with good friends and girlfriends I haven't seen in a while. It felt like a reunion since a lot of our friends that attended this wedding also attended ours. How life changes in 3 years right? We are on our 2nd baby, and Baby Jax got so much attention all weekend long. The belly was a hit and everyone loved rubbing it! I have never received so many compliments and been manhandled as much in one weekend, let alone when I wasn't pregnant!
The next day, Brad and I ventured out to downtown Palm Springs and had the most delicious breakfast date ever, at Cheeky's. The expected desert heat and sun unexpectedly turned into cold and rainy weather, so we took a nap in our room, met up with friends later in the day, and then had a fabulous dinner out with 12 of our friends. We ended up back at the resort for the wedding's 2nd night: Meet & Greet Welcome Night at the firepits.
You can't see in this photo but we are roasting marshmellows above the fire, which made for yummy smores on a cold evening (temperature at night was 40 degrees!)

Here is the bride-to-be Jane on the night before her wedding:
On Saturday, the actual wedding day, Jane & Griffin couldn't have been any luckier and happier to wake up to blue skies and a gorgeous day. Got my "push present" from my hubby: my make-up professionally done once again (LOL told you I am spoiled these days..... this has become my guilty pleasure this pregnancy). With my hair and make-up done and Brad handsome as ever in the tux he wore at our wedding, it sure felt like a walk down memory lane for us.... for a second we felt like it was our day! I love how weddings remind you of your own wedding and the emotion/ excitement felt that day.
Jane & Griffin had a beautiful garden wedding, and there was not a single dry eye in the audience as Jane's sweet father officiated the wedding, making it super personal and emotional.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. King!!! Did I mention the bride had 2 amazing wedding dresses? One sparkly princess dress for the ceremony and an awesome abstract artsy wedding dress for the reception.
There was a wine-paired 5 course dinner, and this surprise show put on by the lebanese follk dancers (Jane and her family are Lebanese).

It was so much fun!!! After the performance, others joined the dance floor dancing to Arabic music! Can you believe my crazy husband was on the dance floor and dancing with a sword?! Ha! That's an example of how crazy this wedding was!


Congratulations to our dearest friends, and thank you for such an incredibly fun adult only weekend away! And thank you to my friends Jane, Laura, Salma, and Michelle who kindly allowed me to borrow dresses, shoes, and skirts for the occasion (since I'm at such an awkward size and have swollen feet!) Couldn't have asked for a better babymoon with my husband!

The Rest of our Outstanding October

Wow, we are already in November and I still have October pictures to post and stories to share! October was a very full month for us! Here are some other things we did:
In Taji Land, the boy keeps growing and learning, and getting into mischievous trouble. His vocabulary is out of this world, and he has become a major rock collector! This last month, he's identified who this Taj person is, and now when you ask him what his name is, he proudly responds "I'm Taj"

his latest mischiefs: he loves to pull the changing pad into his crib and empty out his diaper/ sock drawer during nap time :) (can you also see in this picture how he tried to undress himself?)
The Grover Family had a photo shoot for Newport Beach Magazine. A friend of a friend who is a writer for the magazine did a spotlight on a couple families living in Corona Del Mar and interviewed me about what we like most about living in the village. Then a photographer was sent to photograph our home and family, and according to them, the story and photos will be published in the New Years 2012 issue. I took the opportunity to treat myself and get my make-up done professionally for the shoot (I admit I have become really obsessed with fake eyelashes because my own have thinned out so much from pregnancy!)
We had the pleasure of attending Cayden's soccer game in San Juan Capistrano. If you didnt know by now, Taj is quite soccer fan and star. He's already got the kicking down, and because of the influence of his cousins Chloe and Cayden, he's sporting some awesome talent already!
Here's Cayden in action! (he's on the right, wearing yellow, and running after the ball.

Taj playing his own game of soccer!
October was also a special month for Taj's cousins Haven, Nicole, and Sierra who celebrated BIG birthdays! We helped Sierra celebrate her 10th birthday:

Trick or Treat! 2011

Last year was Taj's first Halloween, but this year his first official Halloween with trick or treating (and hanging with the big kids in costume!) Here is our little yellow crayon:

We drove down to Brad's sister Sherry's neighborhood (gaurd gated community in San Juan Capistrano) to trick a treat with the cousins and attend their annual block party. All the adults and kids gathered in costume at one of their neighbor's houses for some drinks and food, and then we took the kids trick or treating around their festive neighborhood. Here is Taj posing with Grandma Sue and Papa Gene:

Their neighborhood gets into the spirit of Halloween with so many awesome and spooky decorations!
With vampire fairy Sierra and dracula Cayden (or Sia and Cade as Taji likes to call his cousins)
with the neighborhood kids, who really took him under their wings and showed him how trick or treating is done! Taji loved looking at everyone's costume and got Cayden confused with the other boys LOL He was handing out hugs left and right and demanded to keep up with them!
off we go trick or treating!!! Our favorite quote of the night we heard about our family costume was "the family that colors together, stays together!" ha ha And at one of the houses, Brad was asked, "did you ever think one day you would be dressed up as a giant blue crayon?" ;-P
first house, Taji repeated "Trick or Treat" after us, but said "thank you" and "bye bye" on his own.


by the third or fourth house, Taj had it down! Right when the door opened he said "Trick or Treat," and after all the "awe's" he knew immediately to reach for the candy and put it in his pumpkin bucket! Then said "thank you" (with our prompting) and "bye bye", turning around and excitedly on to the next house (and wanting to keep up with the other kids) The best thing about trick or treatin in a gated community with nice expensive houses is they have some of the best candy, and giant candy bars for that matter! One house handed out dollar bills!

By the end of the night, Taji was saying "trick or Treat" over and over, and was ready for Round 2, but it was time for pj's, his baba, and we were headed home to bed. The crayola family was pooped! Trick or treating is tiring! Next Halloween, Taj will be coaching his little brother on what to say at the door and will spill all the secrets about how to charm them for the best candy!!! Oh my, becoming a Family of Four what on earth are we going to dress up as next year? Gotta start brainstorming a family costume..... :)

Taj's 2nd annual Halloween Costume Party

You are personally invited to.....
We started a new tradition last year by having our friends and their babies in costume come to our house for a playdate, photos, and treats! A year later our babies grew to be active toddlers, so for Halloween this year, we hosted our 2nd annual costume party at the park just down the street. Here is a Grover family of 3 + 1 on the way..... our Crayola Family:
We served up some yummy treats for the adults and kiddos.....
And our babysitter Sam made this awesome pumpkin and ghost chocolate cake pops:
Taji had fun playing with all of his buddies..... (from left) here he is with 14 month old Casey, 9 month old Maddie, and 10 month old Brooklyn:
with his neighborhood gal pal Sophia (same age):
Cousin Chloe the pirate stopped by to celebrate as well and kept Taji laughing the whole time!
From 2-5pm we played at the park. It was a gorgeous summery day with the Fall backdrop. We had a pretty good turn-out of buddies throughout the day. In the beginning, our new neighborhood friends the Carltons, and then the Tennants came by. Then the Cahill, D'Angelo, and Jacobsen Families arrived with their kiddos. Tammy and her ladybug Dorothy came by too dresed in costume! Then the Fetters trio arrived in their great costumes! Ladybug was a popular girl costume this year, we had 4 at the party! Here is the Grover Crayon family:
The Fetters Family:
The Carltons:
The Cahills:Ladybugs Tammy and daughter Dorothy (DJ for short, who is also the same age as Taj)
The Jacobsen foursome with their little bundles of joy, new addition Berkley as a ladybug, and Cade-man as a bee :)
The mommies posed for a shot with the babies before it was time to head home. Taj loved seeing all of his buddies, and I am sucker for babies in costume....... love Halloween for that exact reason! Thanks to our old and new friends for coming out! xo