Pumpkin Patch ~ 2013 {Joe's Place}

One of my most favorite fall traditions is our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  This year we had beautiful weather and were lucky enough to have Nana and Pops join us.  It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

Carter was fairly insistent on pushing the wheelbarrow himself.  And he did a great job until we started putting the pumpkins in, and then it got a little harder to push.  Or at least push straight!

Anything Carter does, Kennedy has to try as well!

Before we could choose our pumpkins and enjoy the other fun activities around the farm, I had to torture my poor family with pictures.  They were pretty good sports and I was thankful to get some good photos without too many threats!  I love the fall colors and their happiness to be at the pumpkin patch.

love this smile.  love this girl.

I don't think they could be any cuter

our attempts at family photos weren't quite as successful but I'll take it, it's not often that we get the four of us together in a picture.

Kennedy and her Nana

my girl is never so happy as when Nana is here with us.  She is Nana's shadow for her entire visit and they have so much fun together!

It was great to have Pops here with us, too.

in the apple orchard

my handsome boy is growing up so fast!

enjoying apples on our hay ride

Kennedy has taken to tilting her head and trying to be cute when we ask for a "nice smile" ~ it's so cute, but she often looks a bit like a pirate!

Another fantastic trip to the pumpkin patch!

Halloween Fun

Holidays are always a fun excuse to put together a little something for the kiddos.  

At the start of October, after putting out all of our Halloween decorations, I left these treat baskets for the kids when they got home.

Nothing too extravagant, just lots of little fun things.

The Little Mermaid came out, so that had to go into Kennedy's basket.  Arial is Kennedy's favorite princess and we had borrowed the movie a few times, but I knew she would love having a copy of her own.

a little treat, a fun shirt, a movie for Carter, new books

They were excited to dig in but nicely posed for a picture before they got started!

Sharing their excitement!

I love these smiles

And one morning we woke up and had been "boo-ed"!  The kids were thrilled and had a ton of fun trying to guess who possibly could have left the bucket of treats.  We enjoyed delicious pumpkin cookies, yummy treats and... 

mustaches!

The best part of getting boo-ed is getting to put together our own treat buckets and then going out into the night to secretly deliver them.  

We were super secret spies!

I was cracking up at their attempts to be stealth...they wouldn't make very good spies at this point.  Kennedy was laughing so loud!  I am shocked that we weren't spotted!

you couldn't contain their excitement!

Such a fun Halloween tradition!

CCA Fun Run

Kennedy's school hosted a fall "fun run" fundraiser and parents were encouraged to come and cheer on the students.  Unfortunately the September rains continued and the run had to be moved inside the sanctuary.  The school and volunteers did a good job making accommodations and the kids had a blast!  

Mrs. Bader and Kennedy's kindergarten class

my little racer was ready to run!

Kennedy did an amazing job and finished over 40 laps!

She ran nearly the entire time...

except when she would take water breaks.

Which was nearly each and every time that she completed a lap.  Kyle and I finally had to tell her to stop, because we were worried that she was going to get sick!  

But those little Dixie cups are so much fun!

Daddy joined her for a few of the final laps to give her a little motivation...way to go Sister!

whew, running is hard work!

Mrs. Bader presenting Kennedy with her medal

Kennedy was so proud of her medal and it's now hanging proudly from her bed post.

As much as I dislike fundraising (as it seems like one of the kids is always doing something!), it was really fun to see the kids get excited and running.  The teachers did a great job about stressing the importance of staying healthy through exercise.  

It was a fun activity to watch and we were so proud of how hard Kennedy ran!

Family Wedding

The main reason for our trip up north was to attend the wedding of Kyle's cousin, Deneeva.  Kyle comes from a huge family and we aren't often able to make it to all of the special celebrations.  We knew that it would be a great opportunity to see the Phelan side of his family.  It was fun to see many of his aunts, uncles and cousins.  

The wedding and reception were located in a rural area of Mt. Vernon on an old farm.  It was a lovely setting, although a major storm blew in that day so unfortunately none of the grounds could be used.  The barn was rustic and made lovely with lights and other decorations.  It was a very kid friendly wedding, as well, and Carter and Kennedy had a blast!

me and my girl

my handsome boys

Kennedy loved dancing and after a minute or so of shyness it was hard to get her off the dance floor!

Daddy is a great dance partner, too!

Carter was a big hit with all of the little girls.

It was so cute to watch him interact ~ he was very sweet with them and you could also tell he loved the attention!

so much fun!

my little loves

I am so blessed

I absolutely love this picture of the kids ~ they had so much dancing the night away.  I think the idea of the wedding felt very fancy to them.  Thankfully they were perfectly behaved and really had a wonderful time!

San Juan Islands ~ Orcas

For years and years and years, I have wanted to go up to the San Juan Islands...It seemed so sad that I've lived in this area all my life and had never made the trip.  Well, it worked out that Kyle's cousin was getting married in Anacortes and his parents had found a great house for the weekend.  It was a perfect way to explore the region and we will definitely be making a return trip.  Unfortunately, the weather was super stormy on Saturday, which was the day we were headed out on the ferry and also the day of the wedding.  But like the true north westerners that we are, we pulled up our hoods and explored in the rain!

We arrived on Friday morning and Kyle visited some clients in the area.  The kids and I rode bikes a bit and then that afternoon we explored the town of Anacortes.

We headed down to the marina area...

Kyle found some lovely ladies

There was a boat show going on, so we meandered around the marina and saw a ton of huge boats.

We got up bright and early on Saturday morning and headed down to the ferry docks.  It was fun to drive our car right onto the ferry.  I think it might have been the highlight of the day for the kids, it was so exciting!

a bit of wind and rain didn't deter us from being outside and taking in the scenery

Once we arrived on Orcas Island, we took off to explore the island, heading up to Moran State Park and Mt. Constitution.  On a clear day, you can see amazing views from the look out tower.  Sadly the clouds were socked in and we couldn't see a blessed thing.

rainy, windy, freezing...but still smiling!

we were all running from over hang to over hang to try to avoid the downpours!

Look, over there is Canada!

Hahahaha, we were literally in the clouds!

the entrance to Moran State Park

even in the rain, the beauty of the area was breath taking

a treat and a warm drink at brownbear baking

how cute is this church?

another beautiful would-be view

Our last stop was Deer Harbor

I think we explored every inch of the island and each spot was quaint and charming with gorgeous scenery.

I wish that we could have hiked a bit but again, it's just another reason to go back!

Sadly this was the only whale we saw!