Apple Festival

Yesterday was a GORGEOUS day so we went to a local nursery that has a "Apple Festival". It is great for kids. You get to try over 30 different kinds of apples, paint pumpkins, and go on a scavenger hunt around the nursery. By chance, we ran into Josh and Jack at the entrance and had a great "play date" at the nursery. My favorite part was probably when Francie tried the apple cider. WOW. It was like a whole new world was opened. She drank the cup in one big gulp (again....I wonder who she takes after?) and then crushed the cup (frat girl style) and lunged forward to get another. Hysterical. Henry and Jack LOVED the carts for hauling the plants. They were very, very serious about pulling "their load". Sometimes so serious they managed to take out a few young children, adults, etc.

Farmers Market Field Trip

Henry's school did a field trip to the downtown farmers market.Of course Henry's favorite part was riding the Max (train) down there. It was perfect fall weather and well....farmers markets are one of my FAVORITE things. Each child was supposed to pick something to buy and bring back for "observation time". Some kids picked things that were very unique and intersting looking ...artichoke flowers, romano cauliflower, kohrabi. True to form, Henry picked a pepper (one of his favorite things to eat)....but it was a purple pepper. He said his favorite part of the adventure was playing chase with his friends in the grass area by farmers market. Gotta love it when their favorite part of a trip is something they can do anywhere.

Hood River Heaven

We went to Hood River this weekend. We went raspberry and apple picking on a great farm that even had an area where you could pet the animals. Then we parked the car at my sister's place and walked around town only to discover the "Hop Fest" (aka Brewfest) was going on. It had a "kid zone" and the band from our wedding was playing. Can you say heaven? Mark and I were in sheer bliss drinking really good beer, dancing with the kids, and looking out at the amazing views. About an hour in a torrential rain storm came and wakened us to reality that perhaps we should take Francie home for a nap (think the "god above" were worried we would stay there all night). This morning we went to a classic small town diner where Francie proceeded to tackle a normal sized breakfast plate (that girl can chow! wonder who she takes after?). Classy. She also discovered the male barbie at Jenny's place and instantly was attached...interesting....she only bangs the female barbies on the table, but now that she found a male barbie she treats it lovingly....hmmmm. Mark and I both got to go on runs along the creek with the crisp fall air keeping us cool...seriously, could it get better? The day ended perfectly with my sister and her husband and kids coming back into town and we were were able to have dinner with them before heading home. Thanks Jenny and Fritz for the idyllic weekend.

Manzanita....with the Girls

This last weekend Brookie came down and I had the joy(!!!!) of spending the whole weekend with girlfriends (thanks Mark for the best birthday present of giving me a weekend away!). Friday night Brookie and I went out with Aryne and then Saturday a group of us went down to Manzanita. Once I got over the urge to constantly look for the kids on the beach, I had the best time. The weather was amazing, we went to spa, and most importantly...we let our inner rockstars out. Let's just say what happens in Manzanita stays in Manzanita. TO give you a hint, I was genuinely confused when the bartender decided to close the bar shortly after we came in.....mind you, I was wearing Henry's fireman hat and we were begging the kitchen - that had been closed for 2 hours - to open for us to make tater tots. Sunday night the kids got some quality time with Brookie - one of their favorite people in the world. She so needs to move back to Portland......

Its Your Thang

My friend Ann got me a card with music inside.

This is the kids this morning with the card.

Totally Famous

Vaux swifts 2009

Manzanita with the Watsons

We are holding on to the warms days of September. We had a great weekend in Manzanita. Our friends Dan, Emily and there PRECIOUS 9-week old Ellie came down to play. Henry and Francie were in HEAVEN as Emily and Dan are up for anything and I think that Henry made Emily play EVERY single board game in the house...even though she is sleep deprived with a newborn. This morning Dan and Mark went golfing and I was trying to play football with Henry and halfway through he asked me when Dan and Dad would be back...because, and he tried to say it nicely.... I wasn't so good. Ouch. Emily brought cupcakes...and as you can see the kids LOVED them. Check out Francie in her vest...when she puts it on Mark sings "Francie from the Block" (Instead of Jenny from the Block) because she definitely looks a bit like JLo.

One more note - the picture of Henry holding Francie's hand was a priceless moment. Francie REFUSES to crawl down stairs and loves the challenge of walking (or running) stairs. So, the minute you turn your eye, she books for the stairs to take them on. I turned to get Riley's leash and Francie had ran for the stairs and Henry went over and held her hand and told "nice and slow Francie, you can do it". My heart melted. So cute.

Hike to Lilly

Henry's class had their first hike to Lilly today. Lilly is a beautiful tree on a trail near the school that they visit often to see how she is doing and to see how she is the same/different with the change in the seasons. Francie and I got to go too and we decided to wear hats...multiple moms teased that we were matching. So fun.

Chapman Swifts

Every September we go to Chapman school to see the swifts fly into the chimney (where they sleep at night). Yes -- birds. We are not alone. It is classic Portland...tons of people sitting outside. watching birds (often with wine & beer and maybe food) and kids running around everywhere. We went before kids, during pregancies and each year it gets more fun as the kids get older. We are not just talking about "some" birds, but thousands. Past years have seen a high of as many as 35,000 swifts. More recently high estimates have been around 15,000 swifts. Sorry for the somewhat blurry pictures... I got dinner on the lens....nice....

First Day of School

Henry has his first day of school today. As you can see, he has grown just a bit from last year. He was thrilled to be back at school and I was thrilled to not be called by the principal - like last year - because "he was having a tough time adjusting". My little boy is growing up! As I was leaving he reminded me that he was the "big kid now and he was going to tell the younger kids where the bathroom was if they got confused". Nice.