Pike Place & Bearcats & Pumpkins & Chainsaws... Oh MY!

We started out the month of October taking Julie to Pike Place Market and ...

the original Starbucks!! In the short time Julie has been here (2 months) we've made a Starbucks fan out of her! She thought that it was just about cappucinos...she had no idea you could order a hazelnut mocha or an iced decaf white chocolate mocha! We've opened up a whole new world for her!



As a side note, do you see the lovely apples in this photo? do you have any idea how difficult it is to make something like that? Julie and I were invited to my neighbor's house to make 'fancy' caramel apples and let me tell you... they were fancy all right, for about 2 minutes before the caramel started sliding down the apples, carrying with it all of the perfectly placed decorations...M&M's, pralines, almonds, chocolate... it was so sad. Maybe better luck next year! (and no, I have no pictures of the delicious but oh-so-not-pretty apples)


This month we attended Julie's homecoming game at Monroe High School, the Bearcats! They lost, but it was fun to be back at a high school game with all those crazy students dressed in their tank tops, shorts and flip flops in October! BRRRR!!!!



This month we finished up Camden's first "big league" soccer season! Until now we've played through the YMCA, but this was serious... 2 practices a week and a game every Saturday for about 10 weeks. (8 games). It was a fun season and fun to watch all the kids improve every week. Matt was the assistant coach and loved it! I think he may have found a new passion!



Matt has been wanting to build the boys a tree house and I suggested he build it on the enormous stump that we have from the tree we cut down last year. Matt thought he'd start by cutting a door into it and see if it was indeed a good place for a tree house. Well, after cutting, he decided it is probably not a good idea to build a tree house on top of a rotting stump. I am sure his mind was made up before he began cutting, but I am now convinced. So now he has plans to make that a play area, hang a rope swing from the top, clean out the inside, etc. I'll update you on its progress if it happens. The tree house location has been redetermined, but not started yet.




Hudson got to go to the pumpkin patch with his preschool class! His class consists of 3 boys and 4 girls. His best buddy is a boy, but he wasn't there. So Hudson was hanging out with his "best girl friends" as he puts it. :) It was cold, but it was a great time, tractor ride and all!




3 days later our whole family went to the pumpkin patch along with some of our family friends. It has been a tradition for 8 years!! and the weather that day was GORGEOUS!
They planted some corn this year and they had a section that was about 10 rows deep...just deep enough to not be able to see through to the other side. The kids called this their own 'corn maze' and had a blast running through it! we called them the "Children of the Corn". We picked pumpkins, ate kettlekorn, ran around and had a great day!





Tomorrow is Halloween. I still have no idea what the kids are going to be. How's that for a prepared mom? HA!
Maybe the next blog posting will have pictures...if we ever figure it out! :)

You can do it at a trot...

You can do it at a gallop... You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate... just don't be late...
DO THE PUYALLUP!

Well, if the fair didn't throw Julie into culture shock, I'm not sure what would!!
...and have you ever heard of Muttin bustin'???? I'm not sure where I stand on this particular activity. Somewhere between being totally amused by it and at the same time, wondering if it violates some child endangerment act! But these little kids (between 3-6 years old) get on a sheep, hold on for dear life and the sheep runs like mad! It is crazy! but highly entertaining!

That's Julie and I in the front seat of the mini-rollercoaster! neither of us lost our lunch, but Julie was a bit sick afterwards...probably a combination of the heat, the ride and the fact that she had her first introduction to a "Krusty Pup" (for those non-fair-goers...also known as a corndog!)

Camden loved the rides and this one, "The Scrambler" was his favorite this year! We both had a lot of fun on it, and he later got his Papa to go on it with him too!

The little rocket ships that go around and around and up and down were a bit more Hudson's speed. He did do the big giant slide by himself, but cried and screamed all the way down until he reached the bottom...then the smile came!

...if you could only see a close-up of his face...filled with fear, poor little guy...

...and there's the smile! phew!

face painting was in order... fun, fun, fun!


This is our favorite juggler (well, I suppose we don't know many others) but we've been watching him at the fair for 18 years!! he's amazing!!


We ended the fair (after 10 hours) with the jiggle-feet! That made the 1/2 mile walk to the car manageable!
It was a great day, beautiful weather and load of junk food and fun!! can't wait to "do the puyallup" next year!!

First Day of School...

This year instead of one first day of school, we have 3 first days!!
Camden's First Day of 2nd grade...




Julie's First Day of American High School (her senior year)...



Hudson's First Day of Pre-Kindergarten!




It's been a busy start to the school year, but a fun one!
one week before school started we headed to the airport to meet Julie!

The first weekend we took Julie to several parties (going away party, birthday party) and even threw one ourselves...
Camden turned 8 and we celebrated on Labor Day. Camden thoroughly enjoyed his sports party. He got a big new bike for his birthday which he loves riding!





This weekend we had a bonfire with the Boyle girls and Julie got to try smores for the first time! She definitely liked them!



Camden had a soccer game on Saturday where he made 4 goals! they lost 5 - 11, but hey, he got some great shots in :)

We also took Julie to Snoqualmie Falls. It was a beautiful day and we had a GREAT time!!


and for those of you who are wondering who Julie is... She is our newest family member. She is an exchange student from Belgium and will be living with us until June! She is a wonderful person and our family enjoys her a lot!

Summer by the Numbers

4
Number of millimeters my kidney stone was. (not actually my stone pictured, but that is the size, compared to a dime, a piece of rice and a rice krispie)

6
Number of hours I was supposed to spend in the hospital for kidney stone procedure.

6
Number of days spent in the hospital due to the kidney stone procedure.

1
Number of camping trips... but it was a GREAT one to Icicle Creek and Erik, Corrine, Berkley & Bennett joined us for a night!




2
Number of wheels holding up Hudson on his bike now! NO MORE TRAINING WHEELS!! Way to go Hudson!!


60
Number of pounds Unlce Stu weighed at his most recent vet appointment.

other interesting dog numbers...
1
Number of inches taller Stu is than Kemper...ALREADY!!
85
Number of dollars spent to find out that Stu's limp was simply... growing pains.


520
Number of feet in the air Aunt Jenny took the boys on her day on the town with them! and they spent some time running around in the Seattle Center fountain too! They had a GREAT day!!





7
Days spent having fun with Grandma Vicky


1
Number of successful kid birthday parties. also the number of kid birthday parties to go this summer.

Hudson wanted a 'candy' party. So we painted a big candyland board on the lawn and decorated cupcakes with all sorts of candy!



7 or 8
Number of cars washed by the boys and their friends. Their new favorite pastime :)



1
Number of days I had nothing to say about them getting TOTALLY muddy! I tried to make it clear that that was a one time gig.



7
Number of times Camden mowed the lawn! He did a GREAT job! That's a big job for a 7 year old, but he was up for it over and over again!


281
Number of poops scooped by the poop-scoopin' masters! They did a great job keeping up with their new chore and I'm sure it helped that Matt and I pitched in a bit too.



1
Number of Mariners games attended. Hopefully a few more before the season is over. Is that also the number of games they won? oh wait, no I think that was a slightly bigger number.


18
Number of days of summer left... but who's counting???