Veteran's Day Hike!

So, I'm a bit behind on blogging now. Last week (November 11th) on Veteran's Day, Kelsey asked us to go hiking with her up at Mt. Charleston. We decided to try & hike to Cathedral Rock. There was a bit of snow on the ground, so we bundled Alec up all warm:
The dogs were (as usual) very excited:
With Kelsey came Kippie, her little shih tzu puppy:
It was really beautiful out, nice & sunny with a breeze:
Another great family shot:
My little sister & I:
After about an hour & a half we reached a dead end!! Come to realize we'd gone up instead of down at one juncture...so we missed the correct trail. But, it was a fun hike anyway and we headed home!

A cute shot of father & son, though if you look closely you can see me in Paul's glasses:
Alec giving his auntie some love:

Maggie's Graduation

Well, cheesey as it may be, I had to give Maggie her dues. She graduated from Intermediate Level training at Petsmart! It was 8 weeks of regularly practicing new tricks, but she did great...and even put up with the cap at the end for some pictures!

Air Show

Last Saturday Christopher & Joleen invited us to attend the Air Show at Nellis Air Force Base with them. Alec loves pointing at planes, so we decided it was a great idea! He had a lot of fun looking at the planes on display & watching the stunt pilot & Thunderbirds.

There was a giant cargo plane as we first entered the base, so Alec posed with Uncle Christopher:
We then wandered about checking out the planes on display. Alec would occasionally make it clear which plane he wanted to see:


Cute shot of Uncle Christopher & Auntie Joleen:
Thunderbirds, the main reason for our attendance:
Safely snuggled in daddy's arms is the best place to watch the Thunderbirds perform!

Let's go hiking...

Last Saturday it was still a bit warm in Vegas, so we decided to head up to Mount Charleston to do some hiking. This time we left early enough, so we managed to secure a great parking spot next to the trailhead! I managed to take a few cute shots even in the parking lot:

It had been a while since we'd found the time (or energy) to go hiking, so we picked the short trail to 'Little Falls'. It was uphill there, which was a great workout! We didn't see anyone else, so the dogs enjoyed their freedom; running about and sniffing. Alec got fussy if we stood still for a moment to catch our breath, so we had to let him out during water breaks:
Eventually we let him down to try out the uneven ground. There was an old pipe running down the mountain which Alec thought made a great climbing toy...
'Little Falls' was certainly aptly named as the trickle was about right for the beginning of fall.
But, nothing beats the views from a higher vantage point!
The hike back was very nice, as it was all downhill and you could more easily see the views.
We decided we hadn't had enough of being out of the city, so we wandered about the lodge area. Alec cuddled his daddy...
tried to tickle him...
enjoyed petting a horse...
then giggled the whole way home!Definitely a successful family day!

Halloween

The week before Halloween, Alec had been invited to Catherine's Halloween party. It was a bit hot to be putting him in the tiger costume I'd bought him (when we were planning to be in Colorado by Halloween), so he wore his lovely Chinese pajamas. Thanks Ong family!!

The party had a lot of age-appropriate crafts and Alec enjoyed coloring his candy bag & decorating a pumpkin face:
Halloween night we had a party with my siblings (& spouses!), uncle & cousin where we played games for an hour, took Alec trick-or-treating around the block, then watched 'Hocus Pocus'.

I hadn't planned costumes for Paul and I, so at the last minute I became 'blackmail' and he became 'God's Gift to Women' (which Paul thought was blasphemous and immediately took off after pictures).

It was cool enough for Alec to wear his tiger costume part of the time! He looked so darling in it!
Alec really enjoyed trick-or-treating and was polite enough to remember to thank people!
It was so much fun for us this year, as he really got into all the games and decorations. He LOVES pumpkins, especially a ceramic jack o'lantern my grandmother made him with his name in the mouth. She bought him little battery-operated tea lights for inside it that he insists on switching on each morning and lovingly placing in the pumpkin. Thanks, grandma!