Halloween Festivities

Dressing up for Halloween started this year at a fun Halloween Party Playgroup.

Chewbacca was adorable


Chewbacca was supposed to, most fittingly, be a monkey, but I waited too long to buy
him a costume and then couldn't find one. We did spot this one and only Chewbacca
costume and Travis thought it would be unique and funny. Not being Star Wars people,
I wasn't so sure, but after dressing Emmett up, I had to admit he was pretty adorable.


Bumblebee was pretty standoffish, I think because he was definitely
older than the other kids, otherwise I don't know what his deal was.


And we found out that skeletons really like frosting.


The night before Halloween, Travis and I went to a great party. I was a witch but somehow forgot to get in front of the camera which for a change I'm actually sad about - I thought I was a pretty good looking witch! And Travis was lacking in creativity and spirit, so I made an easy suggestion for him. I think all our friends from dental school - or any dentist for that matter - would agree that this costume is plenty scary:


Halloween night I took Bumblebee and the skeleton out trick-or-treating with cousin
kitty while Travis stayed home to answer the door with Chewbacca. When we got back
and tried to take pictures we discovered the skeleton doesn't like to share his loot.


So we got Chewie his own bucket


Chewie also thoroughly enjoyed Bumblebee's mask.


Happy Halloween!

Red Leaves

After four years in Milwaukee where all the color was in everyone else's yard and our maple tree (which dominated all front views) had leaves that just died and fell off, finally, here in Salem, I have gorgeous color!

This is one of our two front trees which are yellow on the inside and turn to a deep red the further out the branches extend.


In the back our trees are super red.
Here are some pictures from the last 2 weeks of the boys playing outside in them.


Okay, so they're not really playing in the leaves in these, they're playing in the rain.


Crazy pirate matches the leaves




Jump!






I can't even express how happy these gorgeous reds made me. Pathetic that the colorful Midwest couldn't give me color at my own home, but now my green Northwest can! I hope this won't be a one year fluke since we're just renting now...

Surprise Wake-Up

Yesterday we got Avery's Halloween costume. Right after he tried it on to check the fit Emmett woke up.
Avery wanted to go in and surprise him which, I'll admit, I thought would be funny. The appearance of something so strange certainly stopped Emmett's crying. You could tell he was thinking "what in the world..?"

Also, yes, Emmett pulled up his sheet. Like many children, he throws quite a fit when he wakes up and finds we're not instantly there to relieve him of his confinement.

What's in an Oyster?

We took the boys out to dinner last night and this was in my oyster!

Hats and Diapers

Yesterday Carson was silly with a cereal box hat




And last night he was silly with getting his ducks - I mean diapers in a row.

Normally he makes a big mess yanking all the diapers out of the package - and gets in trouble, but this was funny.

Bauman Farms

Our trip to the pumpkin patch this year was scheduled for us through Avery's preschool. We went to Bauman Farms and the kids had a great time. First we all went on a hay ride in 2 large covered carts pulled by a tractor to the pumpkin patch. Each child got a bag for 1 pumpkin, 2 gourds, and 1 ear of maize.

Emmett found a tiny green pumpkin


Avery and his loot


After riding back to the farm buildings, the kids got to see how apple cider is made and try some.

Then they got to meet lots of animals. Avery fed the goats.


Carson, miraculously, actually pet one! I only just managed to capture this proof as the goat turned to look at Carson more closely and Carson instantly pulled away.


I liked this llama's shaggy 'do.


Some of Avery's preschool class. Yes, he is a head taller than most of them.


On to the hay maze! Kathy, in the black coat, apparently having been the mom with the stroller last year, was a great help to me with my stroller and excess of children (comparatively). While I stayed with Carson and Emmett, she took Avery through the maze twice.


At the end of the maze there's a large tube slide.


Kathy and her daughter Andrea trained it with Avery down the slide both times.


And, lastly, snack time! Yes, Emmett's hands have caked on mud and, yes, I'm letting him feed himself goldfish. That's better than listening to him scream for his independence and I conveniently left the wipes in the van.


What a great place!

Monster Truck Blow

Carson blows his nose this morning and says, "I blow like monster truck!" and ever since then when he comes for a nose blow he informs me he needs a "monster truck blow." I guess he means he's loud...

Dunk Tank

Dunk Tank is what Avery calls this game. (They roll to the end of the foot rest and drop into the "water") I'm not a fan so they haven't played it since, but I can appreciate his creativity!

Where did the third tooth go?

Yesterday Avery was finishing his sandwich for lunch and came over to Travis saying, "It feels like there's something bony in here"
He was chewing on a tooth! That's his third lost tooth now. The lower central right one (if you're looking at him) to be exact.
Then he swallowed it.
Now what?!
Well, turns out the Tooth Fairy came anyway. When I asked Avery if she still came even though he didn't leave her a tooth, he said "yeah" like it was no big deal. I decided to impress upon him that he's very lucky she still came with no tooth actually offered to her and that I bet he only gets one freebie like that, so be sure and not swallow any more teeth!!!
Travis is now calling him a toothless hillbilly.

Coast Vacation Day 3

Last day. After check-out and breakfast, we went up to a beach I wanted to check out. If you make the trek up to this outcrop, it does a great job of blocking the wind and can turn nice weather into great weather.




There are lots of these rocks on the beach that crumble when you touch them. How they can get completely cracked all through like that and still sit there looking like a whole rock is beyond me.


Instead of heading inland from Lincoln City, we decided to go south first and hit a few stops before coming home from Newport. First we hit Depot Bay.


Tiny Depot Bay is where the guys set out from on their fishing trip back in August. This is, in fact, the entire harbor. To the left is a dock where people load and unload from charters and the channel out to the ocean is in the lower right.


We watched the blowhole for a bit.


And here's another spot where the water surges up a channel it's cut, but instead of a blowhole, it smacks against the concrete and sprays anyone standing at the top. If you park in the spots there, you'll come back to a salt-encrusted car. This spray is mild compared to what it can do.


From the bridge, we could look down on the harbor and this seagull on top of a power pole.


The seals gather to beg for fish guts from the people right above who you can pay to clean your catch from a fishing charter. There were four seals there that day and this one was particularly persistent in his splashes and barks for food.


Hello, Coast Guard. We heard a helicopter and I looked up and snapped. I'm surprised at how well this turned out for split second aiming.


One of the stops we made after Depot Bay was Devil's Punch Bowl.


Finally we ended our trip with a fabulous late lunch at Nana's Irish Pub. A burger for Travis and a cheesesteak for me. Oh, and I had to try their clam chowder too of course. It was so much food, I don't know how they ever sell dessert!

What a great trip! Everything was perfect.

Coast Vacation Day 2

After the night's downpour, the day dawned beautiful!

This was the morning's view from our hotel balcony.


Some pretty flowers hanging down just outside our hotel door.


After breakfast, we headed to Cascade head for a hike. I love hiking, but it's impossible to do anything decent with the 3 boys. I was so excited to finally go!
Here's the road we were driving on for about 3 miles.


We stopped once when there was a nice lookout. Looking south to the Salmon River.


The sign at our trailhead.




It was such a gorgeous walk through the trees.


Some mushrooms growing on a log. The ones on the bottom were tiny! The biggest of them was only about as round as an eraser head.


So ethereal! And this picture doesn't even do it justice. The light was amazing, it felt so soft and glowing.


Can you see the log these trees are growing on top of?


This area was once logged for these giants.


An old, abandoned cable choker.


When we came out of the woods into the meadows, the transition was abrupt.


Please stay on the main trail - other paths are for research and pass through fragile butterfly habitat


Fragile Habitat - Area Closed


Here's a 360 view around the top of the hill.


This Woolly Bear Caterpillar was crossing the little trail we followed down the hill.


Stopping to take a picture on the way down the hill.

All told, we went down about 700 feet. The trail is considered a moderate hike - and it proved we are moderately out of shape! The rest of the way back through the woods was just mild ups and downs which was great for burning off the lactic acid build up we would otherwise have had. It was so rejuvenating going out there! And the weather was perfect!

After the hike we headed to Mo's for some clam chowder. I love going to Mo's, but honestly Blackfish's chowder is better than Mo's.


A bridge by the beach behind Mo's.


After Mo's we went to the Tanger Outlet Mall to do some shopping, saw The Informant (it was strange) then cruised around for a place to eat. We checked out Chinook Winds Casino's restaurants, but walked back out when we realized our eyes were burning too much from the smoke. So we decided to try Gallucci's Pizzeria. I love seafood, but never make it at home, so I usually look for that when eating out. Especially being at the coast, this weekend was almost non-stop seafood for me. But pizza? Yes, I had to try the Vegetarian & Seafood pizza. It was really good, but really strange at the same time. It was just a shock to have those flavors while eating pizza. Travis, of course, had their version of meat lover pizza.

Another great, gorgeous day!