Bob's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch

My CrossFit Kenmore friends had their 2nd annual fire pit gathering at Bob's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch over the weekend. We thought it sounded like a good reason to head out to the pumpkin patch and enjoy some amazing fall weather. Turns out we couldn't have asked for a better day! We'll be talking about this pumpkin patch trip for years to come.

They truly had the best pumpkin patches we've ever seen. You could pick the pumpkins right off the vines and there were so many varieties of pumpkins and gourds to pick from right out there in the fields (they have 3 fields to select from). All the pumpkins were perfect. We spent a lot of time just walking through the fields ohhing and ahhing at the pumpkins.   

If you can't tell, it was SUNNY out. Bright blue skies and down right hot. I was trying to embrace the fall, but turns out for a time there I was way over dressed.  

They had apple or pumpkin cider donuts with either cinnamon sugar, plain or powdered sugar on them. Yum, yum, yum! Nope, not the least bit Whole 30, but I'm all about enjoying life when it comes to my Whole 30 eating habits and fun adventures like these. 

They had this really cool area that had samples of pumpkins and their names. Maybe 50+ different kinds of pumpkins. The kids and I thought that was super cool.

After picking our pumpkins, eating donuts, going through a rope maze (which we totally had to cheat to get to the middle), watching the apple cannon, walking through their country store (BEST no sugar added apple butter. I should have stocked up on this stuff!), eating kettle corn and taking lots of pictures. We took a tractor ride over to the BIG corn maze and fire pits. This year we decided to pass on the corn maze adventure, which takes 30+ minutes to get to the half way mark. We knew that the shortest legs of the family wouldn't have that much walking left in her. We are saving that up for next year. Instead we walked around to the fire pit which had been reserved for the CrossFit group.

We had heard about the potential of hot air balloons and we quickly were not disappointed.  You could see two out in the distance heading our way.

Then bam! It was right over our heads and coming in for a landing. 

We watched them deflate it and unload. Then one of the balloon guys said the kids were more then welcome to come hop into the basket. Shane has ride in a hot air balloon on his bucket list! Super nice guy from Airial Balloon Company in Snohomish if you are looking to enjoy a trip up.

The 2nd balloon came in quickly after the 1st. We had a fabulous time watching the action. 

Then it was bon fire time!  Hot dogs and s'mores all around. I highly recommend reserving yourself a fire bit at Bob's! Since we've been missing out on fires camping the last two summers, this was perfect!

Kenny and the kids had fun jumping around on the big hay bales. Though we were eventually asked to get off of them. It was fun while it lasted.

Can you do it, Shane!?!  It took a lot of hemming and hawing, but eventually he jumped his way across a handful of them.

As we headed back to the tractor for one last ride, the fog started rolling in. 

 

Shane said, Take one last picture, Mommy! At this point I was getting a lot of hugs, this was the best day evers and I love yous. He was literally on a high from all the fun.

It doesn't happen all that often in our little family of crazies, that we can have an overall good happy adventure for all. This goes down in the record book for sure! We'll be back Bob's! Thanks, CrossFit Kenmore! With out that invite we would have never had this amazing day to look back upon.

Soccer

Summer has come to an end. Another baseball season has been put behind us. School has started. There is rain falling more often then I'd like. What does all of this add up to? Another soccer season for Shane!

This is Shane's 2nd year playing soccer through Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association. He plays on a U9 team coached by Kenny! Yep. After many attempts to find a coach for his team, Kenny decided to step up and coach a sport he never played. I assist by sending emails, buying soccer jerseys and making snack schedules. Anything to keep me off the field with 8 goofy boys.

They played their first game last week in beautiful sunshine. They held their own, though in the end did lose. Shane really enjoys playing and is always right in the middle of things on the field.

A HUGE thanks goes out to Kenny for taking on the Juanita Cheetahs team this year. 

Baseball Season

Shane completed his 4th year of baseball this past spring. It was his 1st year of "kid pitch". Baseball this year was another place we saw HUGE improvements in his anxiety. Kenny was an assistant coach this year, so he was still around the whole time, but Shane just jumped into each practice or game with no qualms. He struggled with some emotional issues when it came to striking-out, getting out or not pitching well. Those things seemed to fade over the summer as he played on a casual summer ball team.

He took to pitching quickly and really enjoyed playing that position. Most of the year he had a hitting slump during games, but that kid can hit like no other off the game field during practices or in the front yard.

He definetly has baseball in his blood. You'll find him throwing a ball or playing pretend baseball some where in the house on pretty much any given day. Or hitting balls onto the roof in the front yard. In the evenings when he gets a bit of TV time, he picks to watch the Dodgers or Mariners play instead of "kid TV'.

His team finished 2nd in the league. They won several exciting playoff games and then went on to play the other local little league team for 2nd place in the city. That was a super exciting game. Sadly they lost, but not with out a nail biting finish.  I think it is safe to say we have a lot more baseball in our future.

 Attentive at first base.

 Talking to the coach.

Pitching! 

Hitting!

 

Adalyn enjoyed baseball season fully as well. She had many little friends to run around with during games. I generally had to drag her away to take her home to bed. Though at this point she has no interest in playing. She said she'll let us know if she changes her mind.

Where Do I Start? {School Year 2015-16}

It's been a whole long time since I blogged last. I do truly miss blogging regularly and think about the blog often. I love looking back on past posts and we often reference it for details on past events and timeline happenings. The problem is now I just don't know where to start, how to catch up or even if I want to attempt a catch up game of sorts.

I think I'll jump in where we are at now....the beginning of a new school year.

Shane's is in his 3rd week of 2nd grade and lovin' every minute of it. He has a fabulous teacher that is new to our school, but she has been teaching for many years in our school district. From what I can tell so far she is a great fit for him. On the first day of school he told me on 3 different occasions about how she smiled at them all day long. He also has a full time student teacher for the whole school year! What an amazing gift to have in a class. They earn Beagle Bucks for following directions and other good behavior, which is a HUGE motivator for him. He has already spent he $60 earnings on a book and squishy ball. (He is a spender!)

He loves recess and plays soccer or kickball most of the time. He is a rule follower, which is suiting him very well in school. He continues to excel in math and enjoys reading. His least favorite subject is writing, though when he puts his mind to it, he tells great stories.

He biggest upset of the year was not having his best friend, Callum, in his class for the 3rd year in a row. There were tears shed when we found out. He's done really well though since then with adapting and moving on from that.

I look forward to watching him grow and learn this school year!

Adalyn is in her 1st week of Pre-K (her 2nd year of preschool). Besides not wanting to wear shoes that cover her toes, she LOVES preschool. She goes Monday and Wednesday from 9-1pm. Which includes a "lunch buddies" program after her regular preschool is over. She stays and gets to each lunch, plus some extra play time. Then on Friday she goes from 9-11:30. After preschool she heads over to Sarah's house where she plays until I get off of work at 2pm.

On the way home from preschool today she told me she wanted to learn how to read. I foresee a lot of educational growth in this little girl this year.

Next year she'll be off to kindergarten. We had planned on a half day program for her. Unfortunately for us, our school district may be rolling out fully funded full day kindergarten. If this plays out how it looks like it will, she be in full day kindergarten next year.  I'm very sad about this, yet know she will be super successful if we do have to go this route.

I am insanely excited to watch her blossom this year educationally.

We've settled into a nice school year routine. I can feel this year is going to rock!

Spring Time Adventures {Evans Creek Preserve}

It's still a bit drizzly and chilly outside here in the Pacific Northwest. But we've had a taste of blue skies sunshine here and there. And it is making me super antsy to get outside and explore.

This fun list of family friendly hikes was making its round on Facebook last week giving me some inspiration to bundle up a bit and head out. The weather did cooperate for us and we saw glimpses of  sunshine and not a rain drop fell on us. (I'm a fair weather gal for sure!!)

This was our first time to Evans Creek Preserve in Redmond and we all gave it a two thumbs up. Lots of beautiful scenery and tons of fun bridges/boardwalks to walk on.

Shane loved all the stumps and trees to climb on.

Adalyn is doing a lot better with her walking/hiking skills. Though those little legs need some breaks and piggy-back rides now and then. She is powered through most of the walking on her own on this adventure. 

"Take my picture, Mommy!

We've been to 7 out of 10 of the places on the list. We've got our eyes on #6, #8 and #9 as the months get warmer and warmer!

Fireplace Remodel

One thing I really really wanted in a house when we were looking to buy 5 years ago, was a mantel. Well, we got a fireplace (actually two), but the mantel area was lacking.

Technically, there was some small bumpy brick area to use for decor, but it wasn't really very functional or what I had in mind when I dreamed of a home with a mantel. On top of that fact, the whole brick area above the fireplace was just plain odd.

After many years of dreaming, wondering and conceptualizing what we could do with the space above the fireplace, a plan was conceived. We got to work. 

We knew that we wanted a rustic mantel piece. We did a lot of searching and finally discovered the perfect piece at an antique like store in Mount Vernon. It was a part of a 70+ year old telephone pole.