the pumpkin patch

We went on a preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch... what an adventure! Gabe is in a preschool that I am teaching with four other moms - so there are 5 kids total. And Gabe is the only boy!! Needless to say he is being exposed to a lot of new things... mainly all the different Disney princesses and their accessories. Haha! Boys and girls are so different. I am the teacher this month and it is so hilarious to "teach" this group of little kids! Anyway, here are some pics of our day at the pumpkin patch... what a fun time! This is as good as it gets with Gabe and a camera these days... :)My very own 2 little pumpkins getting a wheelbarrow ride! Rrrrrr - that's a heavy one!Gotta love this picture of sweetheart Brooklyn and all-boy Troy! haha!Jenna, Rachel and Gabe... taking it easy on some great seats!The tractor-pulled hay ride was Gabe's favorite part (needless to say)Let's not forget the teachers/moms! Me, Toni and Marcie......Kristina and Brianne plus assorted preschoolers and siblings!

Gumby Girl

I about jumped out of my skin the other day when I heard a bunch of giggling and looked down to see this!! As you can see, Nyah literally folded herself in half in an attempt to escape her rocking seat! Can you tell that she has the chair tipped forward as far as it goes... and she is teetering on the edge of a face-plant without a care in the world?!! The days are over when I could just lay her in there unbuckled! Gabe thinks she is the funniest little thing in the world. A day doesn't go by that I don't hear him laughing and laughing over something hilarious that she is doing! It makes me so happy to see my children enjoying and loving each other!

Another morning she really did escape out the bottom while I was in the shower (otherwise I would have gotten some great pictures!) It was a different bouncy - closer to the ground - and I watched as she bounced her legs out, then wiggled and wiggled until she gently landed on the tile! Then she sat there on her tummy looking around like... hmm, well look at that... I did it! :)

yum

Our little bug has started eating cereal and she loves it! This was her first reaction:

"ooooh cool, this is new!""Wait a minute, what is this stuff??""Ummm, not so sure, mom""No thank you!!" She may not have loved it then but she snarfs it down these days. By now she is on to bananas, green beans and her favorite... pears. Yummy yum!

Salmon Days 2010

Eric's mom and sisters came for Salmon Days again this year! I hope it will become a tradition now. It is such a fun festival. There is a parade, tons of vendors, delicious food from all around the world, and all kinds of fun kid activities.

Here we are hanging over the bridge checking out the salmon running up the river (this year we actually saw mostly dead ones...ick!) Gabe and Grandma going for a train ride!! The highlight of the day for our Gabers!The girls ended the day with a home spa treatment... an all natural face mask Caitlynn bought that day - good for purifying the skin and also, as we discovered, a perfect swamp monster disguise for halloween! :) We were laughing so hard!

Forks, WA

Heard of it?? haha. :) We headed out for a long weekend with some friends to hike in the rain forest, see some wildlife, and check out the gorgeous Washington coast beaches. We didn't glimpse any vampires but the country is just as beautiful as you have imagined! The forests are so deep in shadow with moss literally dripping off every surface, you feel like you have stepped into this fantastical world where a fairy or troll just may appear at any moment. It really brought out the fanciful in me! It was beautiful. The trees grow in the most peculiar shapes and SO TALL. We saw some breathtaking waterfalls and gorges. Wow. Everything about that place is amazing. I love that we live relatively close. I forgot my camera when we left home (I was a little distracted after discovering that my wedding ring had had a nasty encounter with the garbage disposal... another story.) Luckily Toni took lots of pictures to share and I was so happy at how many really great shots she got! She's much more artistic of a photographer than I am!

The only non-tropical rain forest in the world is in the middle of the Olympic Peninsula... the Hoh Rain Forest. Just one of the things we got to see and experience. I also loved the wild, rugged beaches out there. Most of the pictures we took at the ocean were at Rialto Beach. The beach was littered with enormous wave and water beaten logs that are bleached white. Very cool. We even got to watch a humpback whale out in the water for awhile. What a wonderful experience! I could have stayed there all day.

Made in CHINA

Grandma went to China this summer and came back with some fabulous toys for the grandkids! Gabe loves, and I mean loves, this spinning top! It has crazy flashing lights and a funny song that plays over and over in Chinese that Gabe has "learned"! Haha! It is so cute. He mumble sings along with any new song until he learns it (and he always does - even when it's the impossible to understand electronic voices). I guess he figures he can learn Chinese the same way!! :)

A funny vid of Gabe playing with his top and singing the song! Turn off the music at the bottom of my blog so you can enjoy the Chinese tunes! :) (Sorry the video is fuzzy a lot - i think the spinning top and lights were throwing off my camera.)

We love visitors!!

My friend Jodi sent me a few more pictures of the day we spent at Pikes and the aquarium! They were so cute I had to update this post and add a few. Gabe was a little shy of Callie at first but her sweet and friendly personality soon won him over and he was just loving his little buddy! We used to live across the street from them... boy do we miss that!Those 2 loved the tide pools. I thought someone was going to take a header in there a time or two! :)Cute little Princess Callie! (Can't wait for our little princess to get to the stage of make-believe and dress ups!) *uh side note... this is Nyah's backup outfit (due to a mishap with diaper vs. clothing) and it was cold out...hence the strange combination of hat and fleece jumper!

My sweet cousin Sara came to visit and spent a whole week with us seeing all the many sights of Seattle! It was so much fun. She was adorable with kids too... Gabe loved her. He thought she was there all for him! Here are a few of the fun things we did....

Alki Beach in West Seattle We even saw a newborn harbor seal on the beach (being protected by some animal activist group so the mama seal wouldn't abandon it)! Later we went to Salty's for dinner. While we were enjoying our crab legs and the amazing view... we saw a big sea lion swimming out in the bay! It was so neat!

Ballard Locks and the beautiful gardens outside the entrance Well, I had to add a picture of my dream yacht... beautiful....Gas Works Park The Troll! park in Queen Ann... forgot the name but it has a wonderful view of the city as you can see:Seattle Center Sara took Gabe down into this fabulous fountain while I nursed Nyah. There was music playing as the water would shoot out and mist bubble up from underneath. It was so cool! Gabe was loving it! In fact he was dancing a little jig at one point - so cute! Bellevue Botanical Gardens Sara especially loved these, as well as the grounds at the Seattle temple, since she graduated in Agriculture and works at Temple Square in their amazing gardens.

they spotted a tiny green frog!

My friend Jodi also came in town for a couple days with her darling Callie. It was so fun to see an old friend from Utah! We met up with them for the day and did Pike's Market and the aquarium. I was so distracted catching up and having fun that this is the only (good) picture I got!