Pumpkin Patch

Last week Colin went on a field trip with his preschool class to the pumpkin patch. He was really excited to go pick out a pumpkin but best of all he was able to go with lots of friends. I think I mentioned before but there are 9 boys and 1 girl in his class. It actually turned out to be a really warm and sunny day which was great because you never know what you will get in Seattle.

Here the class is listening to the schedule and rules for the tour.

The farm had a kiddie area where the kids could climb on a tractor, pump water and look at some farm animals.

They had a really cute "Moo" train the kids got to ride on. Sienna wasn't so sure that she liked it but Colin had a great time.

Sienna was so happy to walk around with the big kids. No stroller for her today.

The kids got 5 minutes to find as many rubber ducks in the corn as they could. Colin thought it was fun just to lay in it. It did feel really cool on your feet.

Waiting to go into the corn maze that led us to the pumpkin patch.

They say you have one twin somewhere in the world. Well, I think Sienna has found hers with her friend Emma.

Riding on the wagon on the way back from the pumpkin patch. Colin was so excited to pick out the smallest pumpkin he could. So I had to get a really big one for Sienna.

All Aboard!

Brian and I had never been on a cruise before so we thought a weekend trip up to Canada with some friends would be a perfect way to start. We boarded the ship on Friday afternoon to a beautiful sunny Seattle day. After checking out our staterooms we headed (of course) straight to the food. We had a pre-dinner snack out on the deck over looking the Seattle skyline. What a way to start off our fun weekend!

Bon Voyage! (we found out later that these drinks were $9.00 each!)

We all had to be trained on what to do in case of an emergency.

Saturday morning we arrived in Vancouver, Canada


We were trying to decide where to go and which way to get there when we decided to.......

jump on the Vancouver sightseeing bus that would take us all over downtown Vancouver with stops where we could get on and off. It was a great way to see the city without having to walk. Of course after eating everything we did-a little excercie couldn't hurt.

While we were in Vancouver I found out that my mom was locked out of the house with the kids

and that was a little stressful for awhile but they ended up calling a locksmith and were able to get back in. The day after we got back I made sure to go get extra keys made for our house.

Here is the dining room that we ate dinner in every night. We had the same table and the same two waiters every night. Most of the crew, our waiters included, were from all over the world. It was fun to hear all the different accents and to find out were they were from.

With so much food to choose from Brian decided to get a little daring and try some Escargot-if you didn't like it you could always order something else, so why not try!


Here is the lamb that I ordered that I did not like too much but Brian had a fun time with it. I'm definately a chicken and beef kind of girl.

The dress code was informal one night (nice dresses for the girls and suits for he guys) and the other two night were casual . Our dinner started at 8:30 and didn't end until 10:30 because we had a 5 course meal every night.

Here we are docked at Nanaimo, Canada. I had never even heard of this town before the cruise so I was excited to see it.
Don't you think these guys could pose for GQ?

This is what happens when you have a weekend away without kids.

There wasn't much to see or do in Nanaimo, as you can tell by the looks on the guys faces. So while they went back to the ship to watch a movie the girls decided to ......


do a little more shopping and stop for some hot chocolate and scones.

Last night at dinner. We ordered the Filet Mignon with was delicious!

Mardi Gras party at one of the disco's on board.

Who new you could have so much fun in an eleveator-and we were not even drunk!

Monday morning it was very depressing to have to get off the ship and get back to "real life". We had such a great time and would definately go on a cruise again. Thanks mom for watching our kids for us and letting us have this great weekend away!

80's Rock!

Def Leopard is one of my all time favorite bands. I don't know if it's because they were so popular while I was in high school but I have never out grown them. I've never considered myself a "rocker" but I definately like to rock out to Def Leopard.

When I heard they were coming in concert I was so excited-I was hoping Brian would want to come with me but found out that he had school that night so when I mentioned the concert at a church event I was shocked when a couple of friends said that they would go with me. I guess I'm not the only 30 year old rocker out there. I also found out a few days before the concert that my friends the Summers were going as well.

Styxx and Foreigner were the opening bands and although they were good I couldn't wait for Def to start. I have to admit that people watching kept me pretty entertained. Just ask if you want more details-where do these people come from?


We originally bought General Admission tickets but Anita was able to get us free VIP tickets. They were worth $150.00. We had our own box to sit/stand in so it was nice not to be crowded by other people. The seats were good, not quite as good as Steve and Tammy's, but I'm so glad that we weren't stuck way up high in the grass.


I left my camera in the car and although I did take some pictures on my camera phone I am not as tech saavy as Steve and I do not know how to get the pictures from my phone to the computer. Here I am with Angie, Anita and Arrow after the concert. Our ears were still ringing but we had smiles on our faces. What a great concert!!!

Relaxing in Denver

I have been feeling a little stressed out lately with school and all the different sports and activities starting up so I was really looking forward to a relaxing weekend in Denver with my sister and her family. As soon as Brian dropped me off at the airport I could feel the tension and stress just slipping away. No cleaning, cooking, running kids around and listening to whiny kids for 4 days. I didn't even mind having to make an extra stop on the way to and from Denver. More time to read and people watch in the airport.

Here I am with my niece Tyler and nephew Max. Tyler would say the cutest things and is such a cute and smart little 3 year old . I just love Max's chubby cheeks and big blue eyes.

Here I am with my sister Jocelyn. We went shopping, out to eat, to movies, played games and just had a great time talking and catching up. I wished we lived closer so we could hang out more! Thanks Joci, Brett, Tyler and Max for the great weekend. It was relaxing and so much fun- I miss you already!

Down She Goes!

I finally got Sienna to climb down the stairs today. Usually she just sits at the top and whines for someone to come and get her. She has been climbing up them for awhile but I guess the coming down part freaked her out. She got so excited when Mom started clapping and getting all excited. You have to wonder what they really think about us crazy Moms.



I always like to watch my kids when they are sleeping. After a long day it's so fun to go look at them and see their sweet faces. They look so peaceful and innocent and you wonder how they can even drive you crazy during the day.

Here Sienna is sleeping. She was facing the wall so I couldn't get a shot of her face.
Just starting to wake up after she was rudely awakened by the flash of mom's camera.
There's my smiley girl. She always greets me with a huge smile when I go to get her in the morning or after her nap.
She has the cutest pose of lifting her shoulders and then tilting her head over to one side and giving you a huge smile.

Back to school

It is that time of year again-back to school. The kids were all so excited to start school, especially Colin who will be starting his first year of preschool. Here are some picutres of the kids on their first day back to school.


Brian bought these Seahawk jersey's for the boys and they love them. Austin's favorite thing about the first day was playing kickball at recess where he managed to trip and rip a hole in his new jeans. Oh well!
Rylie's favorite thing about school was meeting her new teacher and playing jump rope during recess. She is going through this phase where she doesn't want me to put anything in her hair and it is driving me crazy. I like to pull her hair back and put barrets and elastics in , but I guess you just have to let go of some things.

Colin's favorite part of preschool was -that's right-recess. He got to blow bubbles and jump on the trampoline. There are 9 boys in his class and 1 girl. That poor teacher!

Bigfoot tournament

Austin had a soccer tournament up in Snohomish a few weeks ago and we decided to make it a mini vacation for the kids and stayed in a hotel. It also saved on 3 hours of driving 4 days in a row. This is a really big tournament with teams coming from all over the state. The name of their team is Synergy and their colors are blue, white and orange. The atmosphere at the tournament was really fun . There were vendors, concessions and lots of people camping.
The boys did really well. They made it to the semi-finals and then lost. We are looking forward to the start of their season-go Synergy!

The coaches are giving a pep talk before their first game. They have 1 head coach and 2 assistant coaches.

The boys taking a little break and messing around. It is a lot of fun to see the boys start to bond with each other. They come from about 5 different schools so they did not all know each other before.

A couple of families on the team camped out so after one of the games we all got together and had a BBQ.

Sienna had a great time at the BBQ




Rylie and Colin were great at the games. They did a great job of finding stuff to do.
Colin can't wait until he can play soccer.

Here is the game where it was raining. Austin is #18. You can see the huge water puddles in the field.

Here is the coach telling the boys to not give up at half-time during the game they lost.


All white uniforms-just what a mom wants!