October Twenty Thirteen

As always, the months are flying by. There was something making the rounds online that said, “The days are long but the years are short.” So true. I can’t believe it’s almost 2014. Really, 2014?! October flew by quickly, then November came… now it’s Christmas week. A little late, but to keep up, here is what we were up to in October. (Now, off to try and piece together November.)

Farrel-McWhirter

We started October off with a trip to our favorite park. We’ve been neglecting it these days; we haven’t been back since. It was also the first day of the season for rain coats, hats, and boots.

Imagine Children’s Museum

Thanks to a Groupon offer, our friend Jennifer invited us to the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett along with her two kiddos, and another friend and her little gal. I forgot to buy the Groupon but it was worth paying full price. I’d say it’s one of the best kiddo museums around; way better than the ones close by. And having (for the most part) non-napping kiddos, a longer drive doesn’t eat into any schedule we have. Luckily our friend, Mike, went with us and manned Laine, who spent most of her time in the gift shop. I stayed with Blaise, who was obsessed with the train setup (he calls it the “Train Museum” now). As we left, I went ahead and purchased a membership. Just going three times pays for it and we’ve been twice already.

Pumpkin Patch

Looking back, it wasn’t the best idea to go to the pumpkin patch. Blaise had a temperature the day before and it broke the morning we went to the pumpkin patch but he was not in a position to be out. Sad thing is, I knew this and still decided we should go. Bad call on my part. He was a trooper though, and we had a good time the whole 15 minutes we were there. We took a few pictures for the record books and left with four pumpkins and some local honey. That was our last outing for 10 days…

Sick Kiddos

We lost about two weeks mid-October to high temps and lethargic kiddos. Blaise started with a 104 degree temperature that just would not break. It would go down to 100 with medicine, then back up as it wore off. Poor kiddo. Seven days before he was on the up and up. And then Laine caught it. Thankfully she only had it a few days but still not fun. We just stayed in and let things pass. We can now check off watching Tangled and The Little Mermaid. Considering how much of a Disney fan I am (sarcasm), that’s a record.

Library Laine

Before Lainey Bug caught the bug, Brian took her on a date to the library while Blaise stayed home sick. According to Brian, she didn’t get the quiet concept, announcing loudly to everyone that she wanted a ballerina book. It’s always fun going to the Sammamish Library; I remember doing the proposal for the project and seeing the initial sketches back in my working days.

Kelsey Creek Farm Day

A friend arranged an outing for the kids to “work” on the farm at Kelsey Creek. They helped feed the pigs, check on the horse, add shavings to the stalls, sweep… several farm tasks. Blaise wasn’t that into the whole thing; Laine loved the farm. He did take issue with the lack of pumpkin organization and started moving them around to his liking (before I helped him move them back). After their work day was over, we stayed behind and played around the farm spending most of our time in the sandbox, Blaise’s favorite.

Rainbow Play

The Rainbow Play Systems warehouse has open play time, and thanks to another friend and Groupon deal (we actually remembered to buy), we went and had a great time. Laine found a swing and Blaise got to climb.

Park Play on a Cold Day

After hosting playgroup at our place, I was ready to feed the kiddos lunch and have a relaxing afternoon hanging out at home. When lunch was over, I asked the kiddos if they wanted to watch a movie; I even pitched a few. Nope, they didn’t want to watch a movie or a TV show… they said they wanted to go to a park. Although I love that they said no to TV and wanted to play outside, I was selfishly wanting to stay home. I took one for the team and we bundled up and left for the park. I do enjoy going to parks on cold days; they’re almost always dead. We had the place to ourselves and played for over two hours. The kiddos are so fun to watch, it was a great afternoon.

Tiger Mountain Hikers

Hiking became one of our things over the summer, and we’re planning on keeping it up through the winter. That plan hasn’t worked out so far. Our last hike was at the end of October. I had been wanting to check out Tiger Mountain since we typically hike on Cougar. Our friends Mike and Katherine joined us, and we left from Sunset Way, up to Tradition Lake, then back down with the plan on going back to Sunset Way but we ended up at Issaquah High School. We made our way back to Sunset and the van, then picked up a pizza on the way home. As usual, what would normally be a short hike was a few hours… we must stop at every.single.mushroom and explore everything. I’m not complaining, I enjoy watching their wonder.

Cupcakes!

We’ve been keeping to ourselves lately, opting to stay home more than head out and about. Finding things to fill our days has been fun for the most part, challenging some days when my head isn’t in the game. Baking is always a great activity (and time killer), and teaches patience! I was feeling domestic at Target one day and bought Halloween-themed cupcake liners, we decided to put them to use. We busted of the KitchenAid and scraped together the ingredients. Blaise is an excellent egg cracker; Laine’s mastered filling the cupcake pan with liners. After they baked and cooled, we frosted (and ate, then frosted and ate, then frosted…). Clearly they aren’t my children because they stuck to frosting, no knife licking at all. Weirdos.

More At-Home Days

Errand Kiddos

If you ask Blaise what his favorite store is, he’ll enthusiastically say, “Target!” That’s my kid! Target has everything, and we always need something—paper towels, wipes, cheese, socks—so we often stop on our way home from outings. It used to be they’d get a small Hot Wheels or snack, then we moved to getting suckered into bigger toys… now I say no toys. I don’t want them to expect something every time. They’ve been great accepting this so after a few weeks of them not asking for anything and during a long Target trip, I let them each pick out a toy. Laine chose the Melissa & Doug cookie kit; Blaise chose a Tonka cement mixer truck. The healthy food is under the unhealthy food (really, except for the marshmallows, a hot chocolate requirement). Actually, side note, we’re on the eat healthy bandwagon and only buy the ridiculously expensive organic and (mostly) GMO-free foods… Brian says the $8 grass-fed beef is SO much better. It’s sad the healthy, clean food has to cost so much.

Halloween

So, Halloween didn’t happen. Since August, Blaise had been talking about being a mailman for Halloween. Laine wanted to be a bumble bee. I waited over a month before buying the costumes for fear they’d change their minds. The did briefly but went back to their original choices. A week before Halloween, we went to a party. Blaise did not want to wear his costume. When asked why, he said he “wanted to be nothing.” So he wore normal clothes; Laine went as a bee. We were at the party 10 minutes before they both started asking to leave. I always try to respect their wanting to leave places, so we left. Halloween was a week away so we talked up going to Brian’s work to trick-or-treat. They were indifferent and Blaise still wanted to be nothing. Halloween day… no interest in costumes from either. We started school that day too, so after a busy morning of new activities, we came home to rest before going to Brian’s work. Laine fell asleep on the couch at 4pm and Blaise had zero interest in going. So, Halloween didn’t happen. Maybe next year.