Pooofy Princesses Looking for Treats

We love love love Halloween!!!

Jenica and Kerry May started their preparations very early, and the excitement in the house could barely be contained by the four walls...

Two months ago, Jenica told me (out of the blue) that she wanted to be Amelia Earhart for Halloween. Oooooh.... great idea, I thought. I immediately started looking for the classic brown jacket and was thinking hard about how to do the "helmet" when.... Kerry piped up one day and said,
"I'm going to be a pretty princess!"

That was the end of Amelia. There's something just too compelling about pink, satin, beads, ribbons and foofy poof. Oh, and wings. Can't be without the wings.

People ask me if the all the pink and poof bothers me, but honestly... coming from someone who wore nothing but black for at least three years straight....

I think pink is just perfect.

Who You Callin' Sick? Not Us!

Well, so far October has not been all that fun in the "health department" -- head colds, stomach aliments, and weird "under the weather" malaise seem to be on the prowl.

But wait... I should clarify. It's only slowed down the parents -- certainly NOT the kids.
Kerry currently has her 5th?? head cold (I lost track), Jenica's stomach has been on the blink, and to top it off, today we had the H1N1 flu shot. So, what did we do with our free time later?

PLAY! OUTSIDE! in 47 degree weather!
Ahoy mateys!!!! Set the sail!

Kerry May has also not let her runny nose stop her from dancing.

Twirl, sniff, twirl, sniff sniff sniff, leap, sniff.

She's happy. They're happy.

We really should take a page from their book...

(acchooo!)

Left, left... left right left!

Well, she did it! And while this wasn't the first time Jenica has walked all the way around Lake Padden on her own two feet (2.6 miles), it was the first time we all paid attention, and prodded and cheered her on.
Jenica is now an official Daisy Girl Scout, and she recently was deprived of a really neat activity because mommy was sick sick sick: a evening hike around the Lake, complete with flashlights, loud singing with friends, and stations at which to stop for prizes.

The girls earned patches for participating and needless to say, mommy was overcome with bad feelings about missing it. So! We decided to do our own "hike" to hopefully earn a patch.
Not sure our walk could compete with flashlights, singing, and good friends, but heck... there were loads of pretty leaves to collect...
and there were very few people which made it a great place to RUN!!!

There she goes!

It was another nearly picture-perfect fall day.

Complete with local wildlife.

All that running required a few breaks to sit down...

and observe more beautiful wildlife. This, I believe, was the first time we've spotted a Cormorant at Lake Padden. Really special.

Had to stop at the playground for a bit...

And then run some more.

A great day. A good walk.

Can't wait to see that patch and find out what our next adventure will be.

Dairy Moo!

Saturday -- pouring down rain. What better place to be than a local Dairy Farm? I think the cows were glad to see us (or maybe just wanted to get a close up look at crazy people).

A good friend organized a tour of Appel Farm, a local dairy and cheese making operation, which, as it turns out, is only about five minutes from our house.

I believe that not knowing this information has saved me lots of money.

The kids were able to see where the cows are milked and then the whole process -- how the cheese is made. It was just getting on milking time when we arrived. I think those cows wanted us out of there.

Hard to see, but I think this one is giving us the "stink eye."


Anyway, I would have taken more photos, but my camera got so wet, it actually stopped working.

So, the only thing left to do was to go to their little store and buy loads of cheese.

So... that's what we did! Yum!

By the way, the tour is free... if you live in the area, I highly recommend it.

Good fun, rain or shine.

A Tennant Lake Walkabout

After spending three days confined to bed with the (Swine?) flu, I was itching to get out some and enjoy more of the beautiful fall we've been having. Stefan has been feeling a bit like he was coming down with "the yuck" too and thought maybe a walk would clear it out. So, off we went to Tennant Lake for a stroll around the boardwalk. Once again, this walk is practically in our backyard, but we only get here about every other year. I always forget how pretty it is, and love that the girls are able to enjoy exploring more and more.

Even in fall there are still lots of critters to spot. Is that a beaver over there? (or an alligator?)

Shhhhhh.... birds are hiding in the grass!Funny, no one asked me if they could go swimming...

A beautiful red dragonfly seemed to follow us around. Jenica named him "Uncle." We decided we've never seen a red one before -- amazing.

This is my favorite part -- the poking and prodding and in general investigative stuff.

All in all, a perfect place for strolling,
sitting...
thinking...
and dancing.
Now, who's up for a climb up the tower?

Really, this walk reminded me to be thankful for my health. You know, you don't really miss something, or maybe even fully appreciate it until it's gone, even if only for a few days.

Take care of yourselves!

:)

Fabulous Fall Weekend

Sometimes, visiting just one pumpkin patch isn't nearly enough.

While I'm not super-big on traditions, every year we've gone to Stoney Ridge for their Harvest Festival -- or whatever they call it. The kids are just now big enough to really revel in all the great activities: hay rides, the "jumping" house, the "train" ride, pumpkin patch, hot apple cider, etc.

They are also just barely tall enough for all the "photo op" billboards. Awesome.

And to walk on their own!! Even better.

This ride has to be a favorite of mine and I must have let it show just a bit too much. The man driving the "train" begged me to get in the last car (there were only about four kids on this trip). You can probably imagine my response. My biggest concern: I would be stuck in that train for the rest of the day. To which that wonderful man said, "Are you kiddin' me? I've had people in here 10 times bigger than you!" Love him. Should have taken his picture.

I have a picture of the girls in the same spot from two years ago. I need to dig it up. Things were not nearly as joyful, I can tell you that much.

We love you Stoney Ridge! See you next Fall! Now we've got plans to go the...

Zoo!

I mean, TWO days in a row of beautiful Fall weather??? How can you say no? And, how can you say no to ...

the Italian bike rentals? More seriously good times.

Now, this next picture, I would like to apologize for up front. I know... you all have seen thousands of pictures of animals from the Zoo. And/or have been there, done that. But this was simply awesome.

A water buffalo! RIGHT NEXT TO THE FENCE! And such a skimpy fence! MAN, this thing is MASSIVE. And so darn cute. Smooch. OK, maybe not. But worth a photo.

My kids, however, still seem to prefer posing next to fake animals. Yea... so glad we have that membership. But, truly, another fantastic day, fake animals and all.

:)