Fall Colors

It's been unseasonably warm on some of our fall days, but even when it's not, the boys insist on wearing 'summer clothes' every day! Andrew looks mighty cute in red, dontcha think? :)



We parked in an apartment complex to get the previous fall color photos - this friendly cat loved the camera!



Pony Party

Okay, so technically, it was a miniature horse...but pony rolls off the tongue a little easier. Our little neighbor girl invited the boys to her 5th birthday party, where they had a therapy horse come and pull the kids up and down the street in a buggy for hours! I felt bad for the horse, but the kids had a blast!

Shyboy arrives and munches on some greens.

Andrew might need a little horse someday. He's so great with animals!

My little basketball star!

Sweet Matty, deep in thought...or, just spaced out. :)

Birthday girl waiting for her ride. Sweet Shyboy worked so hard!

Andrew and Matthew waited almost an entire hour for their first ride!

Basketcasehead

Puyallup Fair - with Grandma June!

We journeyed up to Tacoma, WA last Friday night after soccer with Grandma June. First, we stopped by Subway for a healthy dinner, hoping the kids would eat and then sleep in the car. Matthew did. Andrew didn't. We stayed in the Hampton Inn - very clean and nice. Grandma shared a room with us - Andrew got to snuggle her while they read some science books together. The boys slept in sleeping bags at the foot of our bed. We had carried Matthew up from the car - he slept through the whole car ride and the entire night!

Matthew was the first one awake, naturally. I think it was about 6:30 when he crawled into our bed. I'd just fallen back asleep after tossing and turning during the early morning hours. I could barely peel my eyelids open, but loved having his tiny warm body next to me for a bit. Finally, Mike took pity on him (or maybe he was just hungry? Ha!) and asked if he wanted to go on a walk. The two of them got ready very quietly to let the rest of us snooze and went to explore (oh, and to retrieve Matthew's backpack from the car. It was full of his 20 favorite stuffed animals). Andrew woke up shortly thereafter, and the two of us snuck out to let Grandma June sleep a little longer. We met Mike and Matthew in the lobby, and found a great breakfast buffet to dig into. We had chocolate muffins, eggs, french toast sticks, yogurt, cereal, orange juice, coffee, tea and even got to make our own waffles. Andrew and I enjoyed a game of Mancala, and Grandma sauntered down a bit later and had breakfast also.

 

The boys stayed with Grandma June while Mike and I met some local friends for breakfast #2. The boys got to go on a shopping trip with Grandma - they came back to the hotel with big swords - LOL! What a great grandma! When Mike and I returned, the boys were changed into suits and already at the pool! I changed quickly and swam with them for awhile. Poor Mike loves to swim - and is still in his stinking sling. He's such a trooper, though - he just doesn't complain.

Lunch was at Subway (yes, again - what can I say? It's easy, healthy, fast, everyone likes it...) - then we headed to the fair! Holy COW - this place was PACKED. I have never seen a crowd like that outside of China. Whoa. It was sensory overload and it was HOT out. BUT...it was fascinating and a lot of fun. Our good friend Dan met us outside the gate and had FREE tickets for us - because he was the star of the high dive show! That was our primary reason for heading up North in the first place.

Dan's show was so fun to watch - he was Sinbad and had a crew of pirates. There was trampolining, diving, high diving, comedy, a story...great fun! The boys enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and I think Grandma even enjoyed it!

Grandma June and Mom loved the momma and baby pigs. They were so tiny, so fuzzy and completely precious. But...enough talking....here's a few pictures...

Swimming in the hotel pool :)

The tongue helps him float - ha!

Watching the show - the boys hijacked our sunglasses.

Tractors for sale. The boys didn't want to leave the display!

Grandma and Mike take a breather.

My cutie patooties and their new hats. It was just so sunny and warm - we weren't really prepared, so we let them each pick out a hat from a vendor. Andrew chose a SWAT hat, Matthew's had a big eagle on it and said, "Native Pride" all over it...and was about 5 sizes too big for his little head! It was great, though - kept the sun out of their eyes!

Hey, Grandma...nice tractor!

Shaved Ice during show #2

Sinbad Dan on the far left, doing the narration for the show...high dive to come...

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Piglets! 3 weeks old...13 of 'em!

Subway stop #2

Want to watch Dan's 85 foot high dive? It was a heartstopping moment for me!!!



I was really impressed with how well the kiddos did. It was a long, hot, crowded day - there were hardly any complaints, if any. They were pushed and pulled all over the place. We drove to Red Robin to refeul at dinnertime...had a great time playing video games (50 cent games vs. the $10 games/rides at the fair - ack!), we all had great dinners and then headed back to Portland for the night. It was such a treat to have Grandma with us...special memories for the boys, and such a HUGE help to Mike and I. Thank you, Mike, for a fun weekend and being SO patient with us all. The boys and I have a better life than I could have ever imagined a few years ago...thanks to our wonderful, amazing family.

Falling Into It

Fall is fun! The weather has been GORGEOUS - warm, sunny most days - the leaves are turning and falling, crisp winds are blowing and it just smells like fall. We had some great playtime outside last night before a corned beef and cabbage dinner with Nana and Papa....

My gorgeous Gerbera from the first graders - blooming again!



The dragonfly that tormented us one night before dinner.

Matthew chopped carrots and handed them out during backyard soccer.

He had some cabbage scraps in there. All this composting is rubbing off on the little ones!

It's Fall! This driveway will be covered with 6 inches of leaves in a few weeks. Hope your shoulder is useable by then, Mike - after all, we did cancel the landscapers so you could do your own raking! :)

Our backyard 'jungle'

I miss bike riding!

Antlers? Andrew in the background, kicking around with Mike.

Isn't he adorable? :)

Matthew decorated his antlers.

According to Andrew, his dad spray painted his hair pink because he was in trouble?!? I don't think so...but, it was pink. His scalp STAYED pink through THREE washings. I finally got 2 good scrubs in, turned the bathwater pink, left a pink ring around the tub - but my boy is back to himself now.

Mike giving car lessons to the boys and our neighbor.

'Tis spider season!

Last rose?

Playing 'gas station' with the kids

Peanut Butter Faces

I couldn't resist. My babies were so stinking sweet and cute this morning as they ate their peanut butter toast. I just had to get pictures of their fuzzy little peanut buttery faces before school. <3

Mmmm....tomatoes and tomatillos from NanaDee's garden.