Random photos from this fall

Andrew and Hailey's class did a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch last week!

A beautiful day... and nobody was there!  A rare thing!

These are the dozen kids from A&H's 5-year old preschool class.  They love it!

Hailey jumped off the hay bales with her buddy, Luke

As one of our fall activities, we made "acorn cookies."  Nutter butter cookies plus Hershey kisses and chocolate chips!

We loved this - a total hit snack! 

I love this girl.  She looked so cute this day I had to snap a pic.  And no, she doesn't usually stand on tables!

These are the 15 kids from the couples in our UPC Married Couples group (from our former church).  We started the group when none of these kids existed!

Yes, the kids still play cars all of the time!  Here they are making roads on the bedspread...

A wine weekend in Walla Walla!

Last weekend, Greg and I escaped from our kiddos and headed to wine country in Walla Walla for the weekend!  Walla Walla is about four hours from Seattle, and is the "new Napa," or so they say!  We spent a fabulous day (with four of our friends) touring about seven wineries, and then enjoying a lovely dinner downtown.  The fall weather was fabulous, and it was soooo nice to have a break away from the kids!  (Imagine having so many hours to talk in the car without interruption!)

We also visited our good friends Gwynne and Randy, and saw some other friends of Greg's from his childhood days.  We saw his old stomping grounds and drove through his old neighborhood.  It was such a delightful weekend!  Thanks to Jenene, Robbie, and Kimmie for taking great care of our kids!



About to have dinner at Whitehouse-Crawford restaurant in Walla Walla, WA...

Starting our day with early morning coffee in downtown Walla Walla

We set off to have b-fast at Merchants, but found out it is now called Olive.  Still charming!

This is the house Greg grew up in!  He lived in Walla Walla until 9th grade..

Beautiful Blue Mountains and the vineyards.  Taken from Garrison Creek Cellars.

We got an amazing private tour at Garrison Creek Cellars.  Looking into a vat of red grapes just crushed...

In the basement cellar with Michael Murr, the owner of Garrison Creek.  With our friends Jeff and Renee and Marv and Dana, too!

The vineyards at Basel Cellars

With my pal Dana

Enjoying a lovely dinner with our friends.  Did I mention that we did NOT miss our kids?

Soccer!

Okay, I am officially a SOCCER MOM!  I don't have the mini-van, but I have the cutest twins ever playing on the 5-year olds' Wizards team!  Today was their first game and they loved it!  I can't say that they have fabulous soccer skills (yet), but they certainly laughed a lot and had fun running around.  They have a great coach and they have already been learning good basics for soccer.  Greta and I were on the sidelines cheering, while Greta rode her trike around.  Our next door neighbor and dear friend Nana Sue also came to cheer on A&H - what a good friend she is to us. 

Go, Wizards!

An action shot:  Hailey throws in the ball!

Post-game huddle with Coach Josh

A surprise RV trip!

This last weekend, we took the kids on a great overnight camping trip in an RV!  Yes, an RV!  Greg came up with this idea and then we told the kids that we had a surprise for them for the weekend.  All week long they asked us about the surprise; they were dying in suspense!  We borrowed this great RV from our friends, Jeff and Renee - it had a kitchen, bath, and three separate sleeping areas.  It was so nice to be driving down the road, able to use a toilet when the kids said they had to go!

We took the RV onto the ferry and went to Whidbey Island, just north of Seattle.  We drove around the island exploring for a few hours, and then finally settled into a beautiful campsite at Fort Ebey State Park.  We went to a Farmers' market, visited a lighthouse, hiked along the shore, and walked through cute little Langley.  Then later we hiked, rode bikes, and enjoyed our own dinner cooked on the tiny stove in the RV.  Ha!

We totally recommend an RV weekend trip if you have young kids; our kids loved it!!



PBJ lunch in the RV!  We loved the fun of being in the RV - so practical to have everything right there!

Our campsite at Fort Ebey State Park... with the 25-foot RV we borrowed in the background.

"Good job on the surprise, Daddy!"

Taking pics while the sun was setting...  great sunlight!

Mama!

Goofy kids!

Great view of the Olympics Mountains, as seen from Whidbey

This was the beautiful sunset we saw from our campsite at Fort Ebey.  Lovely!

I love this picture of Hailey.  She was being goofy with her hair band, which made her giggle.  Caught her cute expression on camera.

Daddy made us banana pancakes in the RV!

As soon as we got to Whidbey Island, we drove to the Bayview Farmers' Market.... Charming!

Hailey stands at our campsite!  She and I explored all of these trees in the woods together.  She loves the great outdoors as much as I do!

Funny Gretty

Cutest boy ever

Looking for whales!

Walking the streets in Langley



Enjoying the sun in Langley, a cute little town on Whidbey

Visiting the lighthouse at Fort Casey, on Whidbey Island

At the top of the lighthouse