Trick or Treat!

Love these little monkeys!!Our little monkeys were very excited to go trick-or-treating! With the risk of rain looming, we decided to head to Bellevue Square for some indoor trick-or-treating this year.I made t-shirts for Ryan and myself to go along with the kids' monkey costumes. The front of the shirt had the Woodland Park Zoo logo (the Seattle zoo), along with the title, "Official Monkey Keeper." On the back, I put the kids' Halloween photo along with an actual monkey keeper job description cut and pasted from a zoo website. It was actually pretty hilarious how well the job description matched the job of a parent (i.e., the care, feeding, and cleaning of the animals)!Unfortunately we were far from the only family to head to Bell Square, and not only were the crowds unbearable, but many of the stores were already out of candy by the time we arrived (just 30 minutes after the start of the event!). We made the rounds rather quickly, and then headed back to Nana & Pa's neighborhood for some real trick-or-treating...that was much better!
The kids had a very fun evening. Check out my little cuties last year.

Fun with a friend

We had the opportunity to take care of our little friend, Renate, for a day, and we all had a great time together. I learned that with three kids very close in age a mommy needs to be even more prepared and intentional with time. After free play time got a little too chaotic, we headed under the coffee table for some upside-down coloring! They kids had a blast doing this!After a little snack we all got bundled up, pulled on our boots, and headed outside for some puddle-jumping. These three friends had a great time together!

We even found some yummy blackberries on our way back home...surely the last of the season. It was a very fun day!

Pumpkin Party

One of our favorite Halloween traditions is our annual Pumpkin Party with our playgroup. Unfortunately I didn't take very many photos...I guess I was too busy having fun! We had a house full of incredibly cute costumed kids...including my two little monkeys. We decorated pumpkin cookies, ate pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice cake and other orange snacks, and colored Halloween pictures.My friend, Kate, who is a budding photographer, snapped this shot of my little monkeys:You can see last year's party here

Abby is 18 months!

I can't believe my sweet baby girl is one and a half! Time does fly when you're exhausted - oh, I mean, when you're having fun! ;)

Abby Lila is an amazing little girl, and we are absolutely in love with her! She is sweet and spunky and definitely has a mind of her own! I joke (with more than a grain of seriousness) that she is my daily reminder of what an easy toddler Eli was! ...and I wouldn't trade a moment with her!Abby has started wearing her hair in a ponytail on top this month. We call it her little fountain, and she loves it! She also loves picking out her own clothes, and has a name for each outfit! The one in the portrait above is "sassy" - rather fitting for Abby! - and the one below is "soft" - named for the faux fur trim on the hood of her sweater. Almost every outfit is paired with her flowered rainboots, and usually accompanied by a purse on her elbow (both pictured above).Her curly locks are a dream come true for me, and you simply can't beat her "bed head!"Our little ladybug is something of a daredevil, and will NOT be left out or left behind under any circumstances! She climbs, run, jumps, and tackles with the best and biggest. She is full of smiles and laughter.Abby loves to play games, especially hide and seek. She thinks it's hilarious to hide her face and shout "find me!" If you then say, "Where's Abby?" she responds with "hiding place!" She is so much fun...and such a talker! Her vocabulary is amazing, and she is constantly trying out new words and even sentences.

We are daily grateful for our bright, beautiful daughter. Happy half-birthday, Abigail!

Autumn on Cougar Mountain

Our family enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous walk in the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park today. The sun was shining, the temperature was cool but pleasant, the leaves were lovely, and the family...well, the family is such a blessing! We were definitely awestruck by the beauty of God's creation, and we're looking foward to returning to this area throughout the fall and winter. We discovered this gem in a great book called Winter Walks and Hikes: Puget Sound, and we explored a very tiny portion of the park's 3,000 acres today.

One of the trails we walked runs atop a coal seam (there was mining here in the early 1900s), and Eli thought it was pretty cool to check out the stuff that makes steam engines (like Thomas) run. The late afternoon sunlight pouring through the branches made for a gorgeous setting, and I longed for one of my talented photographer friends to be there with us!Two of my favorite photos of my two favorite kids...

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings of the beauty that surrounds us and the beauty that is my dear family!

Seattle Aquarium

A good friend of mine has dubbed her family's Fridays "Adventure Day" - an idea that I love! So, last week we joined in on the adventure and all headed to the Seattle Aquarium together. Though Abby's obsession with fish is no secret, we've somehow never ended up at the aquarium with her. Of the four kids, Abby was both the youngest and the most intently interested in all of the aquarium's creatures.

Just beyond the aquarium's entrance is a giant fish tank, and I think the kids would have been content with spending the entire morning just staring into this window!Part of the attraction was definitely the scuba diver!Sierra kind of adopted Abby for the day, and these two held hands through most of the aquarium!The kids loved all of the cheesey photo ops!I always end up with lots of photos of kids' backs at the zoo and aquarium!These four friends had a fantastic "Adventure Day" together...as did their mommies! :)

Jubilee Farm Field Trip

Today was Eli's first Red Gate Preschool field trip, and it was a blast! Abby and I were happy that we got to go along and join in all the fun. His whole class met for a picnic lunch at Jubilee Farm, followed by a farm tour and visit to the pumpkin patch. The pre-tour talk from the farmer was fun to watch. My favorite part? When the farmer asked the kids if they knew where pumpkins come from and half of them yelled enthusiastically: "Pie!" I was laughing hysterically!After the intro, it was off to the hay maze. Eli took off with his preschool friends......but Abby was not far behind! :)Eli very sweetly helped her through.The kids all enjoyed exploring the vintage tractors.Then it was time for the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Eli found his perfect pumpkin quickly, and would not be deterred. Abby selected a little green one that was just her size.Back onto the wagon......where Eli sat with his favorite preschool friend, KJ.Despite the field trip taking place during her usual nap time, Abby was so glad to be included.And so was I! :)