October Doings

It is almost Halloween and October has been busy and filled with so many fun things. The fall colors are in full force, and I love it so much.

At the beginning of the month, the trees by Paige's school were stunning, so McCall and I went early one day so we could walk under the beautiful leaves and take in the gorgeous fall day. McCall had the phone for a bit, and I loved to see what she loved by the pictures she took.

The fall colors make me so happy! We do live on an incredible planet with some of the most amazing details.

The first weekend of October we had general conference and Fall Fest. Dad had to work so we got to see him on Saturday and got some pumpkins and played some fall games in between the two sessions of conference. Then Sunday was cinnamon rolls and sausage balls and a day spent at home listening to some wonderful talks.

One beautiful fall day, I went on an adventure with McCall and Anna. We drove out to Issaquah to the fish hatchery to see the salmon going through, then we went and saw the troll, got some Ivar's for lunch, and donuts at Krispy Kreme.

We have had some wonderful weather this month and most of our evenings were spent playing in the road with neighbors. It is glorious!

Usually if McCall takes a nap during the day, then she is up late and one night she put me to sleep on the couch. :)

McCall also got a couple of colds this month, so she has been falling asleep on me and slept in our room a couple of nights. There is something about a sleeping child on you that just melts you.

More fun random shots of McCall: red lipstick from Paige, armor of God from primary, and jumping in leaves is pure joy for this little girl.

One afternoon, I took McCall and Baylor to ride bikes at the park. It was a beautiful way to play outside with the beautiful fall colors and the girls had fun on the playground.

Anna set up a time for a bunch of ladies from the ward to go and see the new Sense and Sensibility. We ended up having a little over 20 ladies go which was so fun. I had never seen or read any version of Sense and Sensibility and didn't know the storyline. It is such a cute story!

Some fun thrift store finds: Nate always finds old electronics that aren't worth anything for Baylor to take apart. He is always finding poop or farts books and the girls love them. And last he found this cute teddy bear that we have named Luna. She has little hands that you can clip paper into, so we are writing kind notes to each other, and we find Luna on our beds with kindness from each other. We all love it!

Another great month filled with fun, adventure, and love!

Bainbridge Island Adventure

This is one of my favorite annual traditions of October- going to the pumpkin walk on Bainbridge Island. We have been going for 6 years, and it amazes me that still after all this time, that we find a new place to explore. 

Our first stop was to go and explore Poulsbo, WA. I did this in the summer with the girls, but this time Nate got to explore with us. First, we explore the marina.

Then we went to the SEA Discovery Center. It is only open on Friday and Saturdays and is free with a $2 a person suggested donation and was amazing. There were some tide pools to explore, a fun scavenger hunt for the kids, and the staff was amazing at answering questions. I would totally go here again.

Then we explored "Litte Norway" and wandered through the shops.

Then we made our way onto Bainbridge Island to the pumpkin walk. It was amazing since we went later in the month so there were SO many amazing pumpkins to see. We each painted a small pumpkin to add to the trail. We enjoyed the pumpkins and wandering through the property and took advantage of all the photo ops.

Then we found an amazing playground called KidsUp! Playground at Battle Point Park. The design was incredible. There was an old fort part, a entire playground ferry, a walk in merry-go-round, and an octopus with a car hiding under a bridge. It was so fun and the girls explored and played on every part of that playground.

Then there was a small park on the map that was near the playground, so we decided to check it out. It was called Williams Olson Park, and it had a beautiful view but was small and didn't have much of a beach. We stayed just for a short time, and I probably wouldn't go again but the view was worth the stop, and the tree covered roads were also incredible.

Then of course we had to stop and do one of our favorite things on Bainbridge Island- the Hall's Hill Labyrinth. We all love to do the labyrinth. It is calming and peaceful and fun.

The property is fun to explore and also has some beautiful views.

We got some dinner at McDonald's, and we were trying to make the 6:30 ferry but the lot was full when we got there so we got to enjoy some time at the ferry terminal. We walked around and enjoy watching the ferry leave and come back. Then because we had to wait until the 7:15 ferry we got to have one of my favorite things, a nighttime view of Seattle on the water.

The view was worth the wait! I stood out in the freezing cold the entire ride over so when we got close to the city, I had a front row view. It was breathtaking and amazing!

What a fun day and an incredible adventure!

Preschool: Food & Baking

This was a week when I wasn't so sure about the theme but then I ended up loving it. We did lots of fun things in the kitchen and I love to cook. It was another great week of preschool.

Here is what McCall did for our food and baking themed week of preschool:

• She wrote the word food along with the letter F in uppercase and lowercase.
• She drew some of her favorite foods.
• We read a Disney book all about food.
• We played with the pretend food and counted the different fruits and veggies.
• We talked about different kitchen utensils and then did a matching game with them.
• She created her very own cupcake out of paper.
• Then she made some fizzy cupcakes with baking soda, sprinkles, and vinegar.
• She did some bread painting.
• She played with some cloud dough (flour and oil) and added her own sprinkles and used a wooden spoon, measuring cups and spoons, and cookie cutters.
• She went on a scavenger hunt for kitchen utensils.
• She painted with a whisk (and her fingers!).
• We made some bread in a bag and enjoyed it for dinner.
• We read "If you give a mouse a cookie".
• We did some chocolate chip counting. She counted how many chocolate chips were drawn on a cookie and then matched it to the right number.
• She made her own cookie out of paper.
• Then of course we ended the week with making chocolate chip cookies- one of her favorite things to make.

HOCO

Paige got to go to her first high school dance and had so much fun. She went to Homecoming with a bunch of her friends. They had pizza, got ready together, took pictures at the park, played a few games, had dessert, and danced the night away.

I am not going to lie, it was so strange. It was one of those moments when I felt old and had a weird sense of time. I felt like I was just in high school going to my own school dances but then watching my own daughter, looking this gorgeous and so grown up made me want to freeze time. She is growing up so fast and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Once they got to the park, it was a race against the setting sun to get some pictures. It was tricky to get the lighting right, but the sunset was beautiful and was a stunning background for these stunning young ladies.

She has some great friends!

I love these pictures that Nate got when we were walking over to the park. I am so grateful for my girls. I'm grateful that they are spread out even if that wasn't the plan. It lets me soak in all the seasons of life but still have this little one around even when I feel like my oldest is growing up too fast.

Paige- you are gorgeous on the inside and out. I can't believe how grown up you are! I'm so grateful to be your mom!