Fall=Pumpkins

I just love Halloween.  Not the scary, gross, haunted houses part of Halloween.  But the apple cider, pumpkins and cake donuts part of Halloween.  I love the leaves changing color and the cooler weather.   I love watching my kids get dressed up to go trick or treating.  It is so cool  to watch them get excited to gather candy all they can.  Not that I want all that candy in my house.  But I always love a reason to celebrate something.  This Halloween will be more special because Brandon will be with us this year!!  Last year he was out of town.

My reason for all this ranting is to reflect on our time on the pumpkin patch a few weekends ago. (I am a little behind in my blogging.)  Because every good Halloween needs a good pumpkin!  We came home with five, one for each of us.  We went to Thomassson Farms in Enumclaw, Washington.

**On a side note, we had to replace Seamus's pumpkin a few weeks later.  It got so rotten even before we cut into it.  I heard it was a bad season for pumpkins.  It rained a lot here this summer. 

When Daddy's away, Grandparents will play

My parents came for a visit since Brandon had to go to Europe for over two weeks.  My mom and dad both came on a seperate week.  It was neat for me and the kids to spend some one-on-one time with them.  Both my mom and dad got to see Owen's school.

The week with my dad consisted of many trips to the local parks!  We even spent a day at the zoo.  The boys always love getting outside and playing.  We took advantage of the nice days while we could.  My dad did some work around the house which was a really big help. 

The week with my mom included shopping, shopping and more shopping.  We didn't buy much.  We mostly just window shopped for things.   It brought back some memories of when we used to go shopping with our Gammy.  The three of us would window shop and get lunch.  My heart aches because I miss my gammy a lot.  And today, I really hate that I am so far from my mom.  Although I know God has a plan and I am trusting in him.

I am so thankful that I got to spend this precious time with my parents.  I am even more thankful that my husband is back safe and sound.

First Day of School

I know school has been in session for a month now.  I just now realized that I never did blog about Owen's first day of preschool.  That is right.  We have a school boy in the house.  He is going to Hand in Hand preschool at Generational Hope Christian Center.  It is a very small school. We really like it though.  Their main focus is Jesus.  There is also a big focus on academics.  He seems to be learning a lot.  He really likes it.  His teachers really do seem to care about him.  They are so nice.  Overall, it is a win-win situation.  Here are some pictures from the first day of school!!  (It was a pretty rainy that day!)

Aunt Brigid comes to play!

We were so lucky that Aunt Brigid came to laugh, play and dance with us!  It was a great time.  It started off with the airport and Target.  I must say that these are two fun places for little boys.  Especially when one of them has birthday money to spend.  Owen picked out a Lightning McQueen car.   Surprise!  Surprise!!  We also made a homemade carrot cake.  I made the cake.  Brigid made the frosting.

Saturday, we played at the Puyallup Farmers' Market.  We window shopped, ate street food and had a relaxing afternoon.  That night we went to BJ'S for dinner.

We went to the Seattle Mariners Game on Sunday.  We sat in the Bleachers.  We got video taped to be put on the scoreboard!!!  This has never happened to me.  What fun!  I am not really sure if we ever made it up on the scoreboard because we were sitting directly under it.  The boys weren't really interested in the camera.  We tried to get them to wave, but they were unimpressed.  They were more interested in the peanuts, red vines, hot dogs and pop.  Who doesn't love Ballpark food??

We love when people come and visit us!  We are hoping Brad can join Brigid next time.  That way Brandon will have someone to talk computer shop with.

Daddy's Birthday!!

This post is a little late since Brandon's birthday is on August 9th!  I figured I would post it anyway!

The boys always love a good birthday party!  We celebrated with Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  A family favorite!!  It was an awesome day to celebrate someone we are so grateful for!!

(I think Owen is responsible for the birthday hat on Meghan!!)

Blueberry Picking

The Knight family headed out to Bybee Farms to collect some blueberries.  This farm is at the base of Mt. Si.  They have rows and rows of U-Pick blueberries.  So we hunted and gathered and left with almost four pounds of blueberries.  The boys always love an adventure.  They really loved this one because it came with blueberries!!

Owen was very dedicated on finding as many berries as possible.  Seamus ate more than he put in the bucket!  Meghan was a perfect angel.  She slept  in the Baby Bjorn.  She is so easy going.  She doesn't mind getting dragged to all these new places!  God really did bless us with an easy baby.  I think because he knew our plate was pretty full already!!

It was a great time.  I see lots of blueberry muffins and pancakes in our future!

Saltwater State Park

On a rainy Saturday we decided to go on a family adventure.  We went to Saltwater State Park.  This park is right on Puget Sound.  Puget Sound is body of water made up of salt water.

This park is pretty cool right now.  Since it is low tide, we got to walk where the water normally is.  So we stepping over zebra mussels, sea weed, shells and other  underwater specialties.   We also watched some scuba divers in the water.  The boys really liked it.  We would have explored longer but it was pretty cool and rainy.  It was still a fun family day!